Christian Liberty, Part 19

Christian Liberty, Part 19

by Albert N. Martin

Edited transcript of message preached July 25, 2004
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May I encourage you to turn with me in your own Bibles to the fourteenth chapter of the Book of Romans, Paul's letter to the church at Rome. And as I did last Lord's Day morning, I shall read in your hearing the last half of the beginning at verse 13, where, at the end of that first verse of this section, Paul addresses in a very special and pointed way the responsibilities of the strong.
"Let us not therefore judge one another any more. But judge or determine this rather, that no man put a stumbling block in his brother's way, or an occasion of falling. I know, and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean of itself, save that to him who accounts anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. For if because of meat your brother is grieved, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your meat him for whom Christ died. Do not let then your good be evil spoken of, for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. For he that herein serves Christ is well pleasing to God and approved of men. So then, let us follow after things which make for peace, and things whereby we may edify or build up one another. Do not overthrow for meat's sake the work of God. All things indeed are clean, howbeit it is evil for that man who eats with offense. It is good not to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor to do anything whereby your brother stumbles. The faith which you have, have to yourself before God. Happy is he that judges not himself in that which he approves. But he that doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat of faith, and whatsoever is not of faith is sin."
Let us once more pray and ask God, by the Holy Spirit, to be the helper of the preacher, that he may accurately and winsomely open up the Scriptures, and that we may obediently receive the Word of God. Let us pray.
Our Father, we would again acknowledge that left to ourselves we are a mass of ignorance dullness, confusion of thought, perversity of heart. And we therefore come and pray that by the Holy Spirit You will overcome all of the things both within us and without us that would keep us from both understanding and believingly and obediently embracing all that You have said in this portion of Your Word. Help preacher and listener alike, that when this hour is concluded, we may be very conscious that we've not been left at the mercy of our own resources. Help us, then, we pray, in Jesus' name. Amen.
Of what does true freedom consist? What is the essence of true human freedom? Does it consist in the right to do whatever I want to do, whenever I want to do it? Many would answer, "Well yes, it's something like that." Or does freedom consist in the desire and the ability to do what I ought to do when I ought to do it? Now, if we're thinking biblically, we know the answer. The right answer is the second answer. True freedom does not consist in the right to do whatever I want to do whenever or wherever I want to do it. That's the silly destructive notion that is the popular notion of freedom in our country today. But according to the Scriptures, true freedom consists in the desire and the ability to do what I ought to do when I ought to do it.
When Jesus said, "If the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed." The freedom of which our Lord spoke was freedom from the slavery to sin that drives us to the delusive notion that freedom is doing what I want to do when I want to do it, wherever I want to do it. But the freedom that Christ promises is the liberty from sin's dominion, including the dominion of self-will, so that I now have both the desire and the ability to do what I ought to do when I ought to do it.
And since this freedom is a central blessing promised and conferred in the gospel of God's grace, any adequate biblical consideration of the blessings of the gospel will sooner or later bring us to a consideration of the whole subject of what is the nature and what are the parameters of that liberty which Christ has both purchased for us by His death and confers upon us when He draws us savingly to Himself through the gospel. And so for a number of weeks we have been considering what I have gathered under the broad title of a fresh look at the doctrine of Christian liberty.
In previous studies, we've considered such basic things as the reality and nature of our bondage and slavery in Adam, the reality and nature of our liberty and freedom in Christ, the goal of that liberty in Christ, two major threats to that liberty. And now for several weeks we have been considering our liberty in relationship to matters neither commanded nor forbidden by the Word of God. And that has brought us, of course, into Romans chapter 14. And as we began to take up our study of Romans 14:1 through 15:7, I set before you four vital principles of interpretation without which we are doomed to come up with notions that are far afield from what the Apostle had in mind when he wrote these chapters.
