Romans 14:3

Romans 14:3, in plain English

The person eating everything shouldn't mock those who won't, and those who abstain shouldn't condemn those who don't—because God has welcomed both kinds of believers into His family.

Why it's here

There's mutual judgment happening here. The confident eaters think the vegetarians are overly scrupulous; the cautious eaters think the confident ones are being disrespectful. Paul cuts through it by reminding them God has accepted both groups.

Who's speaking

Paul, mediating between two groups in the church

Where it sits in the story

This echoes Jesus' teaching that what matters isn't external rules but the heart's orientation toward God. Paul is extending that to say: God receives both the cautious believer and the confident one.

The scholarly reading

Paul prohibits mutual contempt: the libertarian believer must not despise the conscientious one, nor may the conscientious judge the libertarian, because God has already received both.

Language and setting

The Greek verb ἐξουθενέω (to treat with contempt, to regard as nothing) and κρίνω (to judge, to distinguish unfavorably) both describe the relational rupture Paul diagnoses. His rationale—'God has accepted him'—invokes the divine acceptance that settles the matter, making human judgment presumptuous.

Voice

Paul, articulating the theological ground for forbearance

Significance

This echoes Romans 14:4's logic: just as Christ is the sole judge of servants (drawing on Old Testament imagery of covenant lordship), so only God adjudicates matters of internal conviction and practice outside the gospel's core demands.

1Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on his opinions.

2For one person has faith to eat all things, while another, who is weak, eats only vegetables.

3The one who eats everything must not belittle the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted him.

4Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

5One person regards a certain day above the others, while someone else considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.

Read all of Romans 14 — One person eats everything; another eats only vegetables. One observes a holy day; another doesn't. Stop passing judgment — each person stands before God.