Guidelines for Christian Liberty

Transcript

GR 1474
06/05/11
Guidelines for Christian Liberty
Romans 14:13-23
Gil Rugh

We're going to go to Romans 14 in your Bibles. We're making our way toward the end of this terrific letter of the Apostle Paul to the church at Rome, a letter that has unfolded the gospel of Jesus Christ, the wretched condition of all mankind, lost in sin, religious and non-religious, Jew and Gentiles alike, all demonstrated to be hopelessly guilty and condemned before a holy God. But God has provided His Son to be the Savior, righteousness, God's righteousness provided as a free gift to all who believe in the work of Jesus Christ—His death, His resurrection. The One who ascended to heaven to be seated at the right hand of the Father in glory, the One who will some day return and rule and reign over all creation.

In light of the work that God has done in the heart and life of every single individual who has come to place his faith in Jesus Christ, Paul has been talking about how we are to live. We are to recognize and respond by giving our bodies over totally to the Lord. This was started in Romans 12, to present our bodies as a sacrifice to God, to be used always by Him and for Him. We moved into Romans 14, Paul is talking about how we relate to one another in the body of Christ as stronger Christians and weaker as Christians, as those who are more mature and those who are less mature. The case then is as the case today. We come from different backgrounds, we come together as those who have come to faith in Jesus Christ and have been brought together as the family of God. But coming out of our different backgrounds we come with different convictions, different ideas. It was true in the church at Rome, and there the division was real and clear. And while we talk about the matter of Christian liberty and mature Christians and less mature Christians, we want to be careful we don't lose sight of what the real situation in Rome is. It's primarily a division between Jewish believers and non-Jewish believers. Those who were Jewish were raised from the time of birth to believe that God had given the law to Moses to govern the conduct of His people, Israel. And that indeed was true. They were raised to observe the laws given forth in the Mosaic Law, laws regarding food, what you can eat and not eat and so on; what days had to be observed in special ways. Now they come to place their faith in Christ but some of them were still convinced that they should still obey the laws that had been given through Moses. They did not understand with the coming of Christ God's grace now set them free from all those obligations. They no longer were required to make a distinction between the kinds of food that were clean and those that were unclean, or to observe certain days as special days of observance to the Lord. That's no longer required. And yet they couldn't get free from that. Those who understood the grace of God and the transformation that had come about with the coming of Christ and God's authority, they realized their liberty. Those who are mature are those who understand God's grace more completely, that they are no longer obligated to the Mosaic Law. The less mature are those who don't understand God's grace with that fullness yet, they don't have that maturity.

Now we carry these principles that he establishes over to any area of what we call Christian liberty that the Bible does not address for us as His people as right or wrong. There is validity to that because there is a parallel section in Paul's letter to the Corinthians that is not dealing with the distinction between Jews and Gentiles. But it's dealing with the distinction among Gentiles and dealing with foods sacrificed to idols and so on. The same principles are operative. So we want to be careful we understand the foundation that he is coming from as he addressed this issue in writing to the Romans. We have to be careful in our application that it is a valid application. But it does give us guidelines on how we handle what we call Christian liberty, the freedom that we have.

The fact that he is dealing with a Jewish situation is evidenced by a number of things. One is that throughout the book of Romans, going all the way back to the early part of Romans and the early chapters where he dealt with the distinction between Jews and Gentiles. In Romans 2 particularly he showed the lost condition of the Jews. He showed the lost condition of the Gentiles in Romans 1. Then he brought them both together in Romans 3. There is a strong Jewish element in the church at Rome that has the potential to divide the church between those believers in Jesus Christ who are convinced you should still keep the Mosaic Law and many of its provisions, and those who don't think you should. The answer is not to provide another church in Rome and say we'll have a Jewish church that observes the Mosaic food requirements and a Gentile church that does not observe them. That way we resolve the conflict. No, because the work of God through Christ our Savior is the focal point. That brings us together as the family of God, His household. We want to be careful that we don't make these external superficial matters, divisive matters. So there is no option here that Paul would consider those who believe that you should eat certain foods only and not eat others should pull together and form their own church. And those with other convictions . . . No. That's a good lesson for us today. We build churches around superficial things, of externals that some of us like more and some of us like less. The biblical pattern is we are to function together on the basis of our relationship to Christ.

