Faith Weakened
In our last two bulletin articles we have written about the necessity of having a growing faith. It is impossible for one to please God if they do not diligently seek God through faith (Hebrews 11:6). In our study today we reflect upon the things that cause faith to become weaker and, hence, be in danger of being lost. As we behold the world around us, there is an attitude that takes place in the hearts of some Christians. It is an attitude where in the person no longer trusts God as they once did. Their faith is becoming weaker.
We find this expression in Romans 14:1. Paul calls it, the person “…who is weak in the faith”. When we come to chapter 15, the discussion beginning in verse one is about the strong bearing the infirmities of the weak. Let us observe the language cited in chapter 14. Paul is discussing the person who is weak in “the faith”. He, then, is speaking about the person who does not have strength because he does not understand the will of God. A person whose faith becomes weak is one who is starting to doubt God and, hence, his trust is beginning to fail. Using the case in Romans 14 we can begin to see how lack of knowledge can lead to a lack of trust and, therefore, weak faith.
The contrast is made in verse two between one who believes that he can eat anything and the one who believes that he can only eat herbs. Now note, both men believe. What is the source of their belief system? Faith comes from the Word of God does it not (Romans 10:17)? Both men then took the knowledge from God’s revealed will at that time and reached different conclusions. In the charitable mindset of so many today, we would say both men are right. However, the Scriptures allow us no such conclusion. The Spirit of God reveals that the man who believes that he should eat herbs and herbs only, is the one who is weak in the faith.
Another example was about one man esteeming one day above another (verse 5). Much of this has as its background those Jews who were trying to press the Gentiles about keeping the law of Moses. We do know that prior to the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, that Jewish Christians were still coming to Jerusalem for feast days. Such trips and activities associated with those events were not to be bound on Gentiles. Those, then, who esteem certain days more than others were not to make issues to the point of disturbing the faith of the Gentile world in Jesus the Christ.
Paul sums it up by saying in verse 5 of Romans 14, each Christian should be fully persuaded in his own mind. This is not to say that truth is subjective and each person decides to do what he pleases. In fact it is just the opposite. Truth is absolute and does not change with time or culture. The Christian who tried to bind the law of Moses in the issues of eating meats or special days were being told to look deeper into the will of God. God meant for the world then and our world now, to know the truth (John 8:32). Those who ate herbs or had special days needed to know more about the faith.
We must take a moment to address the issue about attitude. The person who could eat meats was not to despise the person who had not come to that knowledge. The person who reached wrong conclusions and ate only herbs was not to pass judgment on the person who was eating meats (verse 3). As verse 6 teaches us both men by having respect for God could be accepted by God. Respecting God required them to respect each other. As the fifteenth chapter opens those who are strong should bear the infirmities of those who are weak. Our attitude should be according to verse one, to please others and not ourselves.
The growth of faith requires us to deal with circumstances in life that requires our application of the knowledge of God. The individual who is weak has just not understood the will of God on a given subject. Those who have grown in their faith need then to be helpful to those who need more knowledge. What then causes faith to become weak? It is not because a person searches the scripture and cannot find the answers he looks for. The person who becomes weak in his faith is the one who gives up on looking for those answers in God’s Word.