Romans 14

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¹Receiveone who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things. ✦ ²For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. ✦ ³Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him. ✦ ⁴Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand. ✦ ⁵One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. ✦ ⁶He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks. ✦ ⁷For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. ✦ ⁸For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. ✦ ⁹For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living. ✦ ¹⁰But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. ✦ ¹¹For it is written: “As I live, says the Lord, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God.” ✦ ¹²So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. ✦ ¹³Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way. ✦ ¹⁴I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. ✦ ¹⁵Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died. ✦ ¹⁶Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil; ✦ ¹⁷for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. ✦ ¹⁸For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men. ✦ ¹⁹Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another. ✦ ²⁰Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are pure, but it is evil for the man who eats with offense. ✦ ²¹It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak. ✦ ²²Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. ✦ ²³But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin. ✦

Tap any verse for its study page. Underlined terms mark a concept, person, or place; ✦ marks verses with cross-references.

Where this chapter connects

Rom 14 ·28 1 Cor 8 ·13 Acts 10 ·9 Phil 2 ·8 1 Cor 10 ·8 Rom 15 ·7 Matt 18 ·7 2 Cor 5 ·6

Christ at the center

Paul unfolds the gospel in full: Christ our righteousness received by faith, the second Adam in whom many are made righteous, in whose death and resurrection we are buried and raised.

How Romans 14 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Resources, by level

Lay

★ Start hereVideoBibleProject — video overviews & word studiesBibleProject · 5–10 min · Free · evangelical
Free animated overviews of every book of the Bible, plus themes and Hebrew/Greek word studies — the best visual on-ramp to any book. (Biblical-theology, broadly evangelical, not distinctly Reformed.)
★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical
A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.
VideoMike Winger — BibleThinkerMike Winger · Free · reformed
Free verse-by-verse studies through whole books plus careful apologetics — "learn to think biblically about everything." (Reformed-leaning, non-denominational.)

Pastoral

★ Start hereSermonMLJ Trust — Martyn Lloyd-Jones sermonsMartyn Lloyd-Jones · Free · reformed
1,600+ free sermons from "the Doctor," including landmark verse-by-verse series (Romans, John, Ephesians, Acts) — a gold standard of expository preaching.
SermonGrace to You — John MacArthurJohn MacArthur · Free · reformed
Decades of careful verse-by-verse expository sermons, especially through the New Testament. (MacArthur, d. 2025; archive remains free.)
SermonGospel in Life — Tim KellerTim Keller · Free · reformed
Tim Keller's gospel-centered preaching — sermons stream free (the complete downloadable archive is paid).
ArticleRecommended NT commentaries (9Marks / Schreiner)Thomas R. Schreiner · Free · reformed
A trusted pastor-oriented guide to the best commentary on each New Testament book.
SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical
Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.
VideoVerse By Verse Ministry InternationalVerse By Verse Ministry Int'l · Free · evangelical
In-depth, verse-by-verse expository teaching book-by-book — strong for working straight through a whole New Testament book.
VideoLook at the Book — John PiperJohn Piper · Free · reformed
Watch Piper trace the logic of a passage phrase by phrase on screen — a model of close reading.

Commentaries & study tools

VideoBibleProject — Romans videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
VideoWatch teaching on Romans 14YouTube · Lay · Free
Sermons and chapter teaching from across YouTube.
CommentaryEnduring Word — Romans 14David Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical
Readable, verse-by-verse exposition of the whole chapter.
CommentaryMatthew Henry on RomansMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
ReferenceBlue Letter Bible — Romans 14Blue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free
Interlinear, lexicon, and study tools across the chapter.

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