He set forth a number of principles through these early verses of Romans 14. We are to welcome all believers, verse 1, regardless of their convictions on this area. The less mature Christians are to be welcomed by the mature Christians. And not so we can correct them and set them straight. But we welcome them, the end of verse 3, because God has accepted them. And if God has accepted them, upon what basis would we not accept them and welcome them. Reminded us in verse 4 that we stand or fall before our master who is Jesus Christ. I'm not your master, you are not another believer's master. There is only one Lord in the church, that's Jesus Christ. And because of the grace of God provided in Jesus Christ, all believers will stand because God is able to make them stand. That was the point and statement at the end of verse 4—the Lord is able to make him stand. We have liberty when we get to these matters. You do not have to eat certain foods, neither do you have to abstain from certain foods. But each person is free to have his own convictions on the matter. Verse 5, the end of the verse, each person must be fully convinced in his own mind. That becomes crucial. There will be objective truth contained in the Word of God that we must all submit to. There is no liberty here, it is required by the Lord of the church, the Head of the church.
Then there are areas not addressed in Scripture and we have the freedom to function according to our personal convictions before the Lord. And that needs to be recognized by strong and weak Christian alike, by mature and immature Christian alike. Verse 8, he made the reminder, in death and in life, in life and in death we belong to the Lord. He was sovereign over us. In life He'll be sovereign over us, in death. So it's the lordship of Christ that has to be recognized and acknowledged in all of this, and that is established by the principle we will all give account to Him.

He started out with this in verse 1, that we were not to be passing judgment on the opinions of the other believer. Down in verse 4, who are you to judge the servant of another. Then he comes to verse 10, but you, why do you judge your brother. For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. Verse 12, so then each of us will give an account of himself to God. So we need to be very careful here in these matters where there is liberty that we function properly with the liberty. The stronger Christian, the more mature Christian who has a fuller, clearer understanding of God's grace is not free to use that liberty to put the pressure on the weaker Christian, the less mature Christian to eat certain foods, in this context. Because eating foods doesn't make you any better before the Lord than not eating foods. So this sitting in judgment . . . Nor is the weaker, less mature Christian in a position to sit in judgment of the more mature Christian and tell him he shouldn't exercise his liberty. So the balance is crucial.

That emphasis on judgment is picked up in verse 13. And verses 13-23 primarily deal with the responsibility of the stronger Christian. The stronger Christian is one who understands the liberty he now has in Christ. He is not bound by what the Mosaic Law said, for example, what the issue is here. He understands he has the freedom to eat whatever he wants, which also means he has the freedom not to eat whatever he chooses not to eat. Since he has that kind of liberty, the less mature Christian doesn't have that freedom. He thinks that to be pleasing to God, he has to restrict himself in this area. So the one with the greater freedom, the clearer understanding has a greater responsibility.

We've used the example of the older children in our home. We hold them to a higher standard. You are older, you should know better. Doesn't mean that when the younger child gets to be older, he won't be held to that higher standard. But right now you don't expect the younger because he is less mature, to have the same clarity of understanding and ability to function.

