What Is Christian Liberty?
by David K. Bernard
Podcast recording (no venue stated in the delivered transcript)
Kind: teaching
Scripture: Galatians 5, Matthew 28:18-20, John 14:15, Romans 14

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/david-k-bernard--what-is-christian-liberty
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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well when we talk about Christian Liberty let me first of all give you a reference I have a book called practical Holiness and it has a chapter on legalism which is something we should avoid salvation by works or living by rules and regulations and it has a chapter on Christian Liberty what is our Liberty in Christ and also the book of Romans deals with the subject at length so I have a book a verse by verse commentary called the message of Romans so it will deal with Christian Liberty specifically in detail from Romans especially Romans 14 uh which I'll refer to so there our life in Christ is characterized first and foremost by Freedom Liberty and what do we mean freedom from sin we're no longer bound by sin we're no longer forc to sin we can actually resist sin and live a holy life so Freedom here does not mean license I do everything I want to do even things that are detrimental to me no it's like a prisoner you're set free from prison does that mean the next day you can go back to jail no you're free from prison and so you the implication is you don't you won't do things that will cause you to go back and nobody can make you go back so freedom from sin also freedom from the law although the law was good it taught us what was right it taught us that we were Sinners that because because we constantly failed to keep the law it taught us that we needed a savior uh but the law itself did not give us the power over sin and the law was not our savior and living by the law couldn't save us so the law was good for its purpose it was pointing to Christ now that we have Christ we're not under the law now we're still must follow Godly teachings but we're not under the law of Moses so there's freedom from the law and then of course there's freedom from the penalty of sin which is death and then uh there is freedom from the ceremonies that are no longer binding on us and so Christian Liberty means our basic orientation is I'm a Child of God I'm full of the Holy Spirit I can now live a holy life and I have fre freedom I have freedom in my choices I can choose a or b you know I can choose my job my career uh my marriage partner uh I can choose my the way I'm going to serve God now all of that of course is in scriptural boundaries so we talk about Christian Liberty it doesn't mean freedom to go back to sin because that would be the opposite of Liberty I use the example sometimes uh you're driving along the cliff and uh if you go off the cliff the the law of gravity will cause you to plunge and crash and die so does freedom mean I'm free from Gravity I can ignore it I'm going to drive off the cliff if I want to no that's foolishness because it kills you so in that context Freedom First of all means knowledge you know the law of gravity exists whether you like it or not and you can't repeal it no matter what you say and you have the power not to drive off the cliff so if you are forced to go off the cliff you would not be free if you were ignorant you didn't even know there was gravity and you drove off the cliff of ignorant we would not call that free so in that analogy Freedom means first of all you know right and wrong you're not ignorant and second of all you have power to do what's right and beneficial so our Liberty in Christ first of all we now know God's will we know what sin is so we can avoid it so it's not freedom to sin that's not Liberty and then we have power so it' be horrible to know what's right but but still have no ability to do what's right so Christian Liberty First of all means the knowledge of right and wrong and the ability to do what's right so as to preserve your own life so Galatians 5 says Brethren youve been called unto Liberty but do not use that Liberty as an occasion to the flesh because that would destroy your Liberty so Christian Liberty does not mean we have Liberty to sin so any thing that the Bible teaches us we're still obligated to follow that so even under we're not under the law of Moses but the Great Commission that Jesus gave in Matthew 28 uh 18-20 verse 20 says about the converts that that the disciples would make teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you uh Jesus also said in John 14:15 if you love me keep my commandments so it's foolish to say we're not under law therefore we have no obligations no we're not under the law of Moses we've been set free from that the law couldn't save us it only taught us that we were Sinners the law and pointed the way to Christ but we still have Commandments to obey as far as living a Godly life and if we violate those Commandments we go back to the life of sin we break our fellowship with God the result is death the ultimate result is eternal death the Lake of Fire that's not Freedom that's the exact opposite of Freedom so whenever we talk about Christian Liberty I we're talking about uh a pastor of a local church um he will give some teachings but he will give some leeway where people can make their own personal choices and even as the larger Fellowship we have some fundamental beliefs and teachings but we give pastors certain leeway how they're going to teach it and we should that's called Christian Liberty so what Christian Liberty does not mean it does not mean Liberty to sin it does not mean Liberty to to violate the specific teaching of scripture now when I say specific teaching