December 11, 2025 | Romans 14-16

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Introduction and Warm Welcome

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[00:00:00] hey, everybody. Welcome back to another edition of the Daily Bible Podcast. Hello, friends. Happy Thursday. We're glad that you decided to make us a part of your Thursday. In fact, we hope that you'll make us a part of all of your Thursdays and every other day next year for the rest of your life.

Well, I mean, yeah, maybe for some, who knows? Who knows? But you heard us talk about it on Sunday if you were with us in church. And just to remind you again, you've heard us talk about it on the podcast a couple times. We are doing this again next year, and yet we're not doing the chronological plan.

We're switching things up, going to a new plan, and it's gonna have us in the New Testament, in the Old Testament, you'll have some bookmarks to be able to have one in the old, one in the new. And yet we're gonna keep the Daily Bible Podcast going. Same format, same style, all of this stuff. So all the googly, it'll be back again.

And it'll be back and better than ever. Better, we're gonna add 50% more googly next year. The people have been clamoring for more. Well, much to the chagrin of some people, but much to the joy and delight of others. That's true. That's true. We're gonna go into people who really like us. The [00:01:00] people that really love us.

We'll meet their desires. That's right. I think.

Upcoming Biblical Counseling Intensive

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Hey, you also heard us talk about on Sunday the, a little bit more about this biblical counseling intensive that's coming up in January. So when I hit that again, in fact as we record this, it's December 9th, so I know it's not that today, but, we're a month out from today of doing this biblical counseling intensive. And so it's gonna be with pastor Lucas Pace, Dr. Pastor Lucas Pace, who's gonna be coming out from California, and it's gonna be a, just a rich time. But they heard from me talk about it a little bit on, on Sunday, but Pastor Rod, you're going through a.

Doctorate in ministry right now in biblical counseling. So from somebody who is going through this and pursuing it at the higher level help our people understand what some of the benefits maybe that you've experienced. I know it's not gonna be a one for one 'cause it's different material, but what are some benefits that they can expect to gain and clean from this time that they're gonna spend during this weekend?

Let me just give Mr. Pastor Dr. Lucas Pace's, flowers real quick here. He's a really wise dude. Yes. He's one of the wisest people that I know wise beyond his ears for [00:02:00] sure. And he. He always. I would encourage him to teach or preach or step into some kind of ministry opportunity. He would be like, well, I don't know.

And he'd him, and he'd hall and gimme all these silly reasons why he couldn't do it. But then he would go and do it and he would be so good, what he lacks in Polish, and I'll give him that. He may not be the most polished speaker, but what he lacks in Polish, he makes up for more than mixed up for in what he brings to the table.

He's a wise dude. So I would highly encourage you to sit under his teaching. He's great. I really enjoy him. He's a personal friend and he's been a personal confidant in a lot of areas that have been extraordinarily helpful to me. So if I can plug him on top of the content I'd like to do that.

Benefits of Biblical Counseling

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So he's gonna be great at what he does, but let me tell you why Biblical Counseling has unlocked for me new levels of understanding and new levels of depth in my love for God, what I learned, and I could crystallize it in one idea. Biblical counseling taught me that the word of God has greater riches and greater applicational and even [00:03:00] implications than what you realize.

As I alluded to a few podcasts ago, sometimes we think that there are issues that the Bible just doesn't have the hardware to speak to. We think about OCD or some of the newer things that are being diagnosed. Attention hyper deficit disorder. There's lots of things that are.

Today quite intimidating to Christians because then you start to say, well, I'm not qualified to talk about this. I don't wanna be, I don't wanna be intrusive. I don't want to speak above my pay grade. And the reality is a lot of psychology and psychiatric diagnoses, diagnoses. Lots of those things really are in the wheelhouse of the Christian.

When we talk about things like anxiety, does scripture have anything to say about how someone experiences or processes anxiety? Of course. Does scripture have anything to say about conflict between a husband and wife even in the most intimate places of their marriage? Well, yes it does actually.