Then we looked at the two mandates that are central to this whole consideration: the mandate of no forced conformity in the church (14:5: "Let each be fully assured in his own mind") and the mandate of a God-wrought unity as it is set forth in chapter 15, verses 5 and 6. Then we looked at the general directives to the weak and the strong: the one-size-fits-all, what the apostle had to say to the weak and the strong together. And then we took up the specific directives to the weak. And last Lord's Day we began to consider the specific directives to the strong.
Now remember who the strong are. The strong are those Christians who have an intellectual understanding of the breadth of their liberty in Christ, who in faith have embraced that liberty so that their consciences are not hung up forbidding them to do things that God does not forbid them to do, condemning them for things where God does not condemn them. Their consciences are answerable to the extent of the liberty that has been purchased for them by the Lord Jesus Christ.
And we looked together at what I call the foundation of all the specific directives given to the strong. And that foundation is found in verse 15 when Paul rebukes the strong and says that they are no longer walking in love. When the strong do certain things, he condemns them by saying, "You are not walking in love." The foundation for all the specific directives to the strong is this matter of walking in love, a clear directive the apostle gives in the Ephesian letter, chapter 5, verses 1 and 2.
And then I said we would take up together four of the specific directives to the strong. We had time only to take up one last Lord's Day, and it was this: don't exercise your liberty in any way that causes spiritual harm to any weaker brother or sister. And then we looked at the five and possibly six forms of harm that can come when the strong unwisely, unlovingly, insensitively exercise their liberty in the presence of weaker brethren. They can be a stumbling block, an occasion of falling (verse 13). They can grieve their weaker brethren (verse 15). They can in some sense destroy them (verse 15). They can overthrow the work of God in them (verse 20), and possibly, according to another textual variant, they can make him weak (verse 21).
And so we concluded that our actions in the exercise of our liberty must be regulated by something far beyond the simple question, "Am I free in Christ to do this?" and think that once I've answered that in the affirmative, I have a clear path to do it at any time, in any circumstances, in any relationships. No. The Apostle is clearly saying to the strong, "You must add to the question, 'Am I free in Christ to do this or not to do this?', 'Am I, in doing it walking in love? Or will I in any way cause stumbling, an occasion of falling, grief, destruction, overthrowing the work of God, or make my weaker brother weaker yet'" I must never indulge my liberties in an unloving, selfish perspective that only is concerned with the expression of my liberties.
Now we come to take up the final three specific directives to the strong. This has been review. Now we focus on three more specific directives to the weak, and here is the second: don't exercise your liberty in any way that causes evil speaking concerning the truth of Christian liberty. Look at verse 16: "Let not then your good be evil spoken of." Now let's spend a few moments on the meaning of the key words in this verse.
What is your good? When the apostle says to the strong, "Let not then your good be evil spoken of", what is your good? Well, speaking to the strong who understand and appreciate their liberty in Christ, they share with Paul the conviction of verse 14: "I know, and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus, nothing is unclean of itself." No meat, no drink is essentially inherently unclean. All meats are clean. Jesus taught it. It's clearly taught in the epistles. And the poor weak brother, he still looks upon certain meats and meat itself as something unclean to him. He cannot eat it with a good conscience. Paul says his conscience is giving the wrong signals. "For I know and I am persuaded that when I give thanks for my meat and I eat it, it is a good thing." So when Paul says, "You're good", he is talking about the strong brother, the strong sister, exercising his or her liberty in a thing which, considered in isolation, is essentially, fundamentally, unchangeably good. That's what the good is.
But now he says, "Do not let your good be evil spoken of." And here he uses a very strong verb. The verb "evil spoken of", transliterated into English, is our word "blaspheme". Now when someone blasphemes, what do they do? The Greek verb "blasphemeo" in the New Testament is used to describe any railing speech against God, His name, against Christ, against the Holy Spirit, against the things pertaining to God or to His people. To blaspheme is to speak in a railing, disrespectful way of God, His people, any one of the persons of the Trinity, or things pertaining to the people of God. And so the apostle is saying to the strong, "Do not let your good, that is, any exercise of your liberty in any area which in isolation is essentially, fundamentally good before God be the occasion of blasphemy. Don't let your good become the occasion of people to speak in a disrespectful, in a railing way against that matter of your liberty."
