It is our own weakness that rears its ugly head whenever we use our freedom in Christ as an excuse to practice sinful things. If we really follow Christ we ought not to do what displeases Him. If we love Him, we will keep His commands (John 14:15).
Paul addresses this twice:
"“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be enslaved by anything." 1 Corinthians 6:12
"“All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. " 1 Corinthians 10:23
You can see what is important to Paul - and what should be important to us.
While all things are lawful, because of the freedom we have by the grace of God, that doesn't necessarily mean we should do them. We are to seek what is helpful, and what builds up. If we merely focus on what we are allowed to do instead of what we ought to do, then we can easily become enslaved - to pleasure, to self-glorification, to idolatry.
Isn't it funny how freedom of the wrong sort is akin to enslavement - while being a servant of Christ, obedient to His commands, makes us the freest of the free?
That is why we are exhorted to be disciplined (Titus 1:8). We have freedom, but our freedom should lead us to "..flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart...." (2 Timothy 2:22)
I love the imagery of fleeing/pursuing. I always think of a marathon runner. I don't know of any runners who haven't had to work up toward their goals. They have to start out small, and build up their endurance, build up their stamina, build up their muscle...in the same way we have to train our spirits toward godliness. We strain toward the goal of Christ-likeness. We discipline ourselves to flee what is bad and pursue what is good.
Just like a runner who keeps at it, seeing the results of their perseverance, we look forward to the hope of growing righteousness:
"For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it." Hebrews 12:11
We know that training ourselves for godliness holds value in every way, for this life and the life to come. (1 Timothy 4:1-16)
Discernment and freedom really go hand in hand in the Bible, and they do not contradict each other, because true freedom does have restraints, or it is no longer freedom, but chaos and enslavement.
We have to remember both in our daily lives. They are like the two sides of a suspension bridge: you can't have one without the other, or the whole thing collapses. If we obey Christ, and pursue what we are called to pursue, we will be kept safe from enslavement to sinfulness. On the other hand, if we remember the freedom we have in Christ, we will remember that it is before your own Master that you stand and fall; and we will be less swift to make legalistic lists and condemn others for not following what we decide is the right way to go.
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For more on this topic, see these posts:
Two sides of a suspension bridge.
ReplyDeleteNice. :)
Loved part 2.