(1)
Scripture Reading: Rom. 12:1-2; 14:1-12; 2 Cor. 5:10; 1 Cor. 4:5; Matt. 16:27; 25:19; Luke 19:15; 1 Cor. 3:12-15; John 10:28-29; 2 Tim. 4:8; Rev. 22:12
The gospel of Romans is wonderful. In the first eleven chapters Paul completely covers justification, sanctification, glorification, and selection. If we read these four main sections, we shall see that God has accomplished nearly all that He intended to do. In Romans 1 through 11 we have seen God’s creation, man’s fall, Christ’s redemption, God’s justification, and God’s reconciliation. Furthermore, Paul has unveiled to us God’s identification, the life process of sanctification, and glorification. Also Paul has led us into the source of all of God’s activities — His heart of love. Paul also has led us into the secret chamber of God’s selection where we have seen His economy. What a panoramic view we have seen! Consider all of the items we have passed through: God’s creation, the fall of man, God’s redemption, justification, reconciliation, identification, sanctification, glorification, love, and selection. Although all of these items are wonderful, none of them is the ultimate consummation of God’s work.
The ultimate consummation of God’s work is the church life. Satan is subtle and has caused many of the dear, seeking Christians to even hate the word church. Many Christians uplift sanctification and life, but seem to cast the church behind their back, not caring for it, and even opposing it. Most of them hold the erroneous concept that the church is not for now, but for the future. Hence, whenever we talk about the church we find ourselves in trouble. This is the subtlety of the enemy. Nearly two thousand years ago the Lord Jesus promised that He would soon return; yet He has not come because the church is not ready. Where is the church properly built as the Lord mentioned in Matthew 16:18? Without the church properly prepared, there is no way for the Lord Jesus to return. His coming back requires two things: the restoration of the nation of Israel and the recovery of the church life. If you understand prophecy, you will realize that these two matters are the greatest signs of the Lord’s return. The restoration of Israel and the recovery of the church are necessary for the Lord’s coming back. Without this preparation it is impossible for the Lord to return. In the Lord’s recovery we are preparing the way for His return. Every day we read in the newspapers regarding the events in the Middle East. All that is occurring there is the preparation for the restoration of the nation of Israel. Although I am assured that the Lord is working in the Middle East, I am quite concerned about His work among us. He must match His work with Israel by His work with the church. Thus, we must pay our full attention to the church life.
After eleven chapters of discourse, Paul comes to the ultimate point, the church life, in Romans 12. We have already seen that Paul uses five chapters to cover the church life. I have previously pointed out that the section on the church life begins in a specific manner, with Paul saying, “I beg you therefore, brothers” (12:1). Paul was begging us to present our bodies physically and practically for the church life. After begging us to present our bodies for the church life, Paul proceeded to the second part of our being, our soul, and spoke to us regarding our need to be transformed by the renewing of our mind (12:2). Our soul needs a radical, essential, and metabolic change in both nature and form. Our whole being needs to be changed for the sake of the church life, for nothing natural, common, worldly, or modern is suitable for the Body life. We need a metabolic transformation through the inward working of the divine life element. We need a radical revolution in our thought, emotion, and will. Once we undergo this kind of metabolic transformation in our whole being, we shall be good for the church life. Furthermore, once our body has been presented and our soul transformed by the renewing of our mind, our spirit needs to be burning. Our spirit must be set on fire. If we have all of these qualities, we shall see out of the growth in life the manifestation of the gifts of grace in life. The different gifts and functions will begin to emerge. We must not be like the pew-sitters in the so-called churches who go to the church building and sit in their pews as dead members without any function. Such people can never participate in the church life. The people in the church life must have their bodies presented, their souls transformed by the renewing of their minds, and their spirits burning. Then the necessary gifts will be exercised and we shall have the church life.
For the proper church life, we need the proper Christian life. Therefore, beginning at 12:9 and continuing through 13:14 Paul covers the normal Christian life. We have seen that in this portion of Romans Paul covers many points: our attitude and behavior toward God, our fellow members, ourselves, and our persecutors; our attitude toward the government and the established authorities; the exercise of the principle of love; and the warfare against the flesh. In order to practice the church life, we need to have a normal Christian daily life, a life which matches the church life. We need to have our body presented, our soul transformed, our mind renewed, our spirit burning, and our gifts exercised. Thus, at the end of Romans 13, the church life has been portrayed and the Christian life adequately defined.