Now look at the context. How would this come to pass? Well, in verse 13 he says, "Let us not therefore judge one another, but judge this, that no man put a stumbling block in his brother way, or an occasion of falling." And how does he do that? Well, as we've seen, when the strong exercise their liberty, which in isolation is good in itself, but in relationship to certain weak brethren, that liberty which is good in itself becomes the occasion of sin, of stumbling, of causing spiritual grief and pain (verse 15).
Now what happens when the strong, injudiciously, unwisely, thoughtlessly, carelessly, selfishly exercise their liberty in such a way that it causes stumbling? It causes occasion of sin; it causes grief to the weak.
What happens when people see this? They see a brother, a weak brother, but he's been spiritually healthy in terms of his overall walk with God. He's been walking with a good conscience. His prayer times are fresh and real and vibrant because he doesn't have a bloodied conscience. He's been walking with integrity before God. Oh yes, he's weak in that his conscience is sending wrong signals to him. He doesn't eat certain foods, he doesn't drink certain beverages; he keeps certain days as special days when God never commanded him to do any of these things. But because his conscience is yet weak, he obeys the dictates of his conscience; he maintains a good conscience to God in man. He's spiritually healthy, spiritually vigorous. Now, someone observes that there's not the same level of joy in his countenance. There's not the same level of vibrancy in his prayers when he prays in prayer meeting. And someone goes to him and says, "Brother, I'm not being judgmental, but is there something wrong?" "Well, what do you mean?"
"Well, I've noticed where once your prayers flowed out with urgency and with passion and with earnestness, there's a kind of dull drabness to your prayers. And I've noticed that when we're in group situations where once you were one of the first to enter in and share what the Lord was doing for you, what you got in your devotions, and all the other indications of spiritual vibrancy, you're silent now."
And he says, "Well, you've discerned accurately. What's happened is..." And then he describes the situation I described last week about his interaction with some of the strong brethren, and how they carelessly nudged him and urged him and cajoled him to indulge in things concerning which his conscience condemned him. By their example and by their pressure, they urged him to violate his conscience. And because he violated his conscience, he was wounded spiritually. And what's happened? People see that and they say, "If that's what your stinking doctrine of Christian liberty does, I don't want it, and it becomes evil spoken of."
You got it? That's exactly what Paul's talking about. Don't let your good be evil spoken of. How does it become evil spoken of? When you carelessly thoughtlessly, selfishly, insensitively indulge that liberty in the presence of the weak, or you speak about that liberty in the presence of the weak when they are not asking you to speak about it. And the apostle is here saying to the strong, "Hear me, you strong ones, not only do I admonish you not to exercise your liberty in any way that causes spiritual harm to your weaker brethren. Don't exercise it in any way that causes evil speaking concerning the truth of Christian liberty, because you will set back the weak's progress into becoming the strong, and you will prejudice people against the very truth that you love.
Now this is not some private opinion to which I've come. As one very respected commentator, Professor John Murray, in his commentary on Romans, writes,
"The strong is being addressed in this context, and there is no need to broaden the application. Why should not the strong be exhorted here to avoid the consequences of undue exercise of his liberty? In another context, Paul protests, 'Why am I evil spoken of for that which I give thanks?' (1 Corinthians 10:30). That for which a strong believer gives thanks may properly be regarded as his good. It is his liberty in Christ to enjoy what God has created to be received with thanksgiving. However, when the damage to the weak mentioned in verse 15 results, then this liberty comes into disrepute, and it is this evil, the exhortation of verse 16, seeks to prevent."
Let me say by way of application, do you see how irresponsible it is when considering the exercise of our liberty simply to ask, "Can I do this with a good conscience before God in isolation from every other consideration?" My brother, my sister, unless you're doing what you're doing or not doing what you're doing, in total privacy you must always ask another question. What will the impact of this be in the context of the others before whom I am seen to be exercising my Christian liberty?