So when he picks up in verse 13, he still continues picking up that emphasis on judgment in verses 10-12, we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. Each of us will give an account of himself to God. Therefore, verse 13, let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this. And there is a play on words here and an emphasis that we miss in our translation. Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this. That word translated determine is the word judge, same word you have translated judge in the first part of the verse. Let us not judge one another, but rather judge this. We are to exercise judgment, discernment, but not in judging someone else. But in determining and judging that we won't do anything that will hinder the growth, be an obstacle or stumbling block to the growth of a fellow believer. So we don't welcome a less mature Christian into our body so we can judge his opinions, put the pressure on him to do what we do as more mature Christians. Our determination and judgment is not on his conduct, it's on our conduct. I never want to do anything that will hinder the growth of that less mature, weaker Christian. I give them time to grow and mature, to understand the grace of God and the freedom that the grace of God has brought to them in all these areas. I don't help them understand that by putting the pressure on them to do what they believe would not be pleasing to God. That would put an obstacle or a stumbling block before them. And there is going to be a strong emphasis, using strong language through this section as we conclude Romans 14. Talk about putting an obstacle, the end of verse 13, or a stumbling block. Down in verse 15, because of food your brother is hurt. Another strong word. Bringing grief to him. You don't want what you do to be spoken of as evil, the end of verse 16. Verse 20, you don't tear down the work of God. You don't make your brother stumble, the end of verse 21. You don't destroy your brother. This strong language. You know sometimes we forget when we come to a greater maturity as God's people and understand something of the liberty, we think we ought to go around and parade that liberty and flaunt it and put pressure, direct or subtle, upon people so that they'll respond the same way, other believers. So that's what Paul is addressing.

So he says in verse 13, therefore. In light of the fact we are going to give an account of ourselves to God, He is the only judge. Let us not judge one another anymore. That doesn't rule out church discipline, that doesn't rule out dealing with sin. The context he's talking about in these areas, where there is liberty, freedom. What you eat or don't eat doesn't determine your spiritual condition before God.

Let us not judge one another anymore, but rather judge this. Not to put an obstacle or stumbling block in a brother's way. Doing nothing that would be a hindrance to the growth of a fellow believer. There is a parenthesis here. Verse 14 really functions like a parenthesis. Paul makes clear. He comes out of a Jewish background, he was a Pharisee, he was a strict observer of the requirements in the Mosaic Law. But he says, I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself. So I've come to understand God's work of grace and the liberty and freedom I have in Christ. Even as a Jewish believer, there are no foods unclean. Another indication he is focusing on the distinction between Jewish thinking and non-Jewish thinking, or immature Jewish believer thinking and mature Jewish believer thinking. He'll draw this contrast between the clean and the unclean, mentioning it several times. Nothing is unclean. I am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, like in the context of the food and the observance of days and so on. That's a settled matter. Paul is a mature believer, he knows that.

Come back to Mark 7, we keep coming back here but this will be one passage you will be able to keep in your mind on this subject of foods and what we eat, what we drink. Understand, even under the Mosaic Law the foods that are called unclean, they are unclean because God told the Jews you can't eat it. And when they ate it, they were disobeying God. That was the defiling thing. Not that that particular food in and of itself by eating it brought defilement, it was the rebellion against God in eating it that brought the defilement. So God can change that, He lifts His restrictions, He lifts His requirements. Now it is no longer wrong. You may be driving someplace and the speed limit is 25, then you move into an area where it is 45. Those who make the law have changed the law at this point. It's no longer 25, it's 45. And you get on the interstate and it's 100, or whatever it is, 75. The law changed. So God is the giver of the Law, so He can change it. So don't think the idea, how can these foods that were unclean now be clean. Because there is nothing in and of themselves in the food itself that was unclean, it was the fact that God said you can't eat it that made it unclean.

All right, Jesus addresses this in Mark 7:15. There is nothing outside the man which can defile him if it goes into him. The things which proceed out of a man are what defile the man. When He explains it to His disciples, verse 18, do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him because it does not go into his heart, it goes into his stomach. Then is passed out and eliminated. Thus He declared all foods clean. Now Peter is here to hear this, but he does not understand the ramifications of that statement until Acts 10, as we've studied in our study of Acts and as we looked at in our previous study in Romans. That which proceeds out of a man is that which defiles the man, from within the heart of man proceed evil thoughts, fornications, all kinds of sin. That's what defiles a person.