However, there is still a great need. We must take care of the matter of receiving the saints. In the matter of receiving the saints, we need to exercise the discernment which is derived from the practicing of the church life and the living of a normal Christian life. If we are unclear about receiving the believers, we shall damage the church life and cut it into pieces. We shall resemble a person who, in so many details, takes care of his physical body, but is negligent about a particular matter which can cause death. If we are not careful about receiving the saints, the church will be mutilated. During the more than forty years I have been in the church life, I have met a good number of dear saints who proclaimed that they had seen the Body, but who, after a short time, became divisive over doctrine, damaged the church, and cut themselves off from the fellowship of the church. When they first contacted the church, they said, “Hallelujah, I have seen the church,” but they became dissenting a few months later. Therefore, I say that we must be very careful about properly receiving the believers.
In order to receive our fellow believers in the Lord, we need transformation. If we remain natural, we shall be unable to go along with others. In fact, according to our natural disposition, we cannot even agree with ourselves consistently. We all fight with ourselves. Thus, it is very difficult for any Christian remaining in his natural disposition to go along with others. Receiving the saints requires transformation. I believe that Paul’s word in Romans 12:2 concerning being transformed by the renewing of the mind not only governs the section on the practice of the Body life, but also all the other chapters relating to the church life. Transformation governs the items found in chapter thirteen as well as some of the aspects of chapters fourteen and fifteen. If we are not transformed to at least a certain degree, we shall be unable to be one with other believers. Although we may meet with them, we shall be unable to fellowship with them or to open ourselves to them. If we were to open ourselves to them, we would end up fighting with them because we are untransformed and so natural in our concept, behavior, and all that we are and do. Thus, in order to receive our fellow believers, we need transformation. All of Romans 14 and part of 15 is devoted to this matter. As we shall see, Paul deals with the receiving of the believers with respect to five main points.
We must receive the saints according to God’s receiving of them. Whomever God has received, we are compelled to receive. We have no choice. Consider a family with many children. Some of the children are good and the others bad; some are sweet and the others naughty. Perhaps in such a large family some of the children may not be happy with all of their brothers and sisters. However, the children must realize that it does not rest with them to determine who their brothers and sisters will be. That depends upon the parents. If one of the children in this family thinks that his brother is ugly and complains against him, his complaint should not be directed against his brother, but against his parents who brought him forth. Our heavenly Father has brought forth many children, many Christians, and He has received them all. Therefore, we also must receive them, not according to our tastes or preferences, but according to God’s receiving.
However, most of the receiving of the believers in Christianity is not according to God’s receiving, but according to doctrinal concepts. Consider the example of baptism. There are many different concepts about baptism. Some people insist on sprinkling, some on immersion, others argue about the name in which we baptize people, and still others argue against physical baptism, claiming that baptism is purely spiritual. How many different schools of opinion there are over this one matter of baptism! This is dreadful. And this over just one doctrine! It would take us months to cover all the differing doctrinal concepts, such as eternal security, predestination, free will, rapture, etc. Even the teaching of head covering has caused some divisions. Certain Christian groups pay a great deal of attention to the matter of head covering for the sisters. There is much argument even about this as people debate the size, color, and thickness of the material used as a covering. I know of one group that insists upon a white head covering, not permitting any other color. Even this little thing has caused division.
No one can say that the churches in the Lord’s recovery are heretical. We believe that the Bible is the Word of God and is divinely inspired word for word. We believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that He was incarnated as a man and lived on this earth, that He died upon the cross for our sins, that He was resurrected physically, and spiritually, that He has ascended to the heavens and is the Lord of all at the right hand of God, and that He dwells within us. We believe in the unique God, the Triune God, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. We believe that the Lord Jesus is coming again and that He will establish His kingdom on the earth. There is nothing heretical about any of this. Nevertheless, some people criticize us and find fault with us because we do not agree with all of their opinions regarding doctrine. Some insist upon baptizing others three times and demand that the church practice this. However, if we make this our practice, we shall denominate ourselves as a “three-times-baptizing church.” Others insist on speaking in tongues. Undoubtedly, the Bible includes tongue-speaking, but we cannot make the church a tongue-speaking church. The church must be general. Many dear saints have attempted to make the church in the Lord’s recovery into a particular kind of church according to their doctrinal concept, but we simply cannot agree with that. Therefore, some have separated from us because they were divisive over doctrines or particular practices.
