Faith And Opinion
The ability to distinguish between matters of faith and matters of opinion is important. Without this distinction, a door is opened for personal whims to be implemented as doctrines, and for God's word to be set aside. If Jesus condemned such a practice among the Jewish leadership (Mark 7:8-9, 13), we can be assured that He will not accept it in the church, which is His body (Ephesians 1:22-23; Colossians 1:18).
The apostle Paul, writing to the saints at Rome, distinguished between faith and opinion. He very plainly wrote:
So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (Romans 10:17)
For something to be a matter of faith, and thus essential to accept, practice and obey, it's source must be the Bible. Therein, God has conveyed His will through direct commands, authorized examples, necessary inferences, and silence. It behooves us to be diligent Bible students, so that we are not "unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is" (Ephesians 5:17). We must learn to "rightly divide the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15), so that "whatever you do in word or deed," is done "in the name of the Lord Jesus" (Colossians 3:17).
Again, as we return to Paul's letter to the church at Rome, notice his instruction regarding opinion:
Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to dispute over doubtful things. ...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. ...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. I 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. (Romans 14:1, 10, 13-14)
In the context, Paul uses two examples: the eating of meats (Romans 14:2-3, 6, 15-17, 20-21, 23) and the keeping of days (Romans 14:5-6). The Old Testament law forbade the eating of certain foods (Leviticus 11; Deuteronomy 14). Also, a lot of the meat available in the cities of the first century had been sacrificed to idols (1 Corinthians 8). Though the dietary laws of the Old Testament were no longer in force (Ephesians 2:15-16; Colossians 2:14-17; Hebrews 8:13), and the idols of the Gentiles are nothing (1 Corinthians 8:4, 10:19-20, 25), some may still believe it to be wrong to eat. Such was a matter of personal faith - opinion. Those who believed it was okay to eat were not to judge (or test) those who would not eat for conscience sake. The same was true with regard to the keep-ing of days. The feasts and other days observed under the law were removed with the coming of Christ (Colossians 2:14-17), but for conscience sake, the Jewish Christian might continue to observe these days. None were to judge him in this, nor was he to impose these days upon other Christians. It was a matter of personal faith.
“Without this distinction, a door is opened for personal whims to be implemented as doctrines, and for God's word to be set aside.”
Why is this important for us today? It is doubtful, unless we are speaking about a modern day Jew who has converted to Christianity, that either the dietary laws or the observance of Jewish festivals is of any consequence to us. What we need to glean from Paul’s instruction in Romans 14 is the principles surrounding personal faith or opinion.
First, we should observe that personal faith can-not contradict the revealed faith. That is, we can-not rightly hold to a thought or practice which is in violation of God's word. To do so makes us like the religious leaders whom Jesus rebuked for setting aside God's law to implement their own.
Second, we have no right to enforce our personal faith (opinion) upon anyone else. For example, one may believe that it is wrong to celebrate a non-religious observance of Christmas.a Another may enjoy the day sharing a fine meal and gifts with family and friends. As Paul says, "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." (Romans 14:3)
Third, we must be careful not to violate our own conscience. Paul very pointedly declared:
Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin. (Romans 14:22-23)
If you are uncertain or uncomfortable about something, even though it is not a violation of the Scriptures, then it is best to refrain. To engage in that which we have doubt over will result in our conscience being violated, and the result is sin. It matters not that the item under consideration is not sinful in itself (Romans 14:14, 20); if it has caused an offense of conscience, the result is sin.
Some will question, "what issues fit in Romans 14?" Only two issues "fit" in the text, the eating of meats and the observance of days. These are the examples which Paul gave there. Our place is to understand through his instruction and these examples how to appropriately apply the principle taught in other areas. There is no set list of "Romans 14" issues - it is the responsibility of every Christian to appropriately determine what is of faith and what is of opinion, and then act accordingly.
a - A religious celebration of Christmas is wrong, as it is not authorized in the Bible.
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Answering The Atheist
Complaint:
How many overseers did Solomon have? 1 Kings 5:16 speaks of 3,300 overseers, but 2 Chronicles 2:18 says there were 3,600 overseers. Is there a contradiction?
Response:
The Septuagint speaks of 3,600 who were set over the work in both 1 Kings 5 and 2 Chronicles. For this ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures to have changed the number listed in 1 Kings 5:16 from 3,300 to 3,600 indicates that the translators believed a textual corruption had entered the copying process of the book.
Given that the copying and translating process is a work of man, and not exercised with divine oversight, the possibility of a copyist error is acknowledged. However, there is another plausible explanation for the apparent discrepancy between the 1 Kings 5 and 2 Chronicles 2 numbers.
1 Kings 5:16 lists 3,300 chief officers over 150,000 Gentile labourers. Another 550 chief officers are mentioned as being over the Israelite men who served in various capacities (1 Kings 9:22-23). The total sum of chief officers listed is 3,850.
2 Chronicles 2:17 lists 3,600 chief officers over the 150,000 Gentile labourers. 250 chief officers are mentioned as ruling over the Israelite men who served (2 Chronicles 8:10). The total sum of chief officers listed is 3,850.
The discrepancy is not in the number of officers, but in their distribution. Consider that the accounts may be giving us time sensitive details about their distribution. The particulars of the work at one point may have necessitated 3,600 overseeing the Gentile workers, while at another time, only 3,300 were needed. Given the equal number of chief officers listed in the two accounts, this would be a sensible explanation of the apparent discrepancy.
There is no contradiction.
This article is in response to Skeptic's Annotated Bible