1. Romans 14:23 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

Why is everything that does not proceed from faith sin?

Romans 14:23 (ESV)

23 But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.

The concluding statement of Romans 14:23, namely that whatever does not proceed from faith is sin again confirms that in the preceding verses (and in particular Romans 14:20) the issue at hand was that a weak brother or sister would commit sin if he or she ate meat and drank wine. If they do this without faith in God the Creator who gives them these gifts, their eating amounts to a transgression, thereby becoming a stumbling block to them. In reality, all eating and drinking in God’s creation is accompanied by a carefree and joyful thanksgiving. In the absence of such thanksgiving and in cases where one is left with the feeling that you have actually committed a transgression, that eating then becomes a sin.1