Well, good morning, everyone. It's great to be with you here. It's been a while since I've attended these pastor's fellowships, but I've always had fond memories in years past and often learned a lot and grew as a Christian as a result. And praise God that I'm here this morning and sharing on the topic of Christian freedom. I'm going to go with the word freedom instead of liberty. It's just more commonly used. So that's the only reason why, basically. So let's begin. We often hear the words liberty or freedom. And when we do, many thoughts and feelings are conjured up as a topic of freedom and the fight for freedom surround us. As human beings, we long to be free. And this can be seen in the many facets of freedom, whether it be religious, political, racial, sexual, or even financial freedom. Patrick Henry sums up this desire in his speech made at the Virginia Convention in 1775 by saying, give me liberty or give me death. Or as the framers of the Declaration of Independence in the United States held these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. There have been many battles fought and won, but also many lives slain in the name of freedom. I was reminded of the famous line in the classic movie Braveheart, where the Irishman William Wallace is rallying the troops, trying to convince them to fight the English. Of course, I don't have an Irish accent here, so it doesn't quite have the same force, but this is his rally cry. I fight and you may die, run and you may live, at least a while. And dying in your beds many years from now, would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for one chance, just one chance, to come back here and tell your enemies that they may take our lives, but they will never take our freedom. Or the inspirational but necessary call to end racism etched on our minds by Martin Luther King Jr.' 's speech, I Have a Dream, given on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1963. Part of it says, and when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up the day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands together and sing the words of the old Negro spiritual, free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, we are free at last. Or we may think about our modern day tyranny of terrorism and the enslavement it brings. We watch as many parts of the world are in bondage by this ruthless propensity to control and dominate others. Of course, the topic of freedom, as you can see, is of enormous proportions. Of all the freedoms we can talk about, that people have fought for, lived out and experienced, there is one kind of freedom that is superior to all other freedoms, and the freedom all true Christians have in Christ. The kind of freedom we'll be exploring this morning is a spiritual and heavenly freedom. A freedom purchased by Christ, revealed in the gospel, and conveyed to the saints of God as the great dowry of Christ to his church and spouse. This freedom of all of us possessed here this morning because of the grace of God poured out upon us through faith in Christ. As we begin exploring this freedom, let me mention a few of its general qualities. First of all, this freedom is a real freedom. It is not something that works only in theory or something that is imaginary. It brings real freedom to our conscience and to our living. Secondly, this freedom is also universal. It frees us from all the spiritual bondage we were in prior to Christ invading our lives. We were then in bondage to Satan, to sin, to the law, to wrath, to death, to hell, but this privilege we are freed from all. Everything Christ came to free us from is ours to enjoy. We may not experience and enjoy the full measure of our freedom in this life, but we will in the life to come. The already but not yet can apply to Christian freedom. Thirdly, this freedom is constant. We can never go back to the state of bondage once Christ has set us free. It is perpetual freedom. There is no expiry date. It is always there because of what Christ did for us on the cross. We are to enjoy and live in this freedom every day we are alive. Now, of course, the application of this freedom has caused much controversy through the history of the church. And this controversy is still alive and well since the rise of the young, restless, and reformed. John MacArthur criticizes this segment of the reformed community and their use of their Christian freedom by saying, if everything you know about Christian living comes from blogs and websites in the young and restless district of the reformed community, you might have the impression that beer is the principal symbol of Christian liberty. I must admit in the young, restless, and reformed part of the Christian world, there are abuses of Christian freedom. The sad result is that there is much confusion, misunderstanding over what activities are and lifestyle choices are permitted and what are not. There can be much spiritual danger in the wrong use of Christian freedom. Even Darren Patrick, who helped pioneer the theology at the Bottleworks, recognized the reality of spiritual danger. In his book on church planning, he wrote, As I coach and mentor church planters and pastors, I am shocked at the number of them who are either addicted or headed to addiction to alcohol. Increasingly, the same is true with prescription drugs. One pastor I know could not relax without several beers after work and could not sleep without the aid of a sleeping