(22) Hast thou faith ? have it thyself before God. Happy is he thai condemneih not himself in that which he alloweth. Paul presents in this verse, more distinctly than he had before done, the idea that he required no concession of principle or renunciation of truth. He did not wish them to believe a thing to be sinful which was not sinful, or to trammel their own consciences with the scruples of their weaker brethren. He simply required them to use their liberty in a considerate and charitable manner. He therefore, here says, ' Hast thou faith ? (i. e. a firm persua- sion of the lawfulness of all kinds of meat) it is well, do not renounce it, but retain it and use it piously as in the sight of God.' 'By faith here seems clearly to be understood the faith of which Paul had been speaking in the context ; a faith which some Christians had, and others had not, viz. a firm belief " that there is nothing (no meat) unclean of itself." Have it to thyself keep it to yourself. There are two ideas included in this phrase. The first is, keep it privately, i. e. do not parade it, or make it a point to show that you are above the weak scruples of your brethren ; and the second is, that this faith or firm conviction is not to be renounced, but retained, for it is founded on the truth. Before God, i. e. in the sight of God. It is to be cherished in our hearts, and used in a manner acceptable to God. Being right in itself, it is to be piously, and not os- tentatiously or injuriously paraded and employed.
Blessed is he that condemneth not himself in that which he alloweth. That is, blessed is the man that has a good conscience ; who does not allow himself to do what he secretly condemns. The faith, therefore, of which the apostle had spoken, is a great blessing. It is a source of great happiness to be sure that what we do is right, and, therefore, the firm conviction to which some Christians had attained, was not to be undervalued or renounced. Compare ch. 1 : 28. 1 Cor, 16 : 3, for a simi- lar use of the word here employed.
(23) But he that doubt eth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith; for whatsoever is not of faith, is sin. That is, if a man thinks a thing to be wrong, to him it is wrong. He therefore who is uncertain whether God has commanded him to abstain from certain meats, and who notwithstanding indulges in them, evidently sins; he brings himself under condemnation. Because whatever is not of faith is sin : i. e. whatever we do which we are not sure is right, is wrong The sentiment of this verse therefore is nearly the same as of v. 14. " To him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean." There is evidently a sinful disregard of the divine authority on the part of a man who does any thing which he supposes God has forbidden, or which he is not certain he has allowed. This passage has an obvious bearing on the design of the apostle. He wished to convince the stronger Christians that it was unreasonable in them to expect their weaker brethren to act according to their faith ; and that it was sinful in them so to use their liberty as to induce these scrupulous Christians to violate their own consciences.