It has lots of say about those things. So there's a lot of applications. You probably hadn't even thought of that are available in scripture that are faithful to the text. We're not making things up. We're not shoving things [00:04:00] in there. Scripture has a lot of depth available. If you have the time and the energy to invest in understanding it rightly and deeply.

That takes time. So now's the time to start if you wanna deepen your well so that scripture comes alive in new, fresh ways. This is one of the ways, one of the best ways that I can think of to do that very thing. I agree. I agree.

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And remember again, we're offering this. There's no charge for it. You can register for it on our website.

This is gonna be compass ntx.org. I know some of you, quite a few of you have already registered, so if you wanna spot, make sure you jump on and get yourself registered. We do have childcare available as well. We think, yeah, pastor Lucas is doing that too. He is, he's doing all of it. It's amazing. He's doing the childcare, he's doing the teaching.

It's gonna be awesome to watch him do it. We just asked him not to lead worship. We thought, you know, it'd probably be best not to have him lead worship. But yeah we want you to be a part of it, so make sure you're registered for that.

Daily Bible Reading: Romans 14-16

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Well, let's get into our daily Bible reading. Today we are finishing Romans, Romans 14, 15, and 16.

Romans 14 deals with. A subject that we've dealt with a [00:05:00] little bit already back in first Corinthians and now it comes back up again. And this is the issue of the weaker brother. And one of the things I think that I really appreciate about Romans chapter 14 is that all says stop fighting with each other over stuff that you don't need to be fighting about.

And that's right off the bat. He says, the one that's weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. So if you disagree with a brother or sister over their convictions, over what is right or what is wrong, he said basically saying, Hey, pursue unity with each other. Remember, he's just said, owe no one to anything other than to love one another.

Back in chapter 13. And so now he's getting into 14 and he's zealous for and jealous for the unity of the church and that people would love each other well. His whole point here, in fact, he gets into it in verse 13. He says, do not pass judgment on anyone any longer, but. Don't put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother or sister in Christ.

Use your freedoms. Yes, you are free, but use your freedoms in such a way as to pursue the good of one another. And not to just sit back and say, well, I'm free, and this is not biblically [00:06:00] defined as sin, so therefore you can't tell me not to do this. You can't tell me not to drink. You can't tell me not to smoke.

You can't tell me not to do these things because. I'm free to do this and it doesn't convict my conscience. Well, Paul would say, yeah, but if you are wounding a brother's conscience or a sister's conscience by doing these things, don't do it because it's not loving them. It's not pursuing the good and the unity of the church in that.

So this really flows well from where he's been in chapter 13 and chapter 12. And in all of these things as the implication of the gospel is be careful in the way that you use your freedoms.

Practical Applications of Romans 14

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All right, I've got some stuff for you then. Okay. With chapter 14 in mind, cigars, alcoholic beverages and tattoos, those are probably three areas that I think Christians can honestly disagree with.

Those three things in mind, how would I take chapter 14 and work through some of those issues? So let's just let's get practical here. A young lady wants to get a tattoo on her arm or her shoulder or something like that, and an older woman says to her, look, sweetheart. Don't do that. This is [00:07:00] a pagan activity, or it's just something that's not helpful for people to see on your body drawing unnecessary attention.

I strongly advise you against this. You're not gonna like it in 20 years anyway. I don't want you to do this. Who's the weaker brother or sister in this scenario, and how do you move forward with that? Is the younger woman supposed to say, oh, this older lady told me not to, I shouldn't do it.

If I do it, I'm gonna cause her conscience to have an issue with this. What's the move there? Yeah, in, in that. That situation. The weaker sister in that situation is actually the older lady in the church that's arguing something that, that really biblically is there's, these are principles, these are concepts, but they're not black and white.

This is a, here's a clear commandment telling you're in sin if you do this. This is her saying, my conscience would be wounded. If you were to do this, and so I would go to 14 three when he says, let not the one who eats, despise the one who abstains. You could change that for this scenario. Not let the one who gets the tattoo despise the one who doesn't get the tattoo, neither.