pill. There are many young people in our churches who are confused. perhaps enslaved or even guilt ridden instead of living in the freedom Christ has purchased for them. John Calvin also reminds us of the importance of properly comprehending this freedom we have in Christ. He writes, but as we have said, unless the freedom be comprehended, neither Christ nor gospel truth nor inner peace of soul can be rightly known. And the knowledge of this freedom is very necessary for us. For if it is lacking, our consciences will have no repose and there will be no end to superstition. So the gravity of this doctrine and its proper comprehension may be more important than we think. My goal this morning is to remind you of this precious but delicate freedom we have in Christ. I want to show you some of the ways in which this freedom might be applied so you will be able to shepherd your people better in the proper use of their Christian freedom. The approach of this paper is to survey the New Testament to understand the broad scope of this doctrine. I believe that in broadening our understanding of this doctrine instead of just focusing on certain aspects of its application will bring more clarity to a much maligned topic. I believe much of the confusion and questions can be resolved and abuses curtailed by stepping back and looking at the whole force of what the New Testament teaches about Christian freedom before we look at the specific trees of application. Before I take you to the relevant scriptures regarding our freedom in Christ, let me tell you briefly about my story with this doctrine, which may help illustrate the importance of getting this doctrine right. When this topic came up a couple of years ago, at the planning meeting for the Grace Pastors Fellowship, and I think the reason why I didn't bring it is because of weather. We switched with Stephen Kring one month, and then things changed last year, and so now here I am. When this topic came up a couple years ago at the planning meeting for the Grace Pastors Fellowship, I eagerly volunteered to research this topic and present my findings. There's a story behind this eagerness. You see, this story is a struggle I've had to understand the concept of Christian freedom. I grew up in a Mennonite culture, that tended to be somewhat legalistic and therefore had little understanding of Christian freedom or any teaching on the subject. The Christian life was often defined more by what it could not do than the liberating gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Then in God's gracious and wonderful providence, I was introduced to Reformed theology and began associating with and pastoring people who had a very different understanding of the Christian life from what I grew up with. Suddenly, many of the things on the list of thou shalt not in my upbringing were now permissible, of course, as long as they were not abused. I felt like I was liberated and was gaining a more mature view of the Christian life. But in the exercising of my Christian freedom, I always thought something was missing. Yes, I understood many aspects of the doctrine of Christian freedom, but the line between the proper use and the abuse of my Christian freedom was still a bit blurry for me And at times in the exercising of my Christian freedom, my conscience was not free. I know now I did not properly ground my freedom in the gospel. And so because of my struggle, I eagerly volunteered for this assignment. This paper by no means plums the depths of Christian freedom, but I hope we can at least learn something together this morning so that we can shepherd our people more effectively. I begin my exploration, or the foundation of Christian freedom, I begin my exploration of Christian freedom where many today seem to skip over when they discuss this topic. The discussion usually begins with a subset of Christian freedom, namely its application or exercise, discussing things that are disputable or indifferent, things that are neither commended nor forbidden in scripture, things like the kind of music a Christian can listen to or what kind of movies Christians can watch? Or can a Christian consume alcoholic beverages? Or can a Christian smoke cigars? Or what places a Christian can go? Or what is modest or modest dress? Or what kind of video games a Christian can play? Or is it permissible or not to participate in online dating? Or is there freedom in any way in the way children are to be educated? And I think the list can go on and on and on. I know the answer to some of these queries is relatively easy, but these are some of the things that plague the conscience of Christians. It is not necessarily wrong to begin with the subset of Christian freedom, but I think there is a lot more work that needs to be done before we can come to the questions of what is permissible and what is not for the Christian. A proper foundation needs to be laid, a gospel foundation. I'm convinced that a failure to understand the gospel will lead to the abuse and misunderstanding of Christian freedom. This abuse and misunderstanding comes from a failure to wrestle with the gospel and the implications before jumping right into application. It is not difficult to see this as it follows the pattern of the Apostle Paul, especially in Romans. In fact, Romans 14 is one of the watershed chapters of Christian freedom. However, we should not go to chapter 14 until we work through chapters 1 to 13. Al Martin unapologetically