Christ Gives Us Total Freedom? Series

Part II

But Christian Freedom is not all about rights, and making sure that I can do all the things that God leaves open for me to do. Listen to what Paul says in verse 9, “Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak.” Christian Freedom in regard to Mitteldingen is all about Christian Love, a love that puts everyone’s ideas and feelings ahead of my own.

What was going on in Corinth was that there were some Christians who knew that meat sacrificed to an idol was really no problem at all. And so they were buying and eating this meat, and some of the newer Christians were wondering, “aren’t they participating in the worship of an idol buy buying this meat? Should I as a Christian be doing that?” And then when one of these old Christians invited a new Christian over to his house and served him some meat that had been sacrificed to Apollo, the new Christian would eat that food, thinking ,”should I be doing this? Isn’t this sin?” And he would be filled up with all sorts of questions, all sorts of doubt, all sorts of guilt.” And it turns out that this new Christian actually was sinning, because he was doing something that he thought was wrong, but he was doing it anyway.

That’s why Paul says about these Mitteldingen, “if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall.” Do you see the great lengths that Paul goes into in regard to Christian Freedom to make sure that the way that he lives his life does not offend a fragile, infant faith? Jesus himself said, “If anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck.”

We have a tremendous responsibility in regard to these Middle Things not to turn off people to the Gospel. Someone might have a hard time understanding how a Christian can smoke. And to that person, should I light up in front of them? Should I force them to have a cigarette to prove to them that it’s not against God’s law? No wonder Paul says, “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.” In regard to these Middle Things that God does not specifically address in his Word, we need to be governed by love, not by looking out for our rights. I need to do whatever I can to make Christianity as appealing to people as possible. And if my insistence on a certain point where God doesn’t insist keep someone from the Kingdom, causes someone to stumble in their faith, that responsibility is on me. Paul said it’s a sin. He said, “So, this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.” No wonder Martin Luther wrote about Christian Freedom: “A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to everyone.”

Conclusion

So where to we go from here? First of all, remember the freedom that Jesus won for you from your sins! None of us has been perfect in regard to our treatment of the Middle Things. And if our salvation was dependent on how well we’ve used our Christian Freedom, none of us would be going to heaven. But Jesus died to free you from all guilt. And now he tells you to live, freely, and lovingly. Amen.

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