The Liberty of the Christian, 2

To summarize the last post:  I am not to think myself wiser than God and add to the word of God details of moral instruction for the lives of everyone -- when God has not been pleased to give me those details.  I am not to "reason" my way to a conclusion that I uphold as THE word of God.  (As one person told me after my sermon on wine, "God may have made grapes, but man made wine" -- as thoigh that finalized it -- God also made cows and man made steak).  But I am responsible for developing my personal convictions.  People reacting to legalism tend to think they can leave all decisions about details open ended. This is one place I see the anti-legalists not seeing clearly.

We all react -- children raised in anti Rick N Roll homes join bands to tour the country.  Children raised in partaking homes see the abuse and become abstainers. Children raised in home school homes, send their kids to public schools.  But -- that is not godliness.  Reaction is not of the Spirit.  Our history should have no authority in our lives in these matters.  On the other hand, sometimes we do not react -- we rationalize.  The old adage, "My folks did it this way and I turned out OK" assumes everyone agrees that you are OK.

The issue is very simple: we need to develop convictions from Scripture that affect the details of my life. It must be done -- the checkbook must be managed, the kids must be schooled, you need to know what you would do if served a glass of Merlot at someone's house.  The list is very long.  People reacting to legalism of any form tend to think that they can simply ignore the issues.  They cannot.

Protecting Christian liberty does not mean I reach no conclusions about applying Scripture to the details of my life -- it means I do not impose my conclusions or others or judge them because they do not agree with my conclusions. 

Romans 14 is all about this issue -- Paul refuses to make rules where God does not. But please notice -- he sees people with convictions lived out in the details of life to the glory of God.  They are living before God. That is what you and I are called to do -- live my life in the face of God -- pursue doing and saying what pleases him.  Not to decide or consider how to apply Scripture is a decision for practical atheism.

So what does it look like?

1. I look carefully at the decision to be made -- if I am a husband I lead my wife and children in this.  What is the issue at hand?
2. I go to the Bible, perhaps with the help of others or a good tool, and see if God has spoken on this matter with any single passage clarity. 
3. If not - then I glean all the principles that seem to apply and pray them through and seek healthy counsel from others.  I get counsel because I do not want my selfishness to be a motive in the decision.  I can deceive myself too readily and make obscure what God makes clear.
4. I reach a conclusion -- I will delegate the check book to my wife, we will home school the children, we will drink alcohol in moderation when served but we will not serve it to others, I will smoke a cigar occasionally, we will buy a luxury car, I will not get a tattoo, etc.
5. We keep our conviction to ourselves --we do not impose it on others or judge others by it -- we seek to help others go through a godly process but not necessarily reach our conclusion -- we respect different consciences and seek to do all things to build up those with whom we are present.

Here is the problem -- I am lazy and simply want someone else to tell me what to do.  I do not want to go to God and wrestle with the text and pray and labor at my own heart's motives.  "Just tell me what to do" is my rule. 

But  if I am lazy I will not grow in godliness nor confidence in God's hand in my life. 

What is most amazing to me is how the same principles can lead people to so many different conclusions.  I know godly people who have reached different conclusions from me -- on who to vote for, schooling, going to movies, drinking alcohol, what to spend on vacations, what music to listen to, what car to won, what house to buy or not buy, on how the husband leads his family, etc etc etc.  But they are to be encouraged in their faith toward God for it is their God they serve and not me.

Christian -- go to the Word, pray and meditate through passages, know your own heart and temptations -- and make a choice for conscinece in the matter -- live before God.  Do not drift.  THEN -- hold your conscinece with humility . . . do not measure others by your conscience.

Comments

[julie]

I'm not sure I really agree. While wholeheartedly agree that we should follow after God, I don't think it's all that complicated. In our marriage, we don't spend a lot of time studying what would please or displease our spouse, we spend time with them and get to know them so well that we often know what would please them out of a deep understanding of who they are. Shouldn't our relationship with God be more like that and less concern about developing rules to live by? We are supposed to live by the Spirit, not by rules. And yes, I believe that allows for greater freedom than we are comfortable with. I guess I'm one of those anti-legalist people hehe... I haven't read the read of your liberty posts so I'll get to it. Thanks for your post!

GDL: yes, but after 29 years of marriage I find my love for my wife leads to decisions in the details -- not vague sentiment. I do not buy her certain flowers; I do not take her to certain restaurants. To take her to one of her least favorite restaurants and then to insist my motives ae good would not show the sincerity of my love. It is not legalism to please God in the details.

[Nathan Fullerton]

Great post Mark. I tend toward liberty but need to temper my convictions out of love for others thanks for a great post. Many blogs have many words but I am consistently blessed by yours more than any other. It is obvious to me that God is activly present in your writing thanks

[Sam Shin]

Mark, in our pursuit not to judge others, then how do we faithfully exhort and encourage others to zealously pursue holiness?