Whatever is not from faith

“But the man who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.” Romans 14:23
In Romans 14 Paul teaches about our personal liberties in Christ. There are some things that we can indulge in that are ‘grey areas’ – nothing for or against them are written about in the Scriptures. In Paul’s day, one issue was that of eating meat, because most meat sold in butcheries in the Roman Empire had been offered to an idol. Mature Christians, realising that an idol is nothing more than a lump of metal, wood, or stone, had no qualms about eating it. But new believers, who may have worshipped those very idols in the not-so-distant past, were hung up about it.
A common example today that is similar is that of drinking alcohol. I myself have a personal conviction, since I was 11 or 12 years old, not to drink alcohol nor to eat anything prepared using alcohol. Yet I can accept that some Christians find drinking a moderate amount of alcohol acceptable. The Bible does not condemn drinking alcohol; only drunkenness. In fact, Paul encouraged Timothy to drink alcohol for its medicinal benefits (1 Tim. 5:23).
What Paul is saying here is that if you have a personal conviction not to do something, such as drinking alcohol, wearing certain types of clothes, listening to certain kinds of music, or whatever, if you go against your conscience, it is sin. This situation can arise in the company of other believers who may have personal liberty to do that thing you have a conviction about. Don’t feel that you have to betray your conscience and join them. Rather, it is better to excuse yourself, because your joining in will not be from faith. But by the same token, don’t think that having a personal conviction makes you somehow more spiritual than those who don’t share that same conviction – Paul says that it is the more mature Christian who has the liberty to do these things. ‘Food’ for thought.\