1 Respecto de las carnes sacrificadas a los ídolos, todos tenemos el conocimiento apropiado. Pero el conocimiento llena de soberbia; sólo el amor es realmente provechoso.2 Si alguno cree que conoce algo, es que aún no ha llegado a conocer como debe;3 ahora bien, si alguno ama a Dios es porque ha sido conocido amorosamente por Dios.4 En cuanto a comer carnes sacrificadas a los ídolos, sabemos que el ídolo no es nada en el mundo y que no hay más que un Dios.5 Existen, en verdad, quienes reciben el nombre de dioses, tanto en el cielo como en la tierra –y ciertamente son muchos esos dioses y señores–;6 sin embargo, para nosotros no hay más que un Dios: el Padre de quien proceden todas las cosas y para quien nosotros existimos; y un Señor, Jesucristo, por quien han sido creadas todas las cosas y por quien también nosotros existimos.7 Pero no todos tienen este conocimiento. Algunos, por estar acostumbrados hasta ahora a la idolatría, comen carne sacrificada a los ídolos, y su conciencia, que está poco formada, se siente culpable.8 No será, por supuesto, un alimento lo que nos haga gratos a Dios; y no seremos mejores por no comer, ni peores por comer.9 Procuren, sin embargo, que esa libertad de ustedes no sea ocasión de caída para los poco formados.10 Pues si alguien te ve a ti, que tienes el debido conocimiento, tomando parte en el banquete de un templo dedicado a los ídolos, ¿no se verá inducida su conciencia, por estar poco formada, a comer carnes sacrificadas a los ídolos?11 Y así, porque tú te las das de sabio, puede perderse el de conciencia poco formada, ese hermano por quien Cristo murió.12 Por eso, pecando contra los hermanos e hiriendo a su conciencia poco formada, pecan contra Cristo.13 Por tanto, si por tomar un determinado alimento pongo a mi hermano en ocasión de pecar, jamás tomaré ese alimento, para no ponerlo en peligro de pecar.
Romans 14
1 As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions.2 One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables.3 Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him.4 Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.5 One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.6 The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.7 For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself.8 For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's.9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God;11 for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.”12 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.13 Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.14 I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean.15 For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died.16 So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil.17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.18 Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men.19 So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.20 Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats.21 It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.22 The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves.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.