Come over to I Timothy 4. We won't go to Acts 10 again, we did that in our previous study. Again an issue here. There is a revival of this kind of thinking among evangelicals. We call it spiritual formation and they want to go back to the monks. And somehow if you practice a certain kind of asceticism, ascetic lifestyle, and you follow certain rules, you will develop to be more spiritual. That never was biblical, and it is not biblical today. It's an indication of the church departing from the teaching of the Word of God and a clear understanding of God's grace and way of building maturity into a believer.

That was an issue when Paul wrote to Timothy at Ephesus, it was an issue at Corinth, it's an issue at Rome as we are studying. It continues. The devil keeps pumping in the same error into the church. I Timothy 4:4, this is the context of food and being ascetic in your life. Everything created by God is good and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude. Now the point here in the context is like we have in Romans 14. That doesn't mean you must eat everything and everything you eat is good for you physically. But there is nothing spiritually defiling by certain kinds of foods or drinks or things like that. That's not where defilement comes from. So that's the point. Everything created by God is good. Now there are certain things you would choose not to eat or drink, that is not primarily what they are for. But when you get into the realm of food and drink, there is nothing that says if you eat that, that will defile you spiritually. If you drink that, that's what will defile you spiritually. If you smoke that, that's what will defile you spiritually.

When I was a young person, after our family became believers, I was told I shouldn't smoke because my body is a temple of the Holy Spirit and that smoke will defile your body. Well it might not be good for me physically, but that's not what defiles me spiritually. The same with food and drink. So everything created by God is good. Nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude, for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer. So those kinds of rules and regulations we don't have to observe.

So come back to Romans 14. Paul says, I know that, I'm convinced of that in the Lord Jesus. Nothing is unclean of itself. That particular item of food or drink in and of itself, there is nothing wrong with that. But note, that's not the last word on it. But to him who thinks anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. Now there is a subjective element here. There are objective things that are wrong because the Bible says they are wrong. There are objective things that are right because the Bible says they are right. There are things the Bible doesn't address. There we have personal conviction. The Bible indicates that the food regulations have been removed. That does not mean, therefore, that everyone ought to eat the things. There is liberty, there is freedom. Now if you personally have the conviction before the Lord as a Jewish believer that you shouldn't eat that particular food, you shouldn't do it. So it's not that the food is unclean because verse 14 made clear, nothing is unclean in itself. Talking about food here, drink. But the one who thinks it is unclean, to him it is unclean. You see it's not in the food itself, it's in the mind of the person, just like it was before that. It's unclean because God says it was unclean. Now God says it's not unclean, so you are free to eat it. But if in your mind you are still convinced it is something that God would not want you to do, then you shouldn't do it.

So there are the objective requirements that are true for us all, but then there are the subjective. There is the matter of between me personally and God, between you personally and God. We tend to want to blend these. Judge not that you be not judged. And so some people get upset when you do church discipline because they think we shouldn't be judging. They don't understand, there are certain things where God has spoken and that must be addressed. We sin when we don't. But then there are things that are left to liberty. Now I have to understand that. If I have maturity to understand that I have the freedom to eat this food or drink this drink but someone else doesn't, I have to recognize for them it would be wrong to eat it. I don't help them, I hurt them when I pressure them to eat like I eat, eat what I eat, drink what I drink. Come on, it's time for you to grow up. You have liberty in Christ. You can eat this. Here, have some. Learn to be mature, for goodness sake. No, to him it is unclean. It would be sin for him to eat. And as he's going to emphasize, it would be sin for me to encourage him to eat.

So important principle here, you ought to have it marked. To him who thinks anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. Now note that. That's personal. It's not unclean for me, it's unclean for him. It's unclean for me, not unclean for you. We have to make the distinction here, what is a personal matter between our Lord and us.

