Albert Barnes Commentary Romans 14:21

"It is good not to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor [to do anything] whereby thy brother stumbleth." — Romans 14:21 (ASV)

It is good. It is right, or it is better. This verse is an explanation or enlarged specification of the meaning of the former.

To eat flesh. That is, such flesh as the Jewish convert regarded as unclean (Romans 14:2).

Nor to drink wine. Wine was a common drink among the Jews, and usually esteemed lawful. However, the Nazarites were not allowed to drink it (Numbers 6:3), and the Rechabites (Jeremiah 35) drank no wine; and it is possible that some of the early converts regarded it as unlawful for Christians to drink it.

Moreover, wine was used in libations in pagan worship, and perhaps the Jewish converts might have been scrupulous about its use for this reason. The caution here shows us what should be done now regarding the use of wine. It may not be possible to prove that wine is absolutely unlawful, but still, many friends of temperance regard it as such and are grieved by its use.

They consider the habit of using it as tending to intemperance and as encouraging those who cannot afford expensive alcoholic drinks. Besides, the wines that are now used are different from those that were common among the ancients. That was the pure juice of the grape. What is now in common use is mixed with alcohol and with other intoxicating ingredients. Little or none of the wine that comes to this country is pure. In this situation, does not the apostle's command here require the friends of temperance to abstain even from the use of wine?

Nor any thing. This means any article of food or drink, or any course of conduct. Peace is so valuable, and it is so desirable not to offend a brother, that we should rather deny ourselves to any extent than be the cause of offenses and scandals in the church.

Stumbleth. For the difference between this word and the word offended, see the comments on Romans 11:11.

It means here that, by eating, a Jewish convert might be led to eat also, contrary to his own conviction of what was right, and thus be led into sin.

Or is made weak. That is, shaken, or made less stable in his opinion or conduct. By being led to imitate the Gentile convert, he would become less firm and established; he would violate his own conscience; his course would be attended with regrets and with doubts about its propriety, and thus he would be made weak.

In this verse we have an eminent instance of the charity of the apostle, and of his spirit of concession and kindness. If this were regarded by all Christians, it would save a significant amount of strife, resentment, and contention. Let a person begin to act on the principle that peace is to be promoted and that other Christians are not to be offended, and what a change it would at once produce in the churches, and what an influence it would exert over life!