Freedom in Christ

The following is a brief summary regarding our study on 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 from last night at church:

- "All things are lawful for me" is a uniquely Christian statement in one important sense. All other religions prescribe rules which must be kept for a person to be saved. In God's system of salvation (the only true one) the opposite is true (Ephesians 2:8-9). The truth is that you are free from needing to keep religious laws in order to be saved or to stay saved. [this is directly from the handout the pastor gave us]

- Two heresies flow from a misunderstanding of this passage, antinomianism (using our Christian freedom to justify our sins) and legalism (adding rules to the Bible and imposing them on self and others). Our pastor is fond of stating that we need to obey what the Bible commands us to do and we need to abstain from what the Bible prohibits. Aside from this we are free in Christ to do as our conscience dictates. Again, aside from what is commanded or prohibited, the only limits we should have are the ones we impose on ourselves for the sake of our witness/testimony or out of love for the brethren.

Four rules by which we can judge the things we wish to do (or not do):
1. Does God's word forbid this thing? If not, you are free to do it

2. Is it profitable? In other words, will you be better off spiritually if you do this thing?

3. Has this thing become your master? A thing that is "lawful" should be put away if it keeps you from maturing in Christ. Two Christians may be able to do the same activity with different results. For one it may be joyful, but for the other it may lead to bondage

4. Does this thing edify? Is anyone being built up toward maturity in Christ because of this activity (I would add that we should ask if anyone is being tripped up by this activity as well!).
[This list of four questions is paraphrased in some places and in others I took it word for word from what the Pastor said in his handout...items in parentheses being the main exception]

For my own life, I can think of one main thing off the top of my head: food. I love to eat good food. I don't deny it. So while it is lawful for me to eat heartily, it is not profitable for me and I have allowed it to become my master.

When I think of the words of Paul in Romans 7:14-15 "For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do" I think immediately of my own struggles with what I eat. Now I know I am in some ways taking liberties here with the context of what Paul is saying, but permit me to do this for the simple reason that I am using the words and applying them to my experience and not saying this is exactly what they refer to. Anyhow, this indulgence of mine is a master in my life, therefore for me it is sin. So when I think of this passage in 1 Corinthians I know fully well that I am free to eat what I want...and even that I am at liberty to indulge in an excess of food for pleasure on occasion. BUT, since I have no control over my appetites in this area, then I need to repent when I eat more than I should. If I were truly eating enough only to sustain my body and maybe a little extra every now and then I would not be at the weight I find myself at right now.

Another area where I sometimes limit my freedom is in the movies I watch. This is not an area I struggle with since I don't very often watch movies and I prefer to read a good book. Where this comes into play, however, is in deciding what movie to watch. There are movies out there that I am curious to watch but have not watched because I think of how it might impact my witness. Our society has a certain expectation of what Christians should be like (even if they do mock us); and in my opinion the less different we are than they the less likely they are to listen to us. So while there are movies I don't believe would be sinful to watch, I don't watch them for the sake of maintaining my testimony. Does that make sense? I have similar feelings about alcohol. And notice that I don't say anyone else has to abstain from these things, only that for myself this is what I choose to do. I have the freedom to do either.

As an aside, what I do find interesting about this last point is how so many Christians become upset when I say I choose to abstain from things for the sake of my witness. They infer from this that I mean they too should do so. This is not the case. Whether they indulge or abstain from alcoholic beverages is between them and God. In my household, however, we do not drink alcohol, and while I certainly hope my children will always agree with me based on my reasoning, I don't think they will be less than faithful Christians if they choose to indulge. I will certainly be saddened, but they have the freedom to do as they wish (when they are of legal age of course). Drunkenness, of course, is a clear violation of the word of God and not at issue here.

God bless!