Verse 15, and really verse 13 connects to verse 15. Judge not to put an obstacle or stumbling block in our brother's way. For if because of food your brother is hurt. Strong word, causing someone pain or grief. You are no longer walking according to love. So I encourage him to do something, putting an obstacle or stumbling block in his way, really, by encouraging him to do what he believes God would not want him to do, I am causing him pain and gain. We all know what a guilty conscience is. You've done something you believe you should not have done. Now your conscience troubles you. And that could be a serious matter. So I cause him pain and grief because he is doing what I tell him he should do, not what he believes his Lord and Master would have him do. So what I've told him to do is a freedom that there is in Christ, but it's not a freedom for him at this stage because he believes it is contrary to what God wants him to do. So now I've brought grief and pain to him. And that means I'm no longer walking according to love. Now the problem is growing. I'm to walk according to love. We dealt with this back in Romans 13:10, be devoted to one another in brotherly love. We are to be showing love to one another and now I'm not showing love to him.

So now you see what has happened in the body. Here is a less mature Christian who has been encouraged to sin against God by violating his conscience in this area. So the weaker Christian has sinned, and I as a stronger Christian have sinned by encouraging him to do it. Thus not showing love in my relationship with him. And now you can see how the body gets in trouble. Because now you have the mature and the immature believers in the body both sinning against their Lord. And you don't keep sin in a box, it spreads. And so now the trouble multiplies in the body because you have the mature believer sinning against the immature Christians and thus sinning against the Lord, and you have the less mature Christians sinning by violating their conscience, thus sinning against the Lord. You have the mature and the immature living in sin, in rebellion against the Lord of the church. And then pretty soon the church is having all kinds of problems and troubles. And we begin to say, it's because of them, it's because of them. And the more mature become more proud because they think the real problem in the church is the immature and the weak won't come to a clear understanding of grace and the weaker think it's . . . And on it goes. They really both are guilty of sin.

So if because of food your brother is hurt. Sometimes there is hurt. Church discipline is hurtful. That's why we're talking about here that where the Scripture does not require something or forbid something. Because of food. There are not restrictions, no requirements on food any longer. Now you can do what you want. You have a pattern of eating healthy and what you like to eat or don't like to eat, you are free in that. But talking about spiritual things here.

If because of food your brother is hurt you are no longer walking according to love. Now note how strong this gets. Do not destroy with your food him for whom Christ died. And that word to destroy is used most often when Paul uses it to refer to the ultimate destruction of the wicked. So you see how strong the word is. We talk about putting an obstacle or stumbling block in a brother's way, of encouraging him to violate his conscience in what he believes God would have him do and thus causing him hurt and pain, we're talking about ruining, destroying someone for whom Christ died. You see the seriousness of this in God's sight.

Now this is important. I was given a pamphlet this past week produced by a church in town on Christian liberty. And in that the ultimate goal we're arriving at, and they use the example of alcoholic beverages, the ultimate goal is the time when this weaker Christian and the stronger Christian, we will hoist the cup of wine together. That's not the goal. Now we want the weaker Christian to come to clarity of understanding on the grace of God. But he may never choose to drink that cup of wine or eat that particular food. He's free not to.

We start to give the idea that a true understanding of grace is by doing this. We put the pressure on those who don't share that conviction to do it. To this day, no matter how fully I understand God's grace, there are certain things in my life I do not do because I'm not comfortable before the Lord that He would have me do that. I understand liberty, I'm not offended or bothered at all if you do it. But since it is liberty, I'm not required to do it, and it's not right for me to do it if I personally don't think between the Lord and me it's not for me. So we don't want to give this idea, when they come to understand liberty then they'll do it. When they come to understand liberty, they'll understand they have the freedom to do it, which is also a freedom to not do it. We get the idea their understanding of grace is when they do what we do. No. So I don't want to put them in any situation where the pressure is on them to do what would violate their conscience. And you should not do that. And sometimes people say, don't you understand? I understand perfectly, Paul understood that. In another setting he'll say there are certain foods he'll never eat again if it causes a problem for a fellow believer, even though he understands there is nothing wrong with any of the foods. So you understand what we talk about with maturity and immaturity. Maturity doesn't mean you eat everything, maturity means you understand God's grace allows you that freedom that there is nothing wrong with the food itself.