some things are taught in so many words some things are taught in principle um so the Bible says don't lie don't steal so you can't say well I have Christian Liberty to be a thief no I have Christian Liberty to lie no all liars shall have their part in the Lake of Fire The Book of Revelation says now the Bible says dress modestly what does that mean well to some extent that's subjective uh and so there therefore pastors will try to give guidelines of what's appropriate but even individuals have to decide what's appropriate different context so there is an area of Christian Liberty but to say we can ignore the command to address modestly that's wrong so to say there might be differences among individual me Believers or even among churches as to how to implement that there is an allowable discretion there but to say we're just going to abandon that uh the Bible ible teaches us not to wear ornamental jewelry well some may say well I think a wedding ring is ornamental I don't want to wear it another person might say well I feel like it's a very important symbol especially in my culture and if I'm not wearing it people think I'm living in adultery and or fornication and so if I find something that's moderate I feel like I should have that choice well that could be an example where both people are saying we want to follow the scriptural teaching but in my my context my life my culture my city my church my Society I feel Choice a is the best way to fulfill that scripture another person says well I think Choice B we can have differences even within the same Fellowship because now if somebody says I don't believe that scripture applies I'm not going to follow it I I'm going to disobey it well then you shouldn't be part of our fellowship so the guidelines would be what scripture teaches the guidelines would be what sinful or not so Christian Liberty properly applies to matters that are not dealt with in scripture or that explicitly allowed differences in scripture or another way to say it there it's dealing with nonmoral matters not things of morality uh but non-moral things and so let's look at the specifics Romans 14 uh let's the whole chapter is excellent in regard but here's some starting with verse five one person well no maybe I should start with verse one receive one who is weak in the faith but not to disputes over doubtful things for One Believes he may eat all things but he who is weak eats only vegetables so Paul's given the example really in the church we don't have the dietary laws of the Old Testament so one person and Paul is in indicating which is correct you have Liberty to eat what you want you can eat pork if you want um but he who is weak eats only vegetables so someone who feels like you know what and now it goes beyond just the Jewish law of pork but maybe this guy for some religious reason thinks I shouldn't eat any meat I should eat vegetables so Paul calls him weak because that's not really accurate it's not really required but even in that case let not him who eats despise him who does not eat and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats for God has received him so the person who is doing something which is allowable shouldn't ridicule the person who thinks man I better not eat pork or I better not eat any meat and and there could be people in the church like that that like someone raised in a Hindu tradition even though they become a Christian they may not want to eat beef because it just is against their culture or I like to use the example Americans I grew up in Korea where it was acceptable to eat dog meat especially in the summer in the hot time it was considered healthy well I I tell the average American you're free in Christ you're not under the law I would like to serve you a dog cutlet would you partake well no well what's the matter you don't believe in Liberty well but I just don't want to even if it's not a sin this is not something I wish to do so I shouldn't make fun of you say what's wrong with you you don't believe in Liberty in Christ I shouldn't make fun of you on the other hand the one who doesn't participate shouldn't judge the other so you're eating meat you're a big sinner you're you're a hypocrite you're going to hell because you're eating pork wait a minute that is not a moral issue and it's not a requirement of the New Testament so therefore the one who participates should not despise or ridicule the abstainer the abstainer should not judge the participator and now here's some some pretty strong language verse four who are you to judge another servant to his own Master he stands or Falls indeed he will be made to stand for God is able to make him stand one person esteems and now he gives another example one person esteems one day above another another esteems every day alike Let each be fully convinced in his own mind he who observes the day observes it to the Lord he who does not observe the day to the Lord he does not observe it he who eats eats to the Lord for he gives God thanks than he who does not eat to the Lord he does not eat and gives God thanks and then he goes on to talk about but we should be careful of not hurting a brother so even though let's say I've got some new Christians and all their life they've been taught that it's a sin to eat pork well if I just suddenly eat pork even though that's allowable and scripture doesn't forbid it they look at me you just sin you just compromise well if my leader is sinning well maybe He's a hypocrite I should just leave the church or maybe I should commit other things and so you do have to be careful of your impact so don't use your Liberty to hurt one another so going back to Galatians 5 we have Liberty but not for the flesh It also says but