Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Romans 14:22

"The faith which thou hast, have thou to thyself before God. Happy is he that judgeth not himself in that which he approveth." — Romans 14:22 (ASV)

Although the language of the opening statement of this section is general (cf. vv.1–2), in all probability Paul is directing his counsel in v.22 chiefly to the strong, since they are the ones who must be warned to act on their confidence privately, where God is their witness. To exercise their freedom in public would grieve the weak and raise a barrier between them. The strong are “blessed” in their private enjoyment of freedom, because they are free from doubt and no one who might be scandalized is looking on. They are therefore not faced with the danger of causing the weak to condemn themselves by approving something their conscience will not endorse.

Then in v.23 Paul addresses the weak. “Faith” here must be understood in the same way it was used at the beginning of the chapter (see comment on vv.1– 4)—not as saving faith, but as a reference to the confidence one has to make free use of what God has created and set apart for the good of humanity. In keeping with this, “condemned” does not refer to God’s action of excluding a person from salvation, but it means that the person stands condemned by his or her own act as being wrong. To act in contradiction to one’s conscience or to the known will of God inevitably brings an experience of guilt. When believers refuse to move in a certain direction because they feel that step is out of line with God’s will, they receive strength by their refusal, so that it is much easier on other occasions to move on the basis of faith.