All my previous writings on the weak and strong brothers have been on what Paul says about them to his first letter to the Corinthian believers in chapters eight and nine. All those previous writings are now all together in one place (See here) and I will post them there as well as here in the Old Baptist Test blog. Those previous writings were first published in The Baptist Gadfly blog in 2010-11 (See here for the first posting in that series).
My thesis in those previous writings was to show that most commentators are wrong in saying that both the weak and the strong brothers in first Corinthians were Christians. I rather taught that "the strong" were the Christians and "the weak" were the lost religious polytheists. I will not repeat in this series on Romans all that I said in those fifteen chapters to prove my thesis but will offer a couple arguments from those chapters to introduce my commentary on what Paul says in his Roman epistle about these brothers.
Argument #1
"For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more. And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law. To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some." (I Cor. 9: 19-22 kjv)
This text shows that "the weak" are lost sinners who need to be gained, which is equivalent to being saved and converted. That is what the word means when Paul speaks of gaining the Jews, those under the law, and of gaining those who are not under law, as were the Gentiles, and gaining "all men" who are lost. He uses the word "gain" as an equivalent to the word "save," saying "that I might gain" and "that I might save."
We will next give comments from two leading commentaries, from Dr. Albert Barnes and Dr. John Gill, and show how contradictory they are in their remarks on what it means to gain the weak.
Barnes in his commentary says this about verse 19: "That I might gain the more - That I might gain more to Christ; that I might be the means of saving more souls."
Gill in his commentary writes this on the same verse:
"...his end was not to amass wealth, to gain riches and treasures of good things to himself, but many souls to Christ, who otherwise must have been lost; but being brought to the knowledge of Christ, and salvation by him through his ministry, it was profit to them, and gain to Christ..."
So, both at this point affirm that gaining souls is equivalent to saving souls, which is exactly what Paul is stating.
Now, here is what they say on verse 20, beginning with Barnes:
"That I might gain - That I might obtain their confidence and affection. That I might not outrage their feelings, excite their prejudices, and provoke them to anger; and that I might thus have access to their minds, and be the means of converting them to the Christian faith."
Dr. Gill comments:
"...that I might gain the Jews; bring them over to Christ, and off of a dependence on their own righteousness, for justification before God."
So, on both verses 19 and 20 both affirm that being saved is what is meant by being gained.
Next, on verse 21 Gill says:
"...that I might gain them that were without law; to believe in Christ for life and salvation."
Barnes does not comment at all on "that I might gain" in verse 21.
On verse 22 Barnes says:
"To the weak; - See the note at Romans 15:1. To those weak in faith; scrupulous in regard to certain observances; whose consciences were tender and unenlightened, and who would be offended even by things which might be in themselves lawful...That I might by all means" (πάντως pantōs). That I might use every possible endeavor that some at least might be saved."
On the same verse Gill says:
"To the weak became I as weak,.... That is, to weak Christians, who were weak in faith, and had not such clear knowledge of Gospel liberty, and therefore scrupled the eating of some sorts of meat, and particularly meats offered to idols...that I might gain the weak; promote their edification and welfare, who otherwise might be stumbled, be in danger of falling from, and laid under a temptation to desert the faith of the Gospel..."
"...that I might by all means save some; that is, that he might be the means of saving some of Jews and Gentiles, and of all sorts of men; by preaching the Gospel of salvation to them, and by directing them to Christ, the only Saviour of lost sinners; thus he explains what he means by so often saying that he might gain them."
Both these men say that gaining others in each of these verses means to save them and yet each wants to say that "the weak" are already saved and that gaining them is not a saving of them. That is highly contradictory. The fact is, "the weak" are not saved, as are the other classes of people mentioned, such as "all men," "the Jew," "those under law," and "those not under law." Further, Paul says that "gaining" men is all the same as "saving" men.
Argument #2
“As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one. For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many), BUT to US there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.” (I Cor. 8: 4-6)
This chapter is also dealing with the weak brothers. When Paul says "we know that an idol is nothing" the "we" are the Christians, or "the strong." When he says that "we know that there is none other God but one" he again is referring to Christians, all of whom confess this creedal statement. When he says "but to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him, and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him," the personal pronouns "us" and "we" refer to believers in this creed. Notice how Paul speaks in the first person in these verses, speaking for himself and other Christians. Notice the next verses.
"However, there is not in everyone that knowledge; for some, with consciousness of the idol, until now eat it as a thing offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. But food does not commend us to God; for neither if we eat are we the better, nor if we do not eat are we the worse." (verses 7-8 nkjv)
Here Paul does not speak in the first person when he says "there is not in everyone that knowledge" nor when he says "their conscience." That is because he is no longer talking about what is characteristic of believers. There is a contrast between believers in Paul's creedal statement and those who have a belief in idols. In verse six this is clear for he says "but to us there is one God..." It is also clear that when he says "there is not in everyone that knowledge" that he does not mean "there is not in every convert to Christ that knowledge," but rather "there is not in every man that (Christian) knowledge." Paul says that the weak are they who do not have this knowledge. How Barnes and Gill and others can say that the weak are weak Christians in light of these things is bewildering. That view says that one can be a Christian and yet not have the knowledge that there is one God and one Lord Jesus and that all other gods and idols are nothing. I would ask any bible teacher who holds the view that these weak brothers are Christians this question: "do you have weak members of your church who are not sure if there is only one God and one Lord Jesus Christ and that the idol gods are nothing?" And, "do you have church members who think they are better spiritually because they eat or don't eat certain foods?"
So, with this ground work laid, we will begin our study of Romans chapter 14 through 15: 1-2 in order to see if the weak brothers in that passage are likewise not Christian. I believe that in both first Corinthians and Romans that the weak brothers are non Christians, polytheists who are nevertheless inquiring into the Christian religion, and Paul is giving advice to the Christians on how to gain these folks, and is also at the same time saying things to these believers in many gods in regard to how they treat or judge Christians.
In the next chapter we will begin our commentary on Romans chapter fourteen.
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