serve one another in love so don't use your Liberty in a way that would hurt someone so Paul goes on to explain back here in Romans 14:7 for none of us lives to himself no one dies to himself uh and then he explains that then verse 10 but why do you judge your brother or why do you show contempt for your brother for we shall all stand before the Judgment seat of Christ and then he goes into verse 12 so then let each of us so then each of us shall give account of himself to God God will be the judge therefore verse 13 let us not judge one another anymore but rather resolve this not to put a stumbling block or to cause CA to fail or a cause to fail in brother's way King James says offense so some people say well that offends me so you should abstain but that's really not the context it's the offense is something that causes a person to stumble so I if I'm a mature Christian and I don't think you should wear a tie and I say you know what that offends me you should not wear a tie because it's offensive to me that's not what it's talking about but it's talking about the example I gave if I'm a new Christian and I see you eating pork I say wow I can't believe that preacher is living in sin what does the church come to well you should care about that and Paul goes on to say you know what if eating meat would offend my brother caus my brother to stumble to backslide lose his faith God I won't eat meat the rest of my life now he's not really assuming that would be required but he's just giving illustration so the offense is not the stronger brother getting mad trying to force an another person to conform to his version of what's appropriate Conservative Christian values but not giving offense means a a a weak Christian a Christian with lacking full knowledge or a new convert really misunderstanding your Christian Liberty and causing them to lose their faith in God and backslide well you should be careful not to do that so let me summarize we have Liberty in non-moral matters we have Liberty where uh the Bible is silent or the Bible expressly gives discretion and the examples we have here in scripture of eating of certain food uh the um observance of certain days so some people observe certain holidays some don't now we should not participate in Pagan worship but if some person says well I think I can participate in a holiday CU I'm doing it unto the Lord we should respect that if someone else says you know what it has too many associations with paganism or with my past uh and it's negative so I'm not going to participate well we should respect that someone says and I had this case in in my church in Austin we we dealt with these things especially with people coming from different backgrounds converts uh I had uh some converts that said you know we've learned that for reasons of Health we shouldn't eat meat and we read Genesis the way we read it in the very beginning God gave a vegetable diet so we want to go back to God's original plan so anybody that eats meat they're they're you know they're wrong I I had to pull them aside and said wait a minute if that's your conviction fine but others have a different conviction fine and we all have a potluck dinner you can pick the vegetables and but somebody else pick the meat eventually as they mature they maintain their diet but whenever we came together to the church they would eat whatever was served because it was no longer a matter of in their mind of sin or compromise it was a matter of what was appropriate and so for the unity of the church they wouldn't make an issue of it and I think that's a mature approach now also uh an issuea came and you see this in 1 Corinthians 6-10 further discussion of Christian Liberty and this is the context of food offered to Idols so a big issue back then was typically people would offer food especially meat at the temple and and to Idols but of course the idol couldn't eat it the priest would take some for them but some the pr would resell on the market or some it might be just a banquet where they pray and offer to the idols but then they would partake and so the question becomes what if you go to somebody's house and you don't know they may have dedicated all the food in the house to an idol or maybe they went to the temple and they bought the meat back from the temple that had already been given to an idol well should you eat of it or not and so Paul says look an idle is nothing an idle has no power over us so if you if you eat some food that somebody offered to an ID it's not going to hurt you don't worry about it don't ask questions just eat it but if the person makes a point I offer this food to the idol I want you to eat this Idol food well then you shouldn't not because it'll hurt you but because you are now condoning idolatry it's not for your conscience sake it's for their conscious sake so that unbeliever or maybe that new convert sitting next to you will think wow you are worshiping the idol you're giving honor to the idol and he said now actually there are demons who receive the worship of the th given to those Idols so if you in any way look like you are condoning or participating in idolatrous worship then you are compromising your identity and so Paul gives if you read carefully Paul gives four guidelines that even when you have Christian Liberty so you don't have Christian Liberty to steal or to lie or to wear a modest clothing but what if you say well in this one area of eating certain food I have Christian Li I can do whatever I want but there are four tests number one and you can see this in 1 Corinthians if you read the whole book but especially chapters 6 through1 number one is it beneficial is it good for me so if something is be hurtful for me even if