Let the one who [00:08:00] doesn't get the da the tattoo pass judgment on the one who does get the tattoo for God has welcomed him. In other words if we're not dealing with a black and white sin here, but a matter of conviction. We have to be careful about imposing our convictions on other people. So for this scenario, I think what would be unloving for that young woman if she decided to move forward and get the tattoo, it would be to show up at church next Sunday and flaunt the tattoo and be like, Hey, look what I got.

I got this tattoo because I know what you said, but still, I don't care what you said because it's not a biblical prohibition. I did it because it doesn't win my conscience. You just need to mind your own business. That's not loving. Neither would it be loving for this elderly woman or the older woman to say, you know what you start name calling or assuming things about her if she finds out that she did go forward with the tattoo.

So it's. Yeah it's a matter of being careful about not flaunting and that's what it's, it means to cause somebody to be, to stumble in their sin. I think the issue of alcohol is probably one that is, is relevant here. If you have somebody over to your home and you know, for example, that, that brother [00:09:00] or sister they struggle with alcohol or they have strong convictions about it, maybe they don't.

They don't have a past struggling with it, but they have family who has had a past struggling with it. So for them, alcohol's associated with things that are really hard for them, and you know that. Then even though for you it may not be a an issue of right or wrong, or sin or not sin, for you to love that brother or sister in Christ who's the weaker brother or sister in that instance would be for you to say, you know what, I'm not gonna choose to drink right now.

I have the freedom to, but I'm not because I love that person Now. They may not be over for dinner the next night, and you may have a beer with dinner. Because again, for you, it's not a matter of this is sin or not sin. For me, this is a way that I can enjoy something that God has created and I'm doing it for His glory.

And I feel that in my heart. So I'm okay with that. So I think that's some of the ways that it would work out for us in a fellowship's context.

Unity and Love in the Church

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So it sounds like the principle behind this is that the stronger brother or sister in this case, is the most privileged to lay down their rights and say, for your sake.

I'm not going to [00:10:00] even get the tattoo. Do you think Paul would be behind this idea of saying, you know what, because I know this woman would struggle over that. I may not even get it in the first place because I don't want her to be upset by it. Or, but okay, so here's where everyone else is gonna go with that, though.

To what end pastor pj, to what end? Because mm-hmm. People are upset and mm-hmm. Stumbled over a lot of things. Maybe even most recently, we had somebody. Lots of somebodies who I think have watched this Netflix document, not documentary, it's a, not a documentary. The Demon Hunter K-pop people. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I haven't seen it so caveat for all the things that we're about to say. Yeah. But hypothetically, if a Christian could watch it and say, oh, I enjoyed that. I was perfectly fine, had no issues with it, it wasn't stumbled, but others who would see it would say, oh, that's awful. It's demons and it's clearly blurring lines that should not be blurred.

There's clearly elements of right and wrong here. A strong Christian. Might say, to what end do I give into the weaker Christian who really stumbles over these things? And maybe for the one who thinks that they're a stronger Christian, maybe they're just carnally minded, right? [00:11:00] And their conscience isn't as sensitive as the more spiritually attuned Christian, right?

So how do I know who I'm dealing with and how do I make some of these decisions? Right, right. And that last part there about the carnally minded one is true. And that's where we have to go back to do not use your freedom as a coverup for evil. You know, do not use your freedom as an excuse for sin, in other words and that's the between the heart of that individual and the Lord.

When it comes to what I end, for example the tattoo issue, if this was like, okay, I'm getting a tattoo on my face and it's gonna be, a tattoo of a Greek word across my forehead then yeah, I could see a scenario where you would abstain from that because that would be such a noticeable distraction to those in the church that are against tattoos that it couldn't help but be kind of like

The fist in the face to the person of going, ha I defy you, even though you're against these. Look, I got it tattooed on my forehead. It's a tattoo that this woman is getting of her children's name on her calf or her ankle or something like that. Something that is not visible really to the public.