The pitiful history of Christianity is a history of division and confusion. Much of this division has been caused by divergent doctrinal concepts. We have learned this lesson after a thorough study of church history and we do not want to repeat the tragedy of the history of Christianity. Therefore, we will never argue about head covering or baptism or holy days or about the wine used at the Lord’s table. We will never dispute about trifling matters such as the bread and the cup used at the Lord’s table, the kind of water used in baptism, and the way of baptizing people. The Lord’s recovery is not concerned with that. The Lord’s recovery is for Christ as life and for the church as the expression of Christ in unity in each locality. Some dear saints, after claiming to see the church, continued to hold to their particular doctrinal understanding. As a result, they caused a great deal of trouble, inflicting suffering upon themselves and severing themselves from the Lord’s recovery in their attempt to cut the church into pieces. Thus, we must be careful not to receive people according to doctrinal concepts, but according to God’s receiving.
Paul knew how important was the matter of receiving the believers and consequently he devoted all of chapter fourteen plus part of chapter fifteen to this subject. In Romans 12 we see the Body. In Romans 14 we are given a warning. If we do not take heed to this warning, we shall use doctrine as a knife to cut in pieces the very Body revealed in chapter twelve. Many Christians talk about the Body of Christ according to Romans 12; nevertheless, they are responsible for killing the Body and for cutting it into pieces by wielding the knife of doctrinal divisiveness. This is why the Body that is revealed according to Romans 12 must be lived out according to Romans 14. Without Romans 14 we are unable to have the proper practice of the Body unveiled in chapter twelve. Many Christians pay attention to Romans 12, but neglect Romans 14, talking about the Body, but remaining divisive and divided because they continue to hold to their doctrinal concepts. They are unwilling to drop them. Thus, it is impossible for them to experience the Body life. Therefore, Paul, after revealing the proper church life and the normal Christian life, takes up the crucial point of receiving the believers. If we do not care for this point, we shall commit spiritual suicide as far as the church life is concerned. In order to have the Body life, we must receive the believers according to God’s receiving of them in a general way, not according to our doctrinal concepts in a particular way.
The most terrible doctrinal concepts are mainly those held by the religious, Jewish believers. These concepts fall into two categories: eating and keeping of days. Those who hold these concepts insist that certain foods are holy and that others are unclean, that certain days are holy and that others are common. They base their dietary regulations on Leviticus 11. In their eyes, the Gentiles are little more than unclean beasts that eat everything. Acts 10 shows that even Peter, the first apostle, was religious with respect to eating. His religious nature forced God to give him the same revelation three times regarding what is sanctified and what is common (Acts 10:9-16). When the Lord told Peter to “kill and eat,” Peter said, “Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean” (Acts 10:13-14). The Lord answered Peter saying, “What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common” (Acts 10:15). We see by this that Peter, like so many others, clung to doctrinal concepts because he was religious. When such people argue for their concepts, they think that they are fighting for the truth of God. Actually, they are frustrating God’s move in the building of the Body of Christ. No doctrinal concept should be our ground in receiving the believers. The only ground for us to receive the believers is God’s receiving.
In 14:1 Paul says, “Now him who is weak in faith receive.” Some believers are weak in faith because they have not yet received much of the transfusing and infusing of the element of God into them. Nevertheless, they do have a measure of faith and must be received.
Some believers, being weak in faith, dare not to eat everything or to regard every day the same. Yet they do have a measure of faith and are genuine believers in Christ. So, based upon this measure of faith of theirs and the fact that they are believers, we must receive them.
We need to read all of 14:1-5. “Now him who is weak in faith receive, not with a view to passing judgment on reasonings. One believes that he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats vegetables. Let 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. Who are you that judges another’s household servant? To his own lord he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. One judges one day above another, another judges every day alike. Let each be fully persuaded in his own mind.” In Romans 14 Paul himself was an excellent example of not passing judgment on doctrinal reasonings, for he did not express his opinion about which doctrine is right or wrong. Certainly he knew the correct doctrines about eating and about the keeping of days. Nevertheless, he did not take sides, but charged all of us to be general and not to criticize others. Let others be free to eat whatever they want and to keep whatever day they want. To them one day is holier than another, but to the ones who are stronger in faith every day is the same.
We also must learn not to pass judgments on doctrinal reasonings. When people ask you about the method of baptism or the kind of water used, you should not get into a doctrinal argument. In other words, do not make a judgment on the matter. The best way to reply to doctrinal questions is to help people to turn themselves from doctrinal concepts to Christ who is our life. By nature, we are all inclined to convince others and to argue with them about our concepts. We must avoid that.