But I have a personal relationship with the Lord, individual relationship as you do. And I should not violate my conscience in that relationship. And I don't believe that God would have me do this, so I don't do it. And I don't believe what God has given me that particular conviction about, He has given you about. That's liberty, that's freedom.

Okay, do not destroy with your food him for whom Christ would die for him, give His life for him, and I would bring him to ruin over an issue like food? Do I really understand grace and liberty when I'm functioning in such a way?

Therefore do not let what is for you a good thing be spoken of as evil. When a strong Christian functions that way, they give occasion for their fuller understanding to be spoken evil of. I think you are ruining a fellow believer over nothing because in your maturity you claim to understand that food is not an issue. Then why would you make it an issue for this weaker, less mature Christian? That only gives reason for them to speak evil of what is supposed to be maturity.

For the kingdom of God, verse 17, is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. The kingdom of God. And all sound commentators, even those who believe we are in the kingdom, acknowledge that almost all of Paul's references to the kingdom are future references to a coming kingdom. And a number of the better commentators acknowledge this is one of those references talking about the future kingdom. And I believe it is. I believe all the references are talking about the future kingdom, when we're talking about the kingdom that the Messiah will rule over. We are to live in light of our destiny.

Turn over to Philippians 3. In the context here Paul talking about following his example. He's given his testimony and you'll see how zealous he was in the first part of Philippians 3 about keeping the Mosaic Law. But come down to verse 17. Brethren, join in following my example. Observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us. Many walk as I have told you often, now tell you, they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose enemy is destruction, whose god is their appetite. Glory in their shame. So many who profess to be believers are manifesting by their way of life that they don't know Him. For our citizenship is in heaven, for which we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus, who will transform our body into conformity with His body of glory.

Philippians 4, therefore, my beloved brethren, stand firm in the Lord. Resolve the conflicts, rejoice, and so on. You see we live in light of our destiny. We're looking for the coming of the Lord. Our citizenship is in heaven, we belong to the God of heaven. Someday Jesus Christ will come and establish a kingdom in which we will rule and reign with Him. That's what he is talking about in Romans 14. Encouraging the Philippians to live in light of where you are going. So resolve the differences and the conflicts, live in peace.

Come back to Romans 14:17, for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. We are to live in light of that. Why? Some day we will be brought into conformity with our Savior, perfect righteousness, peace, no division among the people of God, joy. These things produced by the Spirit. So we are to live in light of that. I mean, we deny what we claim about the future when we're living in a conflicting way in the present. We tell people about a coming King, Jesus Christ will rule and reign on the earth, and a kingdom for all believers. Then we live like the devil here. Something is wrong, there is an inconsistency. He tells the Romans, it's not about food and drink, so what are you divided over? So someone observes eating a certain food, some don't. So those who don't, don't; those who do, do. And we appreciate the liberty there.

For he who in this way serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. Now we come back to who do you serve? Who is the judge? Who is the Master? He who in this way serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. So whose approval am I looking for? I want to be pleasing to God and approved by men from the standpoint as a strong Christian when you do this, the weaker Christian will appreciate. I know he believes you have liberty to eat everything, and you can, but he puts no pressure on me to do it. I'm accepted fully with my personal convictions. Doesn't mean you don't teach grace, but in grace you teach the liberty that even the weaker Christian has to observe his conscience. And that helps their growth and maturity.