I don't think [00:12:00] she's under the restrictions to say, okay, I'm gonna abstain completely from getting this tattoo for the sake of the conscience of this other woman in the church. Mostly because unless that other woman in the church comes to her and be like, well, did you get the tattoo? And even there, there's an opportunity for a conversation to take place.

I think in Paul's context here is this is when it's interrupting the fellowship and body life of the church, and we have to the k-pop demon hunters, let's say somebody is watching that and they're going, yeah we appreciate it for what it is. I would say. Okay. But then to cross over to that next line of bringing it then into the church and going to the people that you know struggle with that and talking to them about it and be like, well, I watched it.

What's the big deal? That's what Paul's saying here at the very beginning. Welcome one another, but not for the point of arguing with each other. Welcome one, one another, but don't be divisive. Don't create whether you're choosing to abstain or not abstain. Don't make this a point of dissension and division in the church.

And so if you're gonna do something don't show up and flaunt it in front of the people that you know, struggle with that, because that's not loving them. And that's. Promoting and [00:13:00] fomenting divisiveness in the church, which is really what he's mainly concerned with I think. I feel personally called out.

You know I've been flirting with the idea of a face tattoo. Thanks for putting me out there. Well, no, really, I. The principle stands, and I think that's a great place to, to land the plane there. It's really a principle of love. Really. The question is who gets to lay down their rights for the others, and we're thinking about it wrong.

If we say, well, how much do I have to give up to satisfy the conscience of this Christian? It might be, as Paul says here, the faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Mm-hmm. If you can do some of these things in private. Without flaunting it or causing others to stumble. Well, hey, to the glory of God, do those things.

Yeah, as much as you're able to. But I do think it is a fair point to bring up, is this a worldly activity? Am I covering up evil and saying, I have freedom to do this. That's a possibility that we ought to explore as we go about some of these things. But that's a great point. Love the person that you're serving, the person that you're with, love the church, and that will really help resolve a lot of these issues.

You know, it's interesting. Before we planted out here and we [00:14:00] got dropped into, this situation where we've got so many Hindus and everybody else around us, I used to read chapter 14 and be like, okay, so what's the modern day equivalent of eating food sacrifice to idols? And now all of a sudden it's like, oh, it's when my neighbors invite me over for dinner and I know that they've offered that food, that they're serving me to their household gods before they're serving me.

Literally. Yeah, that's true. It's real life. We ate without asking any questions, lemme just tell you. No, same. Same except that I did see all of the gods on the mantles and everywhere else. Same. But chapter 15 then, is again the call to to, to follow Christ's likeness, to love one another and to pursue unity.

We who are strong, he's continuing with this idea, have an obligation to bear with the failings or the of the weak, the weaknesses of them, because we're after, as he says here in verse six. In five before that to, to live in harmony with one another. Such that we may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, we wanna welcome one another. So we're after not only love, but also the unity of the body because that's where Christ is most exalted through [00:15:00] this. In the rest of chapter 15 he expresses again, his desire, his purpose, his calling to go to the Gentiles there. He's still dealing with Christ and the relationship of the church in Israel, and he's kinda laying it out for both, again, reminding them as he's leaning in the plane.

Christ is for both, but for him right now, he is really. Intending on pursuing the Gentiles, which is why he wants to come to them specifically to visit them in Rome, which would've been a melting pot of the time. Probably a largely gentile audience that he's writing to at this point. And he's asking for, and kind of getting into the housekeeping issues here in chapter 15 before he really.

Paul's Personal Greetings in Romans 16

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Gets there in chapter 16, which I love from Paul because he lists so many different names in here. And they're gonna be named some of them that you recognize here. He's gonna recognize Phoebe, which we talked about already. In the book of Acts, he's gonna talk about PRIs, Prisca and Aquila. Priscilla and Aquila.

There he's gonna talk about also there was somebody else in there too that I thought about, anyways, I can't find it right now, but I love that he has so many personal names as he lands the plane in Romans. 'cause it just reminds us that he's writing to real people. He's [00:16:00] not writing a textbook, he's not writing a systematic theology that's just meant to go on somebody's shelf.