argues, as so often does, until you understand this foundation, don't you dare talk about Christian freedom. This is also the pattern found in the Second London Baptist Confession of 1689, as it begins its discussion on Christian freedom by affirming the gospel. Chapter 21, Section 1 launches into the exposition into this topic by maintaining the liberty which Christ hath purchased for believers under the gospel consists of their freedom from the guilt of sin, the condemning wrath of God, the rigor and curse of the law, and in their being delivered from this present evil world, bondage to Satan and dominion of sin from the evil afflictions and fear and the sting of death, the victory of the grave and everlasting damnation, as also in their freedom or in their free access to God and their yielding obedience to Him. Not out of slavish fear, but a childlike love and willing mind. And so this is where we begin. And in the gospel, there are two foundational contrasting truths that help formulate a careful and accurate picture of Christian freedom. These contrasting truths are first of all humanity's original slavery to sin in Adam and then secondly the complete freedom Christ won for his people on the cross. These two contrasting truths are clearly seen together in John 8 where Jesus is having a dispute with the Jews and says to them, so Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, if you abide in my word you are truly my disciples and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. They answered him, We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say you will become free? Jesus answered them, truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever. The son remains forever. So if the son sets you free, you will be free indeed. There's the contrast between being slaves of sin and being set free by the truth of Christ. There are a number of ways the Bible teaches the indisputable fact that all humans are naturally slaves, of course slaves to sin, and conversely the miraculous freedom there is in Christ. I'm not going to elaborate on all the ways in which we are slaves and how Christ has set us free, but I will elaborate on just a few of them. I know these truths are basic to the Christian life and are perhaps basic to our minds here this morning, but we need to be reminded of these truths as they need to sink deep in our minds for them to be our guide in the exercise and application of our freedom. First of all, we are by nature, of course, slaves of sin. And the Apostle Paul makes this rather clear in Romans 3.23, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Again, in Romans 5.12, it says, therefore, just as sin came to the world through one man and death through sin, so death spread to all men because all sinned. The slavery to sin is the condition every human being finds himself or herself in, despite how good they may seem. But all the wonder and the grace and power of God, the Apostle Paul puts it this way in Romans 16 or 6, 17 to 18. But thanks be to God that you were once slaves to sin and have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed. And having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. I'm reminded of the lines of the two great hymns written by Charles Wesley. The first is from and can it be. Long my imprisoned spirit lay, fast bound by sin and nature's night. Then I diffused a quickening ray. I awoke the dungeon flamed with light. My chains fell off and I was free. I rose, went forth and followed Thee. We were going to sing these songs, but I think when it's Monday morning, it's kind of hard to sing these songs with her. And so that's why we sing one of the other ones. But the second one is from 04,000 tongues. He breaks the power of canceled sin. He sets the prisoner free. His blood can make the foulest clean, the blood availed for me. These lines cause our hearts to rejoice as they describe one of the primary ways in which we are enslaved but set free by Christ. These contrasting truths are important because when we attempt to exercise our freedom, we must realize we cannot use our freedom to sin. There are literally hundreds of imperatives in the New Testament we are called to obey. We're not free to disobey God. As St. Augustine described people under four different conditions. He said, before the law, he never fights nor strives against sin, but in the law he fights but is overcome. But under grace, he fights and conquers. But in heaven, all is conquest. And there is no combat more to all eternity. Sin is still sin. However, we're not free from sinning, nor are we free from temptation to sin. But we are free from the enslaving power of sin. Again, Bolton makes this very clear. O believer, you will never be captives to sin again. You may be captives, never subjects. Sin may tyrannize, never reign. It is important to know this. We might know this well here this morning. But we cannot assume that all who come through our church doors will. A second way in which we are enslaved but now have been set free by Christ is we were by nature's slaves of the world. Ephesians 2, 1-2 says, And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked following the course of this world. And the Apostle John concurs with Paul in 1 John 2, 15, where he says, Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. But as Paul clearly declares, far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. It is through the cross that we are set free from the