So then let us pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another. Don't divide over these things. We have to do battle over biblical teaching and doctrine, we cannot compromise the truth in that sense. We don't say we won't teach grace clearly because some people hold a different . . . No, we have to teach grace. Paul doesn't hesitate to put in verse 14, I know and am convinced in the Lord that nothing is unclean in itself. There is no blurring here or being soft on what the grace of God clearly teaches. But by the same token there is personal accountability within this. And since foods are not required or forbidden, to him who eats what he thinks is unclean, to him it is unclean. So down here, let's pursue the things that make for peace. What's the issue? We don't have to make it an issue, because it's not an issue. Right? Because God says it is not an issue.

And we pursue the things which are good for building up one another. How will this help you to mature in the Lord? How will this help me to mature in the Lord? In I Corinthians 14:26 Paul says, let all things be done for edification. Same thing we have here, right? Let's pursue the things that make for the building up of one another. Let all things be done for edification. How will this help build them up? I don't help them mature by beating on them to function like I do.

In fact the next verse, do not tear down. That's the opposite of building up. Let's pursue the things that make for peace and the building up of one another. Instead of building up, do not tear down the work of God for the sake of food. This is talking about the mature Christian here. Stop it, stop putting pressure on them to do this. _________ ______________ clear being mature. Some churches use wine in communion, we use grape juice. We use the fruit of the vine. What is symbolized in it is what is important. Could you use real wine? Yes. Would that cause a problem for some? Yes. So we say you can't take communion because you still haven't matured like we have, you don't understand you can drink wine. Well you can drink wine, but you don't have to drink wine. So why would I do that? Put that kind of pressure on people to come to observe a remembrance of the Lord if I don't have to, for example. Just to use a current example. I'm not here to put pressure on people and you come here, you will either mature and understand grace and liberty or you will probably want to leave. No, hope that together we will mature and grow together.

Don't tear down the work of God for the sake of food. All things are clean. He comes back to this. I understand that, that's not the debate, that's not the issue. But they are evil, they are evil for the man who eats and gives offense. That means if I am doing it and giving offense in the eating of it, it's evil for me. I'm not functioning in love, I'm doing it to make a point, I'm doing it to demonstrate my liberty. My liberty has restraints. Now that doesn't mean the weak, the immature control the family. But it does mean the mature have the responsibility given them by God to be careful.

It is good not to eat meat or to drink wine or to do anything by which your brother stumbles. I mean, we come together, my point is not to put pressure on you to encourage you to violate your conscience as a believer. I can eat and drink whatever I want at home. What's the point? And if I have you to my home, I don't have to make a point by having the foods that the Jewish believer is convinced he shouldn't eat, and the drink he's convinced he shouldn't drink. You are in my home, and we are mature, and we don't observe the restrictions, so I hope you'll join us. Now I put him in a terrible position. What am I doing? What is the purpose? It's good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything by which your brother stumbles. I don't want to be a problem to him. I can be like Paul. I understand the Word of God to be clear that there aren't restrictions. But I understand that also you are responsible before God with your conscience, and I wouldn't want to do anything that would encourage you to violate your conscience. And if you don't think it's right, I wouldn't want you to do it. And you shouldn't do it. And if I do anything that makes you feel pressured to do it, I would appreciate it if you would tell me, so I don't. That's not the purpose. There is liberty there. Now I still have the liberty to do it. I'm not going to be dishonest, I do eat this, I do drink this. That's my liberty. But when I am together with them, I don't have to do that there. Paul is willing to give that up. I don't want to do anything that would cause my brother to stumble.

The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God. The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God. Now obviously there are certain realms of our faith that we all have to have to be true believers. But he's talking in the realm of these foods and drinks and those kinds of things. There is room for personal conviction, and somehow that personal conviction we feel so strong about, they all have to believe it, they all have to do it. And until they see it my way, they are not functioning like they should. The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God.

Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. You know, that's a blessing. I'm eating this, I'm drinking this because I am confident before the Lord that it is okay for me. But he who doubts is condemned if he eats because his eating is not from faith. So it's not a blessing for him.

This pamphlet I referred to, they have a note that drinking wine is not even an option because we are stewards of creation and wine is one of the good things He has given. So to be good stewards of one of the good things He has given, we should drink wine. We get this turned around, all of a sudden the freedom has become no freedom because it's not a liberty to do it or not do it because I have to do it. Where does this stop? We now turn our discussion around and being proud of our understanding of grace to the point that you no longer have liberty not to do it, because you must do it or you are not a good steward of the creation. And if you are a good steward of the creation and wine is part of what God gave in the creation, therefore you should drink it. Go have a glass of gasoline, too. I mean, what silliness. Liberty is freedom not to also. Right?

He who doubts is condemned if he eats. Why would I want to do something to be condemned? Try to talk you into it? You'll grow, mature. I had to grow and mature, we all do. And I'm still not done. Whatever is not from faith is sin. Period. What does he mean? If you can't do it with the confidence that this is what God would have you do, that it's pleasing to God for you to do it, don't do it.

After our family got saved we got into a group that was very restrictive in their practices. Limited on the kinds of clothes you could wear, no makeup. Ladies only certain kinds of clothes, no sleeves above the elbows. No riding your bicycle on Sunday, no making loud noises on Sunday. Very restrictive. No pool, no alcohol, no tobacco, no movies. Some of you have that kind of background. You grow, you mature, you understand God's grace. I understand the liberty. None of those things come under the restriction of Scripture. There still are certain things before the Lord I don't practice. I understand there is liberty. In that sense I consider myself a mature believer, a strong believer because I understand the Bible doesn't say I can't do it. The Bible doesn't say there is something wrong in and of that item. I just don't believe before the Lord for me personally, it is something He would have me do. There are other factors in it for me personally. That doesn't affect my thinking about you, whether you do it or not. I'm fine if you do. I personally don't drink wine, I don't think it is a sin to drink wine. If I'm with you and you are thinking you would have a glass of wine with your meal, it is perfectly fine with me if you do. And I hope it would be perfectly fine with you if I don't because I'm not sitting there thinking, if they were as mature as I am, they wouldn't be having that. Because I'm not thinking that. It's not an issue, I don't think the Bible makes it an issue.

So we need to be very careful that we function biblically. Otherwise we get into a situation where the mature believers in the body are guilty of sin by the way they treat the less mature, and the less mature are in sin because they are trying to do what the strong believer, the strong believer tells them they should do to demonstrate they are mature. And once you get both the mature and the immature functioning in rebellion against the Lord of the church, where is the peace and harmony, the joy in the church going to come from?

We have churches that are torn apart by all kinds of things. When we come back, we are privileged to have been set free in Christ. We are privileged to belong to Him and live under His lordship. He is the Lord of the church, He is the head of the body, the church. He is the Lord, the Master of each of us individually, so there are certain things required in His Word. They are not options, they are not in the realm of liberty. They are in the realm of requirements God has given. Everything else is in the realm of liberty. Now I want to use my liberty properly, and I want to recognize the liberty is that those with less maturity will function maybe a different way. Those with more maturity will function differently than I will. That's liberty, the freedom not only to do it but to not do it. All to be pleasing to the One to whom we will give an account.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for your grace. Thank you for the work you have done for us in Christ, the work you've done in us as you have brought us to faith in your Son. Thank you, Lord, for the glorious liberty we have in Christ. Lord, thank you for the differences we have in the body that help us all grow together. May we be careful that the differences and convictions, the differences in opinions, the differences in personal beliefs might not become occasions to disrupt the peace, the growth, the maturing that we are to be undergoing together. May we have as our desire and goal always to be pleasing to you, recognizing that we give an account ultimately not to one another, but to you. And by the grace that you have bestowed upon us you will cause each of us to stand acceptable in your presence. We praise you for that. In Christ's name, amen.