He's writing to real people who he cares about and loves, and he is writing to them about how they should live in light of the gospel. Yeah. I love this part too because it shows that Paul has a wide network of people that he interacted with. He wasn't just an apostle writing letters who's self-aware that he's writing scripture and then just saying, but the rest of you peons.

Maybe you can get some time with me later, but I've got important stuff to do. For Paul, the important stuff was the people ministry was in service to the people, and sometimes we get that wrong. We get this idea that ministry is doing the project itself. I'm building the stage, I'm, producing some of the cool decor that we're using for Sunday service.

And those things are awesome, but they're awesome to the extent that they are for the people that we're here to serve. And so you see it in Paul's life and his letter, he's not inactive in the life of these people. He knows them by name. He's greeting them. He's got some, he talks about one who's also a mother to him.

I love that because Rufuss, his [00:17:00] mom is a mom to Paul, and I think that's really sweet and wonderful. And verse 16, let's talk about verse 16. This is something that. We are directly violating. We're not greeting one another with a holy kiss, so please explain why we're not greeting each other with kisses.

Yeah, I mean, if you go to some places in Europe right now, even in the Middle East, when I got to go to Israel, there they do still do these things and part of it is it's what is culturally acceptable there. I would say this is a call to more than just a polite interchange.

I think this is an affectionate expression of. Of care for one another. And so I think maybe we are neglecting this to a certain extent in kind of treating each other more coldly on a Sunday and being more distant, more standoffish to one another on a Sunday. There's a difference in a casual, interchange with somebody and really saying, oh man, this is a brother or sister in Christ and I.

I love this person. So I'm not saying that we have to greet one another with a holy kiss. But there should probably be a difference in the way that we greet one another [00:18:00] versus the way that you greet somebody that you see from your kid's school when you're at the coffee shop. There. There's a different bond that we shared believers in Christ than.

There is with the world. And I think that I don't know exactly that's gonna be different for different people. I'm not saying everybody has to be a hugger. You might be able to dap somebody up with a holy dap. And that holy dap could be something that is a sign of affection between you and that person.

Other people you might see a brother for men, you might see a brother in Christ. You may go over there and give him a big bear hug. You They're dab Yeah. The the dab the Cam Newton. Yeah, whatever that looks like. I think his point here is show visible affection for one another. That's a good thing to do because it's an expression of our care and concern for each other.

Alright, totally. But, but let's talk about the elephant in the room. It's exceedingly awkward to try to express affection for people. When sometimes people don't want that, they respond poorly to it. Maybe they stiffen up when you kind of lean in for the hug. Or maybe it's a, it's [00:19:00] the opposite gender, you're not quite sure.

Yep. Should I hug them? Should I just, should I hold their hand? You know, should I put my hand on their shoulder? There's so many questions about those interactions, so. How do you navigate those things? Well still sing. I wanna show affection to people and I want to be open to those things, but I'm never quite sure what people want and what they're appreciating or what they don't appreciate.

Maybe someone doesn't really like that physical affection. Should I then choose to give them less a physical affection because that's more in line with their personality, or should I just do it anyway because this is what God says is good for us? I'm gonna hug you whether you like it or not. That could get our church in a whole lot of trouble real fast.

Really the question is though, if this is what God is calling us to do I need to just get over it? I mean, 'cause if I'm not a hugger, yeah. I think part of it is for that person that doesn't like that, is examining, okay, why? What is it what don't I like about that? And man, there, there are.

Talk about biblical counseling. There are layers of an onion that you could get into as far as why somebody might be prone to, to be resistant to physical [00:20:00] affection from somebody. And some of those are really good reasons. Totally. A hundred percent. Yeah. That's what I mean, we can't just blanket statement, build your bridge and get over it and just hug people.

I think we, we have to. I think our love for one another can be expressed in understanding how they best receive our affection and how they best receive our expression of the fact that, Hey we care about you. We love you. And so if that's somebody that, that does better with the handshake or if that's somebody that does okay with the side hug, or if that's somebody that does okay with like the, Hey,

so good to see you. I'm so glad to see you. And it's more of the verbal expression of that. Then I think we need to love each other well enough to kind of know that and adapt on the fly as we're interacting with people. Okay? So you don't have to kiss people or hug them. You can give 'em a high five if you think that's the best way to love or show love to those people, for sure.