The specifics of the exercise of my liberty are issues before men, and I must always take into consideration these two questions now: Will it in any way harm my weaker brother? Will it in any way cause the truth of my liberty to be evil spoken of, and thereby discredit the doctrine of Christian liberty?
I wrestled with a way to illustrate this that you would never forget, but I didn't do it. But let me tell you what I was tempted to do. I think I came out of my mother's womb sweating. She sweat getting me out of it. But I think I came out of my mother's womb sweating. I'm one of these. People say horses sweat, people perspire. I sweat. I'm soaked before I get up here to preach. Just entering into the singing, and singing with all my might.
That's why I take this jacket off. I can feel the lining sticking to my hair and my arms, and it's creepy. It's terrible. And the worst place is around here. I'm soaked all the time. Here you've got two layers on the inside of your collar. You've got the two layers of cloth and then the--what do you call it, Julie, the stiffening? Whatever it is. And then on this part, you've got the same thing. So you've got four layers of cloth, two layers of the stiffening. If my mathematics is right, that's six layers of material. Then you've got the tie that's got two layers, plus some stiffening in the middle. So three more. That's nine layers of material around my neck!
Whoever in the world said you've got to do this to be a proper preacher? So two years ago, I bought a couple of those shirts that have just two layers of cloth, like a narrow shirt, you know, with a nice little collar. I got a black one and a green one. And I told my wife, "When I turn 70, I'm going to start wearing the black one when I preach." I'll look sort of like a priest without the white part of his collar.
And I was tempted to put on the black one this morning and not say a thing until I got to this point in the sermon, and say, "Now I challenge anyone here to show me from my Bible where I do not have liberty in Christ to cut down on the sweat factor when I'm preaching. I challenge anyone to tell me I'm sinning by wearing my little black Nehru shirt, where I wouldn't sweat as much, and I'd be much more comfortable."
I think you'd be hard put to prove to me from the Bible that I don't have that liberty in isolation to wear that shirt. However, for me to do that in the midst of a series on Christian liberty, what would happen to the doctrine of Christian liberty? He'd say, "Pastor Martin preached, and I'm a Christian, and you know what he's done?" And then we'd have a bruha among all the churches as other people followed the example and said, "Well Pastor Martin did it, I can do it." And that would upset an awful lot of people, not because I would be "sinning", but they just wouldn't feel comfortable. If I don't wear button-down Oxford cloth shirts, wingtip shoes, standard business seats, some people think the world's coming to an end.
That's who I am. That's your image of me. And that's what you feel comfortable with. And there's nothing wrong with that. And I said, "No, I'll let it all spin out in my head and then I'll tell you this morning, and then let you know I didn't do it. But you got the message. You see, we can do things in such a way that we prejudice the very doctrine of Christian liberty by what we do carelessly and thoughtlessly. And Paul says, don't do it. Don't let your good be evil spoken of.
Thirdly, don't exercise your liberty (speaking to the strong) in a way that distorts or misrepresents the priorities of life in the kingdom of God. Where do I get that? Look at verses 17 and 18: "For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. For he that herein [or in these things] renders slavery service to Christ [that captures the full force of that participle]." "He that herein renders bond service to Christ is well-pleasing to God and approved of men." Now again, the key words: "kingdom of God". "Kingdom of God" is the sphere of God's gracious rule in Jesus Christ, a rule exercised over all who enter that kingdom by the new birth.
Remember what Jesus said to Nicodemus in John 3:3 and 3:5: "Except a man be born of the Spirit, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Except one be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God." God's kingdom is only entered by that almighty, supernatural, radical work of God when, by the Holy Spirit, He does something that is like an entire new birth. It's called that: "born again" (born from above).
When God takes out the heart of stone, gives the heart of flesh, places His Spirit within us, this is the only way we enter God's kingdom. But when we enter that kingdom, we enter embracing the rule of the King Jesus himself. That's why Paul could say in verses 6 to 9 of this chapter, "No Christian lives to himself. He doesn't die to himself. Whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. We live to the Lord. Why? To this end, Christ died and raised and lived that he might be Lord of the dead and of the living." He is King in His kingdom. And all his subjects have bowed to His scepter.