In 14:3 Paul says “for God has received him.” This is the basis on which we receive others. As long as our Father has received a person, we must also receive him. We have no choice. Regardless how weak or how peculiar a believer may be, we must receive him.
Let us read 14:6-9. “He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself, and none dies to himself; for whether we live, we live to the Lord, or if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. For Christ died and lived again for this, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.” All genuine believers are the Lord’s. All have been born of the same Lord regardless of the way in which they have been baptized, of the food they eat, or the days they observe. Verses 6 through 9 show us what is important and what is not important. To live for the Lord and to belong to the Lord are important. As long as a person belongs to the Lord and lives to Him, he is all right. We must not place further demands upon him in accordance with our doctrinal concepts. If, on the other hand, we begin to argue about doctrine, we shall soon be divided according to our various concepts. We must care for the important things. As long as God the Father has received us all and as long as we believe in the Lord and live to Him, we should receive one another.
Furthermore, we must also receive the saints in the light of the judgment seat. We need to read verses 10 through 12. “But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment-seat of God. For it is written, As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then, each one of us shall give account of himself to God.” The “judgment-seat of God” of verse 10 is the “judgment seat of Christ” of 2 Corinthians 5:10. The judgment at the judgment seat of God will be held before the millennium, immediately after Christ’s return (1 Cor. 4:5; Matt. 16:27; 25:19; Luke 19:15), and the life and work of the believers will be judged at that time (Rev. 22:12; Matt. 16:27; 1 Cor. 4:5; 3:13-15; Matt. 25:19; Luke 19:15). This judgment has nothing to do with a believer’s salvation, for everyone who appears at the judgment seat of God will have already been saved. This judgment will judge the believers’ life and work after they have been saved. This judgment will determine a believer’s reward in the millennial kingdom (Matt. 25:21, 23; Luke 19:17, 19; 1 Cor. 3:14-15; Matt. 16:27; Rev. 22:12; Luke 14:14; 2 Tim. 4:8). The believers will stand before this judgment seat to give account to God of their life and work. Here is Paul’s thought: we should not argue with others or criticize them, but take care of ourselves, because one day we shall stand before the judgment seat of God to give an account of our life and work after we were saved. Since this judgment concerns how the believers have lived before the Lord and what they have worked for the Lord after they were saved, and since the transformation of the believers has very much to do with this judgment, it is mentioned here in the section on transformation.
Because the truth of the judgment of the believers has been almost completely hidden from the saints, we need to read and comment upon some of the verses given as references in the preceding paragraph. We may begin with 2 Corinthians 5:10. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that everyone may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” This is not the eternal judgment of God mentioned in Romans 2:2, 3, 5, 16 and 3:8, which will be mainly carried out at the white throne revealed in Revelation 20:11-15. The eternal judgment at the white throne will be after the millennium, will judge all the dead unbelievers, and will concern eternal punishment in the lake of fire. The judgment at the judgment seat of Christ will judge the life and work of the believers and it will determine whether the believers will receive a reward for the “good” or suffer a type of loss for the “bad.” Then 1 Corinthians 4:5 says, “Therefore, judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.” This verse also denotes the judgment at the judgment seat of God or of Christ. If we do rightly, we shall receive “praise of God.” Matthew 16:27 also speaks of the judgment of the believers. “For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.” This verse tells us that at His coming the Lord will reward us according to our works. We find a similar thought in Matthew 25:19. “After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.” What does this mean? It means that the Lord will look into our record and that we will have to render a full account to Him of our life and work after we were saved. This will occur at the judgment seat of Christ. Luke 19:15 is closely related to this. “And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading.” Once again, this denotes the reckoning that will be made to the Lord at the judgment seat of Christ.