it's not sinful I need to be careful my body is the temple of God I'm the steward so the first question even in exercising My Liberty is it beneficial number two can it gain power over me if it has the power to overcome me number three will it harm others will it be a stumbling block as we previously descried would somebody else misunderstand and cause them to lose their faith and then number four can I give God glory so let me give you an illustration uh I think Christians should not smoke I or use tobacco I think it's actually sinful because there are scriptures that talk about our bodies the Temple of the Holy Spirit and so I I think that's wrong but let's just say somebody says you know what I think I should be able to choose in that regard I don't there's no obviously there's no scripture says Thou Thou shalt not smoke tobacco products because it was unknown in the ancient world it's known to the new world but so what if somebody says you know you can't make me I would say well wait a minute that's not the end of the subject number one is it beneficial well no 400,000 Americans die every year because of tobacco so if anything is harmful that that's it's no so even Christian Liberty says no you shouldn't second can it gain power over me yes tobacco is one of nicotine is one of the most addictive substance more than drugs so yes it could cause you you know to affect your ability to fast to pray to do the will of God yes it can gain power over you number three can it harm others absolutely even if I thought I will never get sick and I can control it and I can use it moderation what about my kids what about young people in the church what about converts what about people who struggled uh you know even if that the only reason was for their sake it'd be worth my Christian example and then can I give God glory can I really honestly say as I'm partaking I'm praising God thanking God for this I don't think so so I use that simple analysis of an hopefully for us a non-controversial subject to say here is how you can ask these four questions um so to summarize I think within local churches there should be certain discretion and the pastor can help guide this he can teach here's what's biblical here's what's absolute and here's what I'm asking everyone to do to implement biblical principles so even though some things may not be spelled out in scriptures like how long your dress should be you know you have to have modesty and the pastor can say here is how we Define modesty in our context and I'm asking for the sake of unity and a clear witness clear example I'm asking everyone in the church to follow these guidelines for modesty I think that's a valid point but the pastor may also say there's some things I'm not going to teach on because they're not scriptural or there's some things I'm going to give you discretion like sometimes there places we might go for entertainment or Recreation that in one city might be wholesome another city might be greatly associated with drunken and and sexual immorality and so on so in one context we may say it's okay to participate in a certain event or sport or activity but in another place it's advisable not to or sometimes the pastor may say I'm going to give you discretion of which places would be wholesome or maybe the pastor won't even say anything so I think within a local church there's a certain discretion so where there's that discretion that each member should not attack and judge one another likewise when it comes to church churches across the fellowship there should be a certain leeway so we have the articles of faith we have position papers it spells out in pretty strong detail I think we should all follow those but places where scripture is silent and even our organization is not taking an official position and put it in writing and everybody voted for it well then I think we should allow discretion so One Pastor should not attack another Pastor in those areas of discretion we need a mature wholesome attitude for Christian Liberty doesn't mean everybody go to the lowest common denominator of the of the newest convert or the newest church we can disagree but that doesn't mean we have to attack ridicule condemn judge we can say you know what some things we have to leave to God to judge now if it's a harm to our local body or harm to our fellowship we have to address it but there are certain things we have to have a certain degree of respect tolerance of differences and Christian Liberty I think a mature understanding for a local church and a mature understanding of a fellowship is very important we can't split over every preference so I would like to say there are scriptural convictions that we should have so whether I feel convicted or not doesn't matter scripture teaches it I need to follow it gender distinction modesty of dress and so forth those are scriptural teachings uh but there are personal convictions which I think is advisable for me and God may have indeed given it to me but doesn't mean it's for everybody else and even a local church the pastor may feel led in that environment and what God has called that church to do and to be to ask the church to Rally around certain points but if it's not a scriptural teaching we have to relegate it to a personal conviction or a pastoral preference and I think even teaching as such has greater integrity and a greater probability that people will gladly follow it when you're very clear and honest here's what I believe the Bible requires here's a Biblical an application of a Biblical principle that I'm asking everybody to do as opposed to here's a pastoral preference that I want you to follow and here's a personal conviction that I follow when you have those categories