Romans 14:14

by the Lord Jesus Lit. in the Lord Jesus; i.e. as one who is both a "member of Christ" and acts under His special influence.

unclean Lit. common (as margin E. V.); i.e. ceremonially unclean. Cp. Acts 10:15.

of itself Lit. by means of itself; i.e. per se: "nothing makes itselfunlawful" for food.

but to him, &c. Lit. unless to him, &c. But the Gr. idiom is rightly rendered in E. V. So Rev. 20:27, where lit. "unless they which are written, &c."

Here St Paul appeals to the feet that individual conscience, however misguided, must never be violated by its possessor. Mistaken conscience calls for correction by better light, but never for violation. To follow conscience is, in itself, no security that we are doing what is per seright; but to violate conscience, which is our actual view of right and wrong, is always wrong. Here, for instance, the "weak brother," so long as his conscience scrupled about a certain sort of food, would do wrong to eat it, though his scruple was an error; and the "strong brother" would be really tempting him to sin by not patiently explaining the error and leaving him to reflection on it, but rudely, sarcastically, or slightingly, inducing him to override his unchanged convictions. Cp. the instructive language of 1 Corinthians 8:10.