enslaving governing power of the world. The world and its moral dictates are no longer our guide, or at least they should not no longer be our guide. The only alternative to the will of the world is the will of God found in the Word of God. This is important considering the exercise of our Christian freedom because we are in ever-present danger of being conformed to the pattern of this world. Tim Challies points out that worldliness is like gravity, always there, always pushing down on you, always exerting its influence on you. He shows how this conformity can happen in at least two ways, actively pursuing the world or by passively allowing the world to slowly have its eroding influence in our lives. This eroding influence happens when we're not cautious and discerning in our entertainment intake, or when we listen to more secular thinkers and writers than those who love God and His word. or when we maintain closer friendships with unbelievers, or when we are apathetic in our use of the ordinary means of grace dispensed through the local church. And our understanding and our exercise of Christian freedom must remember we are no longer slaves of the world, nor are we free to act in ways that conform to this world. Thirdly, the Bible teaches we are free from the law. Now the topic of law, as it pertains to the Bible, is a huge topic that needs that needs to be thought through as one explores the topic of Christian freedom. In fact, the role of the law in the life of the Christian has historically been one of the most difficult and contentious points in divinity. Although this paper is not about the role of the law in the Christian life, it is important to know that freedom, that the freedom we have in Christ sets us free from the law as a covenant from its curses, accusations, condemnation and rigor. Our confession puts it this way. all which were common also to believers under the law, for the substance of them. But under the New Testament, the liberty of Christians is further enlarged, and in their freedom the yoke of the ceremonial law, to which Jewish church was subjected, and in greater boldness to access to the throne of grace, and in fuller communications of the free spirit of God, than the believers under the law did ordinarily partake of. This freedom from the law is solely due to the law-fulfilling work of Christ and the cross, and we will discuss this a bit more later on. And lastly, we are free from the tyranny of man-made doctrines, rules, and regulations. In the Gospel, and because of the Gospel, we are free from the legalistic restrictions people may put on us to bind our conscience. Our conscience is to be bound by the Word of God alone. Our Baptist Confession clearly again states God alone is the Lord of conscience and hath left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men which are in anything contrary to his word, nor not containeth in it. So that to believe such doctrines or to obey such commands out of conscience is to betray the true liberty of conscience. and the requiring of implicit faith and absolute and blind obedience is to destroy liberty of conscience and reason also. According to Bolton, Scripture directs us in two ways in this freedom. We as Christians are not to usurp mastership, nor are we to undergo servitude. What this means is we're not to acknowledge any other supreme master, nor are we to give our faith and conscience, nor our, or nor enthrall our judgments to the sentences, definitions, and determinations of any man or man on earth. Because this would make, this would be to make men masters of our faith. This does not mean that we have masters who are over us to whom we are to obey. We're to obey those whom God has put in authority over us. those whom God commands us to obey in scripture. However, in Christ we are free. We have the freedom of conscience where we are called to obey God first and whatever commands in his and whatever he commands in his word or in the word of God. Our conscience, our conscience are to be held captive by the word of God. These are just some of the freedoms we have in Christ. These freedoms are the result of the twin truths of our slavery in Adam and a real freedom purchased for us on the cross. But they form an important foundation for how we are to comprehend and practice our freedom in Christ. Now the goal of Christian freedom. What is the goal of Christian freedom? I believe Zachariah's prophecy in the Gospel of Luke before Jesus was born gives us a clear picture of what practice of Christian freedom will look like in our lives. Zachariah prophesied these words in Luke 1, 68-64. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited us. visited and redeemed his people rather and has raised up a horn of salvation for us and the house of his servant David as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us to show the mercy promised to our fathers and remember his holy covenant the oath that he swore to our father Abraham to grant us that we being delivered from all the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear and holiness and righteousness before him all our days. The goal God has in mind for our deliverance or freedom we have in Christ is that we might serve him without fear and holiness and righteousness before him all our days. The important truth that Zachariah is teaching here is our Christian freedom is not something with which we serve ourselves. We're set free in Christ so that we will