The Apostle says, "In that kingdom, a kingdom in which all the believers at Rome were presently found (every Christian is there)--that kingdom does not consist in eating and drinking." What's he saying? He's saying,
"Look, I'm having to give all this instruction to you believers at Rome, and especially now, to you strong. You've got liberty to eat all kinds of foods. You've got liberty to drink all kinds of beverages with a good conscience. You can give thanks to God for all of His gifts, and you can indulge them with a good conscience. Good. Wonderful. I share your perspective. I know and am persuaded that nothing's unclean of itself."
1 Timothy chapter 4: "Nothing is to be refused if it be received with thanksgiving and prayer." All of God's created gifts are good. But he says this to the strong:
"Look, you strong, you're so determined to demonstrate your liberty by eating the foods you can eat whenever you want them in whatever context, insensitive to the impact upon the weak. You're clinging to your liberty to eat, and the expression of that liberty as though it were a central issue in the kingdom of God. You strong are acting as though if you voluntarily chose not to eat certain meats, certain foods, at certain times, in certain circumstances, you would be relinquishing something central to the kingdom of God. You're so tenaciously determined to exercise your liberty whenever you want, in whatever circumstances, you're giving the impression to people that eating is central to the kingdom of God. Furthermore, you're giving the impression that drinking all kinds of beverages must be very important and central in the kingdom, because you are, with insensitivity and with a calloused indifference to the impact of your drinking certain beverages upon others, you are clinging to your liberty."
He said, "Look, look, you're giving a distorted view of the kingdom. The kingdom of God does not consist in eating and drinking. The central issues in this kingdom into which you've come is not what you throw down your throat." But what is it? Look at the text:
"The kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness [living rightly by the standard of God's holy law], peace [that is concord and harmony among the other members of the kingdom, and where you are all walking by the power of God in a life of uprightness and holiness by the standard of God's law, in mutual concord and peace, and you're filled with joy by the ministry of the Holy Spirit]."
People see that and they say, "Aha! That's what is important in the kingdom! Not eating, not drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit." So Paul's concern and his directive to the strong is don't exercise your liberty in a way that distorts or misrepresents the priorities of life in the kingdom of God. I say I'm in that kingdom. What I do and what I don't do, what I think is important or unimportant, reflects on the nature of that kingdom. People are going to have an impression as to what's important in the kingdom from your life, from my life. And if I'm so determined to exercise my liberties with regard to food and drink, I'm going to give the impression that they are really a big deal in the kingdom when in reality they aren't. The big deals are righteousness, peace, joy in the Holy Spirit, and anything that is contrary to righteousness, to peace, and to joy is something that does not belong in the centerpiece of the kingdom. And that's what Paul is seeking to impart to these believers at Rome. I quote another commentator on this point:
"The strong need perspective. And this is what Paul tries to give them here. For the strong are placing too high a value on Christian freedom from ceremonial observances. By insisting that they exercise their liberty in these matters, they are causing spiritual harm to fellow believers thereby failing to maintain a proper focus on what is truly important in the kingdom of God. Theirs, paradoxically, is the same fault as the Pharisees, only in reverse. The Pharisees insisted on strict adherence to the ritual law at the expense of justice, mercy, and faith. The strong are insisting on exercising their freedom from the ritual law at the expense of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. For these are the qualities, Paul reminds the strong, that are what the kingdom of God is all about, not eating and drinking: righteousness, peace, joy in the Holy Spirit."
Now, again, I say by way of application, do you see how broad are the implications of where, how, in what context, I choose to exercise any of my liberties in Christ as a strong believer? I say again, I must ask questions beyond the fundamental question, do I believe before God I am free in Christ to do or not to do this, to eat or not to eat this, to wear this makeup or not to wear it, to get that video or not to get it, to go to that place or not to go, and all the things that get put into this category? I must go beyond that fundamental question and I must ask, will this in any way harm my weaker brethren? Will this give unnecessary occasion to speak evil of the truth of Christian liberty? And will this distort or misrepresent the priorities of life in the kingdom of God?