We need to pay close attention to 1 Corinthians 3:13-15. “Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.” The words “suffer loss” in verse 15 do not mean to perish. Our salvation is eternal and we cannot perish. However, if you suffer loss, you will be saved “as by fire.” Many Christians neglect this verse. Nearly all of them claim that as long as they are saved there will be no problem in the future judgment. If you tell them that they might suffer loss, they will insist that such a thought is heretical. Nevertheless, we must listen to Paul’s clear word in 1 Corinthians 3:15. Paul definitely says that if a man’s work is burned, he will suffer a loss. What kind of work will be burned? The wood, hay, and stubble mentioned in verse 12. What kind of loss will this be? Although we cannot say with certainty, it is definite that some loss will be incurred. It is not the loss of our salvation, for Paul says of the man whose work is burned that “he himself shall be saved.” Nevertheless, we should not be complacent, because Paul concludes the verse by saying that the man will be saved “so as by fire,” a phrase which is better rendered as “as through fire.” When hearing this some may respond that this is the Catholic teaching of purgatory. I am familiar with the Catholic teaching about purgatory and with the fact that Catholicism does use this verse from 1 Corinthians as a basis for their teaching about it. According to the Catholic teaching concerning purgatory, you may shorten the suffering of a relative who is enduring the purifying fires of purgatory after his death by making a monetary contribution on his behalf. However, when we refer to the pure Word of the Bible, we do not have in mind this concept of purgatory. Along with Paul, we are simply saying that we must be careful, for when the Lord returns He will ask us to render to Him a full account of our life and work. He will say, “I gave you a certain gift. What have you done for Me? What have you accomplished for Me since you were saved? What kind of building work have you done? Have you built with wood, hay, and stubble, or with gold, silver, and precious stones?” This will determine whether or not the Lord will reward us. In 1 Corinthians 3 Paul tells us clearly that if our work remains, we shall receive a positive reward, but if our work is consumed, we will suffer loss, although we shall be eternally saved. I dare not say what the loss will be, but I know that it will not be pleasant. I simply present to you the pure Word. This is an aspect of the judgment seat of Christ. This is the clear word of the Bible, and the Bible can never be wrong. To be saved is one thing; to receive a positive reward from the Lord for your work is another thing; and to suffer loss for your improper work is still another. This is very serious, and we should not be loose about it.
Because Christians are not clear about the pure Word of God, there are the two major schools of Calvinism and Arminianism. According to the Calvinist school, once you are saved you are eternally saved, and there will be no problems in the future. According to the Arminian school, it is possible to be lost again if you do not live and work uprightly after you are saved. These two schools represent two extremes, and neither school has found the bridge in the Bible which spans the gap between them. The bridge is the judgment seat of God. Once we have been saved, we are eternally saved and can never be lost. This contrasts with the Pentecostal teaching which claims that people are not eternally saved in this life and that it is possible to be saved and lost many times during the span of one lifetime. This kind of salvation is like an elevator: it goes up and down. However, the Bible declares that God’s salvation is eternal. In John 10:28-29 we are told that once we have eternal life we shall never perish. Nevertheless, there are verses, such as 1 Corinthians 3:15, which tell us that in the future we may suffer loss. When the Lord returns, He will gather all His servants before Him and have them give an account to Him of their life and work. Although we are saved eternally, we must still give an account to the Lord of our life and work at the judgment seat of Christ. The Lord will look into our account and decide whether we will receive a reward or suffer a loss. In 2 Timothy 4:8 Paul could say, “Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day.” However, this does not mean that every believer will receive such a crown. Whether or not you receive a crown of righteousness will depend on the results at the judgment seat. Finally, in Revelation 22:12 the Lord Jesus Himself says, “And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” I believe that by now the matter of the judgment at the judgment seat of Christ has been made clear. We must be careful about judging others, for we ourselves will be judged by God.
We must receive the believers in the light of the judgment seat of God. We should not criticize others, but judge ourselves. If we do not judge ourselves, we shall have to give an account before the judgment seat of Christ. Some believers judged the ones who wanted to get rid of their oldness by the water burial, but did not judge themselves for going to the movies. If you criticize others without judging yourself for attending the movies, at the judgment seat the Lord will ask you to give an account of that. Some sisters in a certain group cover their head with a long white covering and are accustomed to judging and condemning other sisters who pray without a covering or who, at best, only wear a small cap. Although these sisters cover themselves with a long white covering in the church meetings, some of them usurp the headship of their husbands at home. They need to judge themselves in this matter. Do not judge others, judge yourself. Whenever we are about to receive another believer in the Lord, we must exercise our discernment in the light of the judgment seat and say, “O Lord, have mercy on me. I am not worthy to judge my brother. Cover me, Lord. I want to be judged by You. I want to pass judgment on myself, on my life and living.” This should be our attitude.
We should not criticize others, but should pass judgment on ourselves. If we fail to do it now, we shall stand before the judgment seat of God and do it then. We must all be enlightened by the judgment seat. Whenever a new believer comes to us, we must exercise our discernment in receiving him. However, in the light of the judgment seat of God, we must judge ourselves more. Thus, Paul’s thought in Romans 14:10-12 is that we should not judge others, but let the Lord take care of them. We should judge ourselves. As we are about to judge others, let us remember that the Lord will reckon with us when He returns. This is a serious matter.