Okay. That at least clarifies some of it, but I'm still kind of sad that we're not doing the Holy Kisses anymore. Yeah. Well, you know, if you plant our next Compass [00:21:00] Bible Church in Jerusalem, they do it there. And so you'll be able to, we can start it up in North Texas too. Maybe we could be the church that's known for the Bible and Holy kisses

tagline. I'm just kidding. Bible church. I'm just, I was just kidding. Don't come to our church for that. Please don't do that. Totally kidding. Where you'll get the word and a smooch. 'cause we love you. Alright, notice in verse 22. Tertius. I just think this is fascinating. He says, I Tertius who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord.

I always wonder like, did he ask Paul if that was okay or did he just throw it in there? Was he like, Hey Paul, is it okay if I let the people know that I'm the one that was doing this? But Paul dictated a lot of his letters. In fact, some people think one of his. His thorns in the flesh was poor eyesight.

'cause in another letter he says, I Paul signed this with my big letters. And people thought, okay, maybe he struggled to read and so that's why he dictated. Who knows? Tertius is writing this letter though, so that's interesting. Here's another factor about Ter is' name rather not Tertius. Cordes. Look at verse 23.

Here. He's greeting people. [00:22:00] Gaas, who is host to me and to the whole church greets you, Erastus, the city treasure, and our brother Cordes greets you. It's not a guarantee, but it's very possible with a name like Cordes that he was a slave. So he's another, and Philemon's, also obviously a slave letter as well, but you see how the gospel brings together all sorts of different people.

I love that because there's not a guarantee that he was a slave, but it's a likelihood 'cause his name would mean fourth. And the slaves often got names that were more practical as opposed to personal. Yeah. I wonder if, does TER mean third because we say tertiary? It does, I think, but I don't know if that's what his name means.

Yeah. I don't know if that's what his name. Yeah, that's a great question. It's interesting when you read these names, how many clearly a gentile audience. I mean, you've got fledge on and Hermes and Petrobas and Hermes. Yeah. These are not Jewish names. Well, all the Jews were evicted, at least a large population of them.

True. So it's makes sense that this would be a largely gentile congregation because the Roman Emperor got upset. There was an uproar because of Christus. A guy by the name of [00:23:00] Chris Dece was causing an issue between people sounds, I think I know who Chris Dece might be. And so the emperor at the time says, you know what, all you Jewish folks outta here.

Yeah. And that's why a lot of the letter points to Jewish non-Jewish Christians. Yeah.

Concluding Prayer and Encouragement

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Well, hey, let's pray and then we'll be done with this episode and also done with the book of Romans. God, thanks for the book of Romans, because it does give us such a clear picture of solid theology of the gospel of salvation, of sanctification, even of church life as we've been talking about eschatology and times the relationship with the church in Israel, how to treat one another, how to love one another in difficult situations, weaker brother situations or the book is replete with things for us that are so good for us to mine.

And so what I pray that we would not just. Dust it off and think, okay, well done with that, let's move on. But that we would continue to reflect back on Romans that we'd spend time in. It's such a good book to do that. And we thank you for depth in the scriptures, that it isn't just ethereal it's also not superficial.

And so we thank you that we can get into your word and we [00:24:00] can learn from it and grow from it. And we pray that we would. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Keep reading your Bibles. Tune in again tomorrow for another edition of the Daily Bible Podcast. See ya. See ya.

Bernard: Well, thank you for listening to another episode of the Daily Bible Podcast! We're honored to have you join us. This is a ministry of Compass Bible Church in north Texas. You can find out more information about our Church at compassntx.org. We would love for you to leave a review, to rate, or to share this podcast on whatever platform you're listening on, and we hope to see you again tomorrow for another episode of the Daily Bible Podcast.

PJ: Yeah. I would agree with everything that you said