To be a subject of the kingdom is a marvelous privilege, but it is also an awesome responsibility. You represent what the kingdom is all about. Are you accurately representing it? Are you saying the kingdom is about being able to get this movie at the blockbuster rental place? Is the kingdom about being able to have a bottle of wine on my table? Is the kingdom about this, that, or the other? Or is the kingdom about righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit?
And here's this clinching perspective (verse 18): "For he that herein..." Literally, "He that in these things renders bond service to Christ." Beautiful description. The Christian, the strong believer occupied with righteousness, peace, and joy in the Spirit, in these things is rendering his bond service to Christ as His willing bond slave: "I serve Christ with a passion for righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit."
Two marvelous results. He is well-pleasing to God. God looks down upon such a subject in His kingdom, and He said, "That pleases me. There My child is accurately representing what My kingdom is all about." And he is well-pleasing to men, that is, to those who have a sympathy for what the kingdom is all about. And they see this, and they say, "That's my brother; that's the perspective by which I'm seeking to live; that's the perspective my brother is living by. And together we are seeking to represent accurately what the kingdom is all about." Do you see that? That's the responsibility that's upon us. Much more than just the question, "Am I at liberty?"
And I want to say at this point, this is why I get very, very upset when I hear half-converted or barely converted teenagers bandying about the doctrine of Christian liberty: "Oh, it's my liberty to do this, my liberty to do that." They aren't mature enough to even start thinking seriously about half these things. So hedge them up with a bunch of rules until they internalize becoming bond slaves of Christ and then begin to teach them how to live as free boys and girls and young men and women in Christ.
You parents, don't you be embarrassed about setting up a bunch of rules for your kids. That's your right and your responsibility. We said the church has no right to impose rules. We never said the family has no right. You tell a 17-year-old kid, "Well, it's your liberty to choose when you come in on a Saturday night." It's not his liberty. You say, "10 o'clock Saturday night; you're in that door, or you forfeit the right to be out next Saturday night. Period. End of discussion." "Oh, but Dad, don't you understand the doctrine of Christian liberty?" "I sure do. It has nothing to do with the question we're discussing. You're in here at 10 o'clock on Saturday night."
That's another whole thing. We'll talk about that some other time. We've got to press on now to the final [point]. Number four, the specific directives to the strong: always seek to exercise your liberty only in ways that promote the peace and the building up of the church. Look at verse 19: "So then ['araun', in the Greek, a lovely little combination of particles that says, 'Now we're going to come to the conclusion of the matter with regard to this.' 'Araun', 'so then', 'consequently'] let us follow after [strong word--'dioko', the very word for persecute. 'Let us track down and go after with a vengeance']. Two things. What are they? Look at the text: "So then, let us follow after the things which make for peace and the things whereby we may edify [build up] one another."
What are we going to follow after? "We're going to follow after every single track that leads us to the exercise of our liberty fully, completely, uninhibited." No, no, what we follow after are the things that make for peace. We study how to live at peace with our weaker brethren, how to dwell in the house of God in that context, beautifully described in Psalm 133. It's like the fragrant anointing oil that was poured on Aaron's head. It's like the dew that came down and refreshed the flowers that came down from Mount Hermon between the earlier and latter rain season. We study how to do the things that make for peace. We pursue the things that make for peace.
What's the context? The context is how we exercise our liberty. Where? In what circumstances? Why? With whom? That's the issue. And it doesn't just happen. We have to follow after the things which make for peace and also the things whereby we may build up one another, the things whereby we may build up our weaker brethren. How do we build them up? Not by offending them by the injudicious, thoughtless, careless, selfish exercise of our liberty in their presence. Not by raising for discussion every time we see them the issue of Christian liberty. No, that doesn't build up. That tears down. We follow after the things in the life of the church which make for peace, and the things whereby we may continually build up one another.