serve Him, not ourselves. It is so important to keep this goal in mind. The exercise of freedom is meant for us to serve Christ. But notice how we're to serve Him. There's at least three descriptions in this text. First, this service has to be done without fear. Now, fear is something that can easily paralyze any human being, let alone the Christian. But this description of our service does not mean there is to be complete absence of fear for that would contradict scripture. I think the fear of this prophecy is talking about is more likely the fear of man, fear of condemnation, or perhaps the fear of persecution. Secondly, the ethical or moral description of the matter in which this service is to take place in holiness and righteousness Holiness is to characterize our Christian freedom. Our Baptist confession puts it this way. They who upon the pretense of Christian liberty do practice any sin or any sinful lust as they do thereby pervert the main design of the grace of the gospel to their own destruction. So they wholly destroy the end of Christian liberty. Living in righteousness and holiness are signs that Christ has set us free. I like the way Richard Sibbes puts it. I say there are two courts, one of justification and the other of sanctification. In the court of justification, merits are nothing with insufficient. But in the court of sanctification, as they are ensigns of a sanctified course, they are jewels and ornaments. So you notice the duration of the service, all our days. This life of service, because of our freedom in Christ, is not something that is seasonal or occasional. That is what Christian freedom looks like every day. Every day we live with the comprehensive radical goal of serving Him. The enemies of Christian freedom. There's one more issue before we get into the watershed chapters of the Bible and the application of Christian freedom. I have found the doctrine of Christian freedom to be exceedingly valuable, yet surprisingly vulnerable. The devil wants nothing more than to destroy our freedom in Christ. As a result, there are at least two specific enemies of Christian freedom that do their utmost to rob us of our exhilarating freedom. They are like two lawyers trying to depreciate the doctrine of Christian freedom. The first one is legalism. Legalism is always lurking in the shadow, seeking to tempt and enslave its unsuspecting victims. The common definition among evangelicals is something like trying to earn your salvation by doing good works. Now, this form of legalism is clearly exposed and answered throughout Paul's letter to the Galatians, where he fiercely resisted this false gospel. However, there seems to be different shades of legalism. Underneath this generic definition, there gathers a web that extends more widely, which is woven intricately and invisibly to trap the unwary. The web is always much stronger than we imagine, for legalism is much more subtle reality than we tend to assume. This subtler form of legalism, which does not actually seek salvation by what it does, but teaches that a person is better or a stronger Christian if they obey certain rules or prescriptions. Let me share with you a rather dated illustration that serves to describe this subtlety. In 1928, Dr. Donald Gray Barnhouse was speaking at a conference in Montrose, Pennsylvania, where about 200 young people were present. He speaks of the experience one day when two women came to him in horror because some girls were not wearing stockings. These women wanted him to rebuke those who were not wearing stockings. Barnhouse's response is epic, and this is how He describes it. Looking them straight in the eye, I said, the Virgin Mary never wore stockings. They gasped and said, she didn't? I answered, in Mary's time, stockings were unknown. So far as we know, they were first worn by prostitutes in Italy in the 15th century, when the Renaissance began. Later, a lady of the nobility wore stockings at a court ball, greatly to the scandal of many people. Before long, however, everyone in the upper classes were wearing stockings. Sorry, I just lost my... These ladies, who were holdovers from the Victorian epoch, had no more to say. I do not rebuke the girls for not wearing stockings. A year or two afterwards, most girls in the United States were going without stockings in summer, and nobody thought anything about it. Nor do I believe this led toward disintegration of moral standards in the United States. Times were changing. And they step away from the Victorian legalism was all for the better. This form of legalism and judgmentalism can cause a lot of harm and division among Christians, and especially in the church. It is a deceptive enemy of the blood bought freedom we have in Christ. The fundamental problem with legalism is that it suffers from a poor Christology, namely the sufficiency of Christ. We must avoid trying to force our opinions over disputable matters on others who do not share our opinions. And we'll get to that more later as well. The second enemy trying to depreciate our Christian freedom is antinomianism or variations of libertinism or licentiousness. The Webster's Dictionary defines antinomianism as One who holds that under the gospel dispensation of grace, the moral law is of no use or obligation because faith alone is necessary for salvation. It depreciates the grace of God and how we deal with the remaining sinner in our lives. And of course, yeah, I'll talk about it more. Instead