Question

Your friends have invited you to go out with them and participate in an activity you are not sure about. The Bible doesn't give positive or negative commands concerning this activity. How do you decide whether or not this activity is okay for a Christian to be involved in? Identify the principles from Romans 14 and 15 (discussed above) you would use to decide, and explain why you would use those principles.

Answer 1

Some key principles the apostle Paul set forth in Romans chapters 14 and 15:
- In "disputable matters" -- matters where God has not given any particular command -- we may feel free to take part in something so long as we honor the Lord in doing so. 
- We ought not judge others for taking part in something when God has not forbidden it.
- If a brother or sister is uncomfortable in conscience about something, we will want to be sensitive to that person's feelings of conscience.
- We should not act against our conscience, since "everything that does not come from faith is sin."  But those with less sensitive consciences (the strong) can work to educate those who are struggling in such matters.
- Ultimately, we live under grace and work to encourage one another in all things.

Making use of those principles in your essay is now your writing task.