So we come around full circle now, and we ask the question, what is the foundational directive to the strong? Walk in love. Constantly remember, love works no ill to his neighbor (Romans 13:10). Cry to God, "Lord, teach me how to walk in my liberty in the context of love. That God-like spirit wrought grace that wills and seeks the good of its objects, even at personal cost. Lord, help me to walk in love, that my liberty will be clothed in love."
And then the specific directives that tell us how love will actually walk in relationship to weaker brethren. I will not exercise my liberty in a way that causes spiritual harm to my brethren. I will not exercise my liberty in a way that causes evil speaking with respect to the truth of my liberty. I won't exercise my liberty in a way that distorts or misrepresents the priorities of the Kingdom of God. And I will always seek to exercise my liberty in ways that promote peace and building up of my brethren in the church.
What is true freedom? It consists in the desire and the ability to do what I ought to do when and where I ought to do it. Am I free enough in Christ to restrain any liberty that will help me to obey these directives? Then I'm free. I'm free. You see, if the only way I can satisfy myself in others that I have liberty to do something is to do it, I'm not free. My liberty is manifested by saying no as well as yes. And if I find that I've got to say no, I've got to say yes, and that's the only way I can validate to myself that I'm free. No, I may be demonstrating that I'm really not free.
I can remember one time years ago, there was a man in the church. The elders were persuaded he had a problem with alcohol. We never saw him staggering. We never saw him with slurred speech, but we smelled alcohol on his breath all the time, and his eyes had a redness that wasn't from allergies. So we met with him as elders, and we sat him down. Don't try to think who it is. [It was] years and years ago. And we said,
"So and so, we are here as your elders, concerned for you. We are not here to charge you with drunkenness. Drunkenness is sin, and must be dealt with as sin." We said, We're not charging you with drunkenness, but we are concerned that you may have a problem with alcohol. We believe, according to the Scriptures, it is your freedom in Christ to use alcohol in moderation to the glory of God. However, we have questions as to whether or not you are doing that. Now, my brother, are you really using your alcohol as a matter of liberty? If so, prove it to yourself and to us by not taking any for the next three months. Prove to yourself that you really don't have to have your alcohol. Go dry for three months. Prove to yourself. Prove to us. It's your freedom to say yes, to say no."
He didn't buy the council, never did admit that he had an addiction. We're persuaded to this day he did.
You see the issue? If I'm truly free, then I'm free enough for these four compelling apostolic reasons to say no to the exercise of my liberty in any situation where saying no will help me not to harm my brethren, not to leave the truth of Christian liberty vulnerable to blasphemy, not to misrepresent the priorities of the kingdom, and to pursue peace and the building up of my brethren.
If you're sitting here and you're not a believer, not a Christian, I wouldn't be surprised if you're thinking, "Man, oh man, that's a strict way of life. To be concerned about how what I do and don't do affects others in all these relationships, I couldn't live that way." No, you can't, unless you get a transformed nature. Jesus said, "Make the tree good and its fruit good." And what you need is liberation from that which we saw way back in the beginning when Christ sets us free. He not only sets us free from the dominion of sin, from the devil, sets us free from the world. He sets us free from the love of self, where self-will and self-indulgence and self-pleasing are our God. And Christ sets us free to where we are free to live for the good of others.
And the doctrine of Christian liberty will never be properly understood and applied and worked out in the power of the Spirit unless people have known that liberation from living for self and are now willing to live in the way Paul describes in this very passage: "He that herein renders bond service to Christ." And the disposition then of one who has a renewed heart is, "Lord Jesus, I want to know how to live in such a way in relationship to my brethren that I please You no matter what the cost is." And when He makes that plain to us, then we count it our privilege to serve Him in this way. Why? Because we're free. We're free from the dominion of pleasing ourselves and sucking our own thumb and feeling that, "Well, I'm being robbed of this pleasure or that pleasure." It's my greatest pleasure to please my Savior and to be an instrument in His hands of blessing to others.