of encouraging a life of meticulous pursuit of practical holiness, it leads to a life that is careless in this pursuit. I don't think anyone of us here this morning would deny that a sanctifying role of God's moral law in the life of a Christian as no one would deny the plain teaching of Ephesians 6, 1-3 where children are told to obey their parents. There are literally again hundreds of imperatives in the New Testament for Christians to obey. The New Testament heightens, not lessens, the place of the moral law in the life of the believer. For the indicative has been heightened through the Christ's minatorial work. We still have a relationship to the moral law or to the will of God, but it is in and through Christ. As Richard Gaffin explains, briefly, apart from the gospel and outside of Christ, the law is my enemy and condemns me. Why? Because God is no longer my enemy, but my friend. and the law, His will, and law in its moral core, as reflective of His character and of concerns eternally inherent to His own person. And so, do what pleases Him is now my friend, guide for life in the fellowship with God. We're not free to discard any of the commands in Scripture that reveal the character and will of God. We're still to actively live holy and Christ-like lives. As Tim Keller points out, any failure to present a full, eager, complete obedience and submission to God is ultimately a great joy as a way of resemble, a way of resemble, knowing, resemble, know, and bring delight to God is a tendency toward the antinomian spirit. This antinomian spirit can often lead to the abuse of Christian freedom. Again, the only solution to this enemy Christian freedom is a more comprehensive understanding of the person and work of Jesus Christ and what he actually accomplished in his person and work Now the exercise of Christian freedom So far we've worked through the nature and qualities of Christian freedom The foundation of Christian freedom the goal of Christian freedom and of course the enemies of Christian freedom now I believe we're ready to think about its exercise and With regards to the exercise of Christian freedom, I believe there are at least seven points that need to be made. The first point I would like to make is the simple reality that there is such a thing as disputable matters or matters of opinion. Matters neither right nor wrong. The 16th century reformers called such things as matters of indifference. Matters that are neither prohibited nor commanded in scripture. What this means is there are actions. or activities or issues that can be considered perhaps non-moral where the Bible gives no clear prohibition or nor no clear command. Not everything is as black and white as we often like to think or wish it were. There are gray areas and simple fact means that we have a freedom in Christ to enjoy many created things without fear of condemnation. Therefore, as Christians, we have the privilege of freedom to enjoy various aspects of creation without the fear of judgment. The way I often approach this by categorizing biblical truth into three levels, perhaps of importance. First of all, there's truth that is central to Christianity everyone must agree on. Some examples are the Trinity, the deed and humanity of Christ, the resurrection and salvation by grace alone, through faith alone and Christ alone, etc. And there are others. If a person does not believe these things, they are not Christians. These are salvation issues that cannot be denied. Secondly, I believe there are certain truths that will create reasonable boundaries between Christians on this side of heaven. These truths will determine whether or not we can pastor a certain church, or what kind of church we will or can attend. Truths such as perhaps a mode of baptism, church government, spiritual gifts, various aspects of the role of men and women in the church, maybe even eschatology, etc. A person can be a Christian if they hold differing viewpoints on these issues, but it is hard to have unity when leaders and members of a church disagree on these matters. Then thirdly, I see there are matters that are truly indifferent or disputable. On these issues, there can be varying viewpoints. The differing viewpoints are not unimportant, however, However, Christians should be able to disagree but still be able to have fellowship with each other in unity. I think the popular phrase rings true in essentials unity and non-essentials liberty and all things charity. Now, I know there's some discussion as to where that phrase actually came from, so I didn't give any quotation or any reference there. Now that we have established the fact of disputable issues, let's think about what these issues might be before we consider more directives or guidelines. I think even for those present here this morning, it would be difficult to come to a complete consensus on what constitutes a disputable matter. In Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians 8 and 10, there are at least five issues that are on this list. Romans 14 highlights three issues and have to do with food, days, and beverages. Food, days, and beverages of themselves are matters of indifference. In Romans 14, Paul was convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself. He also shows us in 1 Corinthians 8 verse 8 that at least food is a disputable matter. He says, but food does not bring us near to God. We are no worse if we do not eat and no better if we do. In 1 Corinthians 9 Paul talks about his rights and freedoms as an apostle. He asks in verse 5 to 6 whether or not he was free to take a believing wife or have the freedom to not have second employment while preaching the gospel. However, just because Paul does not mention more disputable matters does not mean he has exhausted the list of disputable matters. I will let R. Kent Hughes provide a more possible provide more possible items for this list of disputable issues. Theater, movies, television and technology. Some Christians might think Christians should not go to the movies or the theater or watch television. Others think they can, but that they should be selective just as they are with literature they read. And so others think there is total freedom to watch whatever they like. Two, cosmetics. I know some of these might be a little dated, but this is not an issue it used to be, but it is controversial in certain parts of the world. This is according to Kent Hughes again. Alcohol. Hughes points out that alcohol is a major issue. And he says, especially among American Christians today. Ironically, while there is still a growing medical evidence of its harmful physical and social effects, more Christians are exercising their freedom. Hence there's a rising tension and often this tension is between the older and younger generations. The use of tobacco. Maybe you're well aware of the two famous Christians of the Victorian era in England, one by the name of Charles Spurgeon and Joseph Parker. Both these men were famous preachers of the gospel and would even exchange pulpits and enjoy sweet fellowship until they had a disagreement. Spurgeon accused Parker of being unspiritual because he frequented the theater. However, Spurgeon liked to smoke cigars, which many Christians condemned. The story is told how on one occasion, someone asked Spurgeon about his cigars and he asked, and he answered that he did not smoke in excess. Then he explained what he meant by, or when he explained what he meant by excess, Spurgeon said, no more than two at a time. And the question is, who was right and who was wrong? Card playing. Because of the association with gambling, Christians are ambivalent about the use of traditional cards. Dancing, for some Christians this is a litmus test, especially among youth. Fashion. Some Christians can view the issues of trendiness as possible worldliness. Withering judgments are sometimes made both ways on the basis of clothing and hairstyle. Bible translation used. In some Christian circles, your translation can be a quick ticket for acceptance or rejection. It used to be the King James Version. Now ESV may have taken its place. Music. Today, a heated controversy goes on regarding appropriate Christian music. The worship wars of the past few decades give ample evidence of how heated things can get. There's also the issue of whether or not a Christian is permitted to listen to secular music. Material wealth. This tension is manifest in such forms as, stop me if I'm wrong, George, but haven't you been spending a lot of money on a car? Nope. No? Don't you think the money could be better used, say, for the leprosy fund? We could add many more disputable matters to this list. I'm sure more will come up in our discussion later on. Things like the methods of education, certain uses of technology, appropriate Sunday attire, celebration of certain holidays, maybe even dating. Now the challenge is, while all of these issues are disputable matters, or matters of indifference, all these things on this list can be used in sinful ways. But used rightly, they can be enjoyed with a clear conscience. That is why navigating through these waters can be a little complicated. Secondly, we're to accept one another despite our differences of opinion. Romans 14.1 As long as we are on this side of heaven, it is virtually impossible to agree on everything. But we are commanded and must accept one another simply because the gospel demands it. The motivation for us to accept one another is because God has accepted us in Christ. St. Clair Ferguson brings much needed clarity to when he says, True, the Lord will not leave them as they are. But He does not make their pattern of conduct the basis of His welcome. Neither should we. When God accepts or welcomes us, He does not find us agreeing with Him on every last detail of truth, or with everything in our lives, or with everything in our hearts. Therefore, we are to follow God's pattern of accepting us. This means we can and should have fellowship with people we disagree with when it comes to disputable matters. We cannot wait only until we have sorted our views on certain opinions or for the other party to agree with us for unity to exist. We are to accept each other and not be their judge over opinions. It is sad how often we are quick to judge or criticize when a certain name is mentioned in conversation. We learn to accept people despite our differences of opinion and disputed matters without judging them. We are to learn. Sorry, I missed a word there. We need to leave that to Christ. Two great realities must coexist in the church, unity and diversity. Thirdly, the exercise of our freedom is not everything. The gospel is. The gospel is more important than our exercise of Christian freedom. As a result, Christian freedom consists as much in abstaining as in using. I like how Eric Raymond puts it when he says, when the gospel comes to town and we are truly gospel centered, we remember that the true beauty of having liberty is both the freedom to enjoy them in light of the gospel and to lay them aside for the sake of the gospel. The priority for Paul is gospel advancement. That is why He is determined not to put a stumbling block in anyone's way that would cause him or her to fall into sin. I am constantly challenged by how the Apostle Paul describes his approach in 1 Corinthians 9, 19-23. For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jew I became a Jew in order to win the Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law, though not being myself under the law. that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law, I became as one outside the law, not being outside the law of God, but under the law of Christ, that I might win those outside the law. To the weak, I became weak, that I might win the weak. I become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them its blessings. Martin Luther famously puts it this way, A Christian man is the most free Lord of all and subject to none. A Christian man is the most dutiful servant of all and subject to everyone. This truly is the beauty of Christian freedom. Freedom is not about what we can enjoy. The freedom is not just about what we can enjoy. but in what we can freely give up for the sake of the gospel. I know this seems so unnatural and contrary and therefore difficult for us, but the gospel is more important. I think the irony is that when we voluntarily lay aside our freedom for the sake of the gospel, we are still free. Fourthly, there are times and situations, however, where our freedom should be exercised. I think we need to We need the word of caution as we begin here on this point, the caution that Calvin gives. But it is sometimes important for our freedom to be declared before men. This I admit. Yes, we must be with the greatest caution hold this limitation. That we do not abandon the care of the weak whom the Lord has so strongly commended to us. There's one issue in scripture where the Apostle Paul both limits his freedom and strongly exercises his freedom. The issue is the circumcision of Timothy and the opposition to the circumcision with regard to Titus. In Acts 16, verse 3, we read how Paul wanted to take Timothy along to go to the churches and report the decision that Jerusalem a council in Jerusalem came to concerning Gentile believers and circumcision. Circumcision was not required for salvation, but Timothy was not circumcised because his father was Greek and the churches where they were traveling knew this. So what did Paul do? He had Timothy circumcised. He did not have him circumcised because Timothy needed to be circumcised in order to be justified before God, but that he might not offend the Jews they were visiting. Those weak in faith who do not yet fully comprehend their freedom in Christ. However, when it came to Titus in Galatians 2 verse 3, he did not compel them to be circumcised. What made this situation different was the context. Here in Galatians, Paul tells us there are false believers who had infiltrated their ranks to spy on the freedom they had in Christ and make them slaves. He did not have Titus circumcised in order to preserve the gospel against legalism. The motivation was the gospel. I think Luther is right in saying, for, as he would not offend or condemn anyone's weakness in faith, but yielded for a time to their will, so again, he would not have the liberty of faith offended or condemned by hardened self-justifiers, but walked a middle path, sparing the weak for a time, and always resisting the hardened, that he might convert all to the liberty of faith. This describes a balance of our exercise of Christian freedom. Generally speaking, with regard to the weak, we lay our freedom aside. With regards to the self-justifiers, we should exercise our freedom. Therefore, the gospel is preserved in both the exercise and the laying aside of our freedom. Pray the Lord, God will give us much discernment to keep this balance. Fifthly, we cannot use our freedom to be mastered by anything sinful. Again, I know this has been a common theme throughout. Paul in 1 Corinthians 6, 12 to 17 contrasts its beautiful matters with those that are outright sinful, between food and sexual morality. We have the freedom to eat food because eating food is what our stomachs were made for. However, our bodies were not meant for sexual morality. In 1 Peter 2, 26, instructs Christians to live as free people, but not use your freedom as a cover up for evil. Live as God's slaves. This is the challenge with our freedom. We cannot let the very freedom we love and practice cause us to be mastered by sin. Calvin puts this succinctly. He says, we have and we have never been forbidden to laugh or to be filled or to join new possessions to old or ancestral ones or to delight in musical harmony or to drink wine. True, indeed. But where there is plenty, to wallow in delights, to gorge oneself, to intoxicate mind and heart with present pleasures and be always panting after new ones. Such are far removed from a lawful use of God's gifts. Sixthly, let us be determined to love and encourage our brothers and sisters in Christ. There is to be a large measure of humility when it comes to exercising our Christian freedom. There is to be no self-focusing. Again, Christ is our motivation here. Romans 15, one to four, Paul makes it very plain to the church in Rome. We who are strong have an obligation to bear the