08/05/2007
“Called to be Free” (Gal 5:13-15)
INTRO
What is freedom, really?
Freedom is power. The idea of freedom includes the power to choose, to make your own decisions.
We know a bit about freedom in this country. Say what you will about America, but it is still the freest country in the world. Here you are allowed to make a lot of your own decisions. There are places in the world where you don’t get to choose who will provide your healthcare. There are places in the world where you don’t get to choose what your occupation will be, where you will live. We have many freedoms in this country that we take for granted that people in other parts of the world do not have.
But freedom is more than just getting to do whatever you want, isn’t it? Have you ever heard freedom defined in this way – “You have the freedom to do whatever you want, as long as you do not interfere with someone else’s freedom in the process.”?
See, since you are not the only person in the universe, we have to include other equally free people in our thought process about freedom.
In the movie Spiderman, Peter Parker gets some special “Spider Powers” because of a mutant spider bite.
At one point his Uncle Ben tells him, “With great power comes great responsibility.”
That is true with freedom also, with freedom comes responsibility:
"Man is condemned to be free. Condemned, because he did not create himself, yet is nevertheless at liberty, and from the moment he is thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does."
- Jean Paul Sartre
With freedom comes acceptance of the consequences for our choices made in freedom.
You absolutely have the freedom as a person to choose to follow Jesus, or to reject Him
Every choice has consequences, though, and sometimes in making one choice, one decision, you find that once you are on the other side of that decision, once it is in the past and the decision made, you are now limited in what choices you are free to make next.
If you exercise your freedom and choose to reject Jesus Christ for example, you are now free to go to hell and be separated from God forever. You are not free, however, to spend eternity in heaven with Jesus.
Think of a free choice as a fork in the road, go this way, and reject Jesus, I have certain freedoms I can take. Now, as long as I am still alive, I can change my course, I can turn around and exercise my freedom to accept Jesus as my Lord and Savoir by faith and a whole new world of freedom will open up to me.
So what does it mean to be “Free in Christ”?
That is what we are going to talk about this morning.
Gal 5: 13-15 (NIV) 13 You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. 14 The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." 15 If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
PRAY
In this passage Paul gives us a brief overview of the responsibility that goes along with our freedom in Christ
We can see from this passage that our freedom has to do with more than just ourselves, in fact Paul seems to focus more on other people; “serve on another in love”, “Love you neighbor as yourself.”
This should come as no surprise, as this is a common theme from Paul’s letters
Phil 2: 3-4 (NASB) 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
And He seems to be quoting Jesus
Mt 22: 36-40 (NIV) 36 "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 37 Jesus replied: "’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ’Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
And Love your neighbor as yourself is actually Jesus quoting from Leviticus. So this is a theme that is woven throughout the entire Bible. If We had to sum it all up with one word, it would have to be LOVE.
So we are called to be free, and it has a lot to do with responsibility and loving other people.
Our question then, is how does this Christian freedom work, what can we do and not do, and how do we know?
To answer these questions, we are going to look at some of the other letters Paul wrote in which he expanded on this idea of Christian freedom.
As we look at this concept of our freedom in Christ, we will find that there are questions I have to ask when I am trying to discern if I have the freedom to do a certain thing.
1rst is, “Am I permitted to do this?” and the question that goes along with that one is “What does the Bible say?”
The other question is “Should I do this?” and there is a list of questions that go along with that one.
I. Am I permitted to do this? (What does the Bible Say)
Bible = Authority
Many things clear – Black and white
No other God’s before me
Murder
Theft
False witness
Adultery
covet
Like we said last week, for every situation you face, there are biblical principles that will apply.
What if I have a desk job and I am surfing the internet while I am supposed to be working? Now I am stealing time from my employer, and that IS covered in the Bible.
What if I am surfing to websites with images that are less than wholesome? The bible says
Phil 4: 8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.
There are biblical principals that apply
But what about things that aren’t so black and white. Are there things that fall into a grey area?
Am I permitted to have a glass of wine with dinner? Some of you would say yes, some no.
Yes I know there was 2 kinds of drink that are both translated as wine, one was alcoholic and one wasn’t, more like grape juice. But Jesus changed water into wine at the wedding in Canan, and it was the alcoholic kind.
Can I get a tattoo? Some of you would say yes, some no. Yes I know there is a verse in Leviticus (19:28) that says not to put tattoo marks on yourself. But I challenge you to read all of chapter 18 and nineteen in context before you pull that one verse out to make your case. Remember we said that context is important. In context, God did not want His people copying the practices of the Pagan lands they were taking over. Some of these pagan practices included cutting the body in mourning for the dead, sometimes shaving their head, also tattoos of names of idols worshipped. If you want to hold up verse 28 as a binding rule for today, then you will also have to follow what it says in verse 27, where it says not to trim the hair on the sides of your head or clip the edges of your beard.
Warning: Please don’t leave here and say “Brother Jim said I can get a tattoo. Brother Jim said I can drink all the wine and beer I want.” NO I DID NOT. Don’t go starting that stuff, listen to the rest of what God has to say, and don’t quote me out of context.
There are a lot more of these.
What about Halloween, can we go trick or treating?
What about Sundays, can I work on Sunday?
Can I watch an R rated movie? (depends on movie, could be freedom) , can I play a slot machine?
How about worship, can we worship using new music, or do we have to sing hymns?
Now I’ve really got you going.
There are many things where the Bible does not say thou shall or thou shalt not, and
There are people with opinions on both sides of each of these.
This is where our Christian Freedom comes in. With great freedom comes great responsibility.
II. Should I do this?
Let’s look at an example from scripture. In His first letter to the Corinthians, Paul tackles an issue that was evidently causing some problems for the church – that is, meat in the marketplace that had been offered to idols.
Meat in market could be from 2 sources.
Regular meat butchered for sale, or meat left over from animals sacrificed to idols in pagan temples.
So the big question for the believers in Corinth was, is it OK to buy the meat that had been offered to idols. Should we support this pagan industry.
Are there parallels to this situation today?
Do you remember our boycott of Disney a few years ago?
What about Disney, Ford. They have policies we consider to be unbiblical that support homosexual marriage. Is it OK to buy a Ford, Is it OK to go to Disney world? Should we support that Pagan industry?
Icor 8: 4-13 (NIV) 4 So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world and that there is no God but one. 5 For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many "gods" and many "lords"), 6 yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.
7 But not everyone knows this. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat such food they think of it as having been sacrificed to an idol, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled. 8 But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do. 9 Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. 10 For if anyone with a weak conscience sees you who have this knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, won’t he be emboldened to eat what has been sacrificed to idols? 11 So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. 12 When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, 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.
It is clear that there is freedom in this situation. V8 says we are no worse if we do, no better if we do not.
But it is also clear that there is not a simple Yes or No answer. Each case must be examined, and some questions asked.
A. What Does my Conscience say?
Ro 14: 5 One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.
B. How will this affect my brothers and sisters in Christ?
Ro 14: 13-15 (NIV) 13 Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way. 14 As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean. 15 If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died
C. Is this beneficial or constructive?
Icor 10 23-24 (NIV) 23 "Everything is permissible"--but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"--but not everything is constructive. 24 Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others
D. What effect will this have on my life’s testimony?
Icor 10: 27-33 (NIV) 27 If some unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience. 28 But if anyone says to you, "This has been offered in sacrifice," then do not eat it, both for the sake of the man who told you and for conscience’ sake-- 29 the other man’s conscience, I mean, not yours. For why should my freedom be judged by another’s conscience? 30 If I take part in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of something I thank God for? 31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 32 Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God-- 33 even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.
