“Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.”
My Notes
What Does Romans 14:19 Mean?
Paul issues a corporate directive: "Let us therefore follow after" — diōkōmen, let us pursue, chase, hunt. The verb is aggressive — the same word used for persecution (diōkō). Paul wants the church to chase peace and mutual edification with the same intensity that Saul of Tarsus once chased Christians. The passivity most people bring to community health is the opposite of what Paul prescribes.
"The things which make for peace" — ta tēs eirēnēs — the things that belong to peace, the components of shalom, the elements that produce wholeness between people. And "things wherewith one may edify another" — ta tēs oikodomēs tēs eis allēlous — the things of mutual building-up. Oikodomē is a construction term: building a house, assembling a structure. Paul envisions believers as a construction crew, and the project is each other.
The verse sits inside the food-and-holy-days dispute of Romans 14, but the principle transcends the specific controversy. In every disagreement among believers, two questions should govern: does this produce peace? Does this build the other person up? If the answer to either is no — even if you're theologically correct — you're pursuing the wrong thing. Correctness that demolishes is not the pursuit Paul commands. Peace-making and people-building are.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Are you pursuing peace aggressively — or are you aggressive about being right and passive about peace?
- 2.In your last disagreement with a fellow believer, did the outcome produce peace and build the other person up — or did correctness win at the expense of the person?
- 3.What does it look like to 'chase' peace with the intensity of a hunter?
- 4.If every interaction is either a brick laid or a brick removed, what are you building in the people around you?
Devotional
Chase peace. Hunt it down. The word Paul uses — diōkō — is the word for persecution. He wants you to pursue peace with the same intensity a hunter pursues prey. Not wait for it to arrive. Not hope it shows up. Chase it. Run after the things that make for wholeness between you and the people you share faith with.
Most of us are passive about peace and aggressive about being right. Paul reverses the priority. Be aggressive about peace. Be aggressive about building people up. And if being right threatens to demolish someone, shelve the rightness until you've secured the peace. That doesn't mean truth doesn't matter. It means truth delivered at the expense of the person it's aimed at has missed the point of truth.
The construction image — oikodomē, building up — means you're supposed to be adding to the people around you, not subtracting. Every interaction is either a brick laid or a brick removed. Every conversation either builds the structure of someone's faith or chips away at it. Paul says pursue the interactions that add bricks. Chase the conversations that build. Hunt for the moments where you can make someone stronger, more secure, more grounded in who God made them to be. That's the project. Not proving your position. Building people. Everything else is demolition dressed as theology.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
For meat destroy not the work of God,.... The Syriac reads it, "the works of God"; referring either to righteousness,…
Let us therefore follow ... - The object of this verse is to persuade the church at Rome to lay aside their causes of…
Let us therefore follow - Far from contending about meats, drinks, and festival times, in which it is not likely that…
We have in this chapter,
I. An account of the unhappy contention which had broken out in the Christian church. Our…
the things which make for peace Lit. the things of peace. So below, the things of mutual edification. For remarks on the…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture