1. Welcome to Baptist Board, a friendly forum to discuss the Baptist Faith in a friendly surrounding.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to all the features that our community has to offer.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon and God Bless!

CHRISTIAN LIBERTY

Discussion in '2000-02 Archive' started by mel, Oct 12, 2002.

Top Posters
  1. mel

    mel New Member

    Joined:
    Oct 7, 2002
    Messages:
    15
    Likes Received:
    0
    CHRISTIAN LIBERTY

    It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. [Galatians 5:1]

    To the Jews who had believed Him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. [John 8:31-32, 36]

    Salvation in Christ is liberation, and the Christian life is one of liberty. The Bible says in Galatians 5:1 and John 8:31-36 that Christ has set us free. Just what have we been set free from?

    First, Christians have been set free from the law as a system of salvation. Being justified by faith in Christ, we are no longer under God’s law, but under His grace [Rom. 3:19; 6:14-15; Gal. 3:23-25]. Our standing with God is assured because we have been accepted and adopted in the Beloved. It does not, nor will it ever, depend on what we do, nor will it ever depend on what we fail to do. Christians live, not by being perfect, but by being forgiven.

    The law’s work is to arouse, expose, and condemn the sin that permeates our moral lives, making us aware of sins reality and consequences [1 Cor. 15:56; Gal. 3:10-11]. Treating the law, as a system of salvation, and seeking righteousness based on law; the Bible says is impossible. “Therefore no one will be declared righteous in His sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.” [Romans 3:20] This futility of seeking salvation through law keeping is the bondage to the law from which Christ sets us free.

    Second, Christians have been set free from sin’s dominion [John 8:34-36; Rom. 6:14-23]. We have been supernaturally regenerated and made alive to God through union with Christ in His death and risen life [Rom. 6:3-11]. We can now walk in the fullness of the Spirit and not after the flesh.

    Third, we have been set free from superstitions; Paul says that Christians are free to enjoy all of God’s good gifts [1 Tim. 4:1-5], provided we do not transgress the moral law of God, nor hinder our own spiritual well being or that of others [1 Cor. 6:12-13; 8:7-13].

    Forth, Believers have been set free from condemnation. “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit”. [Romans 8:1] With no condemnation we are free to live life in the Spirit. Note what the Word of God says; “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” [Romans 6:4] Also in [2 Corinthians 5:17] “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” May I say that whom the Son has set free, is REALLY FREE AND FREE INDEED.

    In His grip and grace, Mel. [​IMG]
     
    #1 mel, Oct 12, 2002
  2. LadyEagle

    LadyEagle <b>Moderator</b> <img src =/israel.gif>

    Joined:
    Feb 7, 2002
    Messages:
    22,028
    Likes Received:
    1
    Nice post, Mel! [​IMG]
     
    #2 LadyEagle, Oct 12, 2002
  3. Deekay

    Deekay New Member

    Joined:
    Mar 2, 2002
    Messages:
    56
    Likes Received:
    0
    Good post. I would also emphasize our freedom from the expectations of other believers when they impose rules not founded on Scripture. I may make myself accountable to another Christian (a good idea, by the way), but that brother cannot force me to be accountable to him. That is part of our freedom in Christ.
    [​IMG]
     
    #3 Deekay, Oct 12, 2002
  4. Grasshopper

    Grasshopper Active Member
    Site Supporter

    Joined:
    Apr 19, 2002
    Messages:
    3,385
    Likes Received:
    23
    #4 Grasshopper, Oct 13, 2002
  5. Rev. G

    Rev. G New Member

    Joined:
    Sep 16, 2002
    Messages:
    1,635
    Likes Received:
    0
    So, does that mean I'm actually free to smoke a cigar (like Spurgeon) and drink a beer (like Luther)? :D

    Rev. G

    P. S. (Didn't you know SOMEBODY was going to bring these things up on this thread?)
     
    #5 Rev. G, Oct 13, 2002
  6. mountainrun

    mountainrun New Member

    Joined:
    Jun 17, 2001
    Messages:
    567
    Likes Received:
    0
    That was a good post, mel.
    However, I believe your first premise is wrong.

    ==========
    First, Christians have been set free from the law as a system of salvation. Being justified by faith in Christ, we are no longer under God’s law, but under His grace.
    =========

    Romans 9:30 What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith;
    31. but Israel, who pursued a saw of righteousness, has not attained it.
    32. Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone.

    Salvation has always been by faith, never works.

    I think the rest of your post is right on.

    MR
     
    #6 mountainrun, Oct 13, 2002
  7. mel

    mel New Member

    Joined:
    Oct 7, 2002
    Messages:
    15
    Likes Received:
    0
    So, does that mean I'm actually free to smoke a cigar (like Spurgeon) and drink a beer (like Luther)?

    Rev. G

    P. S. (Didn't you know SOMEBODY was going to bring these things up on this thread?)

    Hey Rev. G even as a Christian you are actually free to sin, but what does that say about you and your walk with the Lord? Did not Paul talk about this very thing in his letter to the Romans?

    In His grip and grace, Mel. [​IMG]
     
    #7 mel, Oct 14, 2002
  8. Scott_Bushey

    Scott_Bushey <img src=/scott.jpg>

    Joined:
    Aug 13, 2001
    Messages:
    461
    Likes Received:
    0
    Mel,
    You write: "First, Christians have been set free from the law as a system of salvation. Being justified by faith in Christ, we are no longer under God’s law, but under His grace [Rom. 3:19; 6:14-15; Gal. 3:23-25]."

    I have to direct you to Hebrews Ch 11. As moutainrun has said, we have always been saved in the same way even as brother Abel and Abraham. The law was never a *system* implemented to assist salvifically; if anything it was implemented to *imobilize*.

    Also.......please do not tell me you are implying that partaking of a good smoke or a cognac is *sin*? Drunkeness and idol worship may be, but not partaking!

    [ October 15, 2002, 06:48 AM: Message edited by: Scott Bushey ]
     
    #8 Scott_Bushey, Oct 15, 2002
  9. mel

    mel New Member

    Joined:
    Oct 7, 2002
    Messages:
    15
    Likes Received:
    0
    Hey Scott, you make a good point, and I agree; From Able, to Abraham, to now and to the end of time as we know it; all of God's elect have been and will be saved, by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. That is what the Bible teaches and I don't believe my post said anything different. Also I was not implying that taking a drink or smoking a cigar was a sin, but I can see where it could very well sound like that in the way I worded my post. As you said drunkeness and idolity are indeed sins. But praise God they can be forgiven and overcome by the blood of Jesus.

    In His grip and grace, Mel. [​IMG]
     
    #9 mel, Oct 15, 2002
  10. Claudia4Christ

    Claudia4Christ Guest

    It is a little difficult for me to understand what you all are trying to say. What exactly do you believe that you are realy free from?

    Do you think that because Jesus paid for your sins that you are now free from having to keep the Law? The man asked Jesus what he must do to have eternal life. This was the answer:

    Matthew 19:16-19 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?
    And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
    He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,
    Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."

    Matthew 22:36-40
    "Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
    Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.
    And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."

    The great principles of love to God, which He set forth as the foundation of the law and the prophets, are only a reiteration of what He had spoken through Moses to the Hebrew people: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." Deuteronomy 6:4, 5. "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." Leviticus 19:18.

    Romans 13:8,9 "Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
    For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."

    The New Testament "Law" is the same as the Old. With the New Covenant, God promised to write His laws upon our hearts. The terms of the "old covenant" were, Obey and live: "If a man do, he shall even live in them" (Ezekiel 20:11; Leviticus 18:5); but "cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them." Deuteronomy 27:26. The "new covenant" was established upon "better promises"--the promise of forgiveness of sins and of the grace of God to renew the heart and bring it into harmony with the principles of God's law. "This shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts . . . . I will forgive their iniquity, and will remember their sin no more." Jeremiah 31:33, 34.

    The same law that was engraved upon the tables of stone is written by the Holy Spirit upon the tables of the heart. Instead of going about to establish our own righteousness we accept the righteousness of Christ. His blood atones for our sins. His obedience is accepted for us. Then the heart renewed by the Holy Spirit will bring forth "the fruits of the Spirit." Through the grace of Christ we shall live in obedience to the law of God written upon our hearts. Having the Spirit of Christ, we shall walk even as He walked. Through the prophet He declared of Himself, "I delight to do Thy will, O My God: yea, Thy law is within My heart." Psalm 40:8. And when among men He said, "The Father hath not left Me alone; for I do always those things that please Him." John 8:29.

    ...so I am trying to understand what you think you are free from?

    Claudia
     
    #10 Claudia4Christ, Oct 18, 2002
  11. mel

    mel New Member

    Joined:
    Oct 7, 2002
    Messages:
    15
    Likes Received:
    0
    Hi Claudia: I never said that we are free from the law. What I did say was that we are free from the CURSE of the law. God commands us to obey His law and enpowers us to do so, BUT NOT FOR SALVATION. We are justified, not because of our obedience to the law, but in order that we may become obedient to God's law. Do you get my drift.

    In His grip and grace, Mel. [​IMG]
     
    #11 mel, Oct 18, 2002
  12. Rev. G

    Rev. G New Member

    Joined:
    Sep 16, 2002
    Messages:
    1,635
    Likes Received:
    0
    Yes, I'm free to sin, but I'm talking about having a cigar and drinking a beer, not about sinning. [​IMG] :D
     
    #12 Rev. G, Oct 20, 2002
  13. HeDied4U

    HeDied4U Well-Known Member
    Site Supporter

    Joined:
    May 6, 2001
    Messages:
    1,248
    Likes Received:
    44
    Faith:
    Baptist
    Drinking and smoking may not (or may be, depending on your legalistic views) a "sin," but here is what the Scriptures say concerning our Christian liberty...

    However not all men have this knowledge; but some, being accustomed to the idol until now, eat {food} as if it were sacrificed to an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled. But food will not commend us to God; we are neither the worse if we do not eat, nor the better if we do eat. But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if someone sees you, who have knowledge, dining in an idol's temple, will not his conscience, if he is weak, be strengthened to eat things sacrificed to idols? For through your knowledge he who is weak is ruined, the brother for whose sake Christ died. And so, by sinning against the brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause my brother to stumble. 1 Corinthians 8:7-13 (NASB)

    Now I'll be the first to admit that I enjoy a beer every now and then (and I don't feel that it's a sin), but if I know (and I don't always) there are new believers, or even non-believers around, I'll pass.

    God Bless!!!

    Adam :cool: [​IMG]
     
    #13 HeDied4U, Oct 20, 2002
  14. Rev. G

    Rev. G New Member

    Joined:
    Sep 16, 2002
    Messages:
    1,635
    Likes Received:
    0
    Adam:
    Absolutely no disagreement with you there!
    Rev. G
     
    #14 Rev. G, Oct 20, 2002
  15. mel

    mel New Member

    Joined:
    Oct 7, 2002
    Messages:
    15
    Likes Received:
    0
    Hey! Rev. G and Adam: What is the beef, I agree with both of you. Maybe I just was not all that clear in my post, but you have no argument with me.

    In His grip and grace, Mel. [​IMG]
     
    #15 mel, Oct 20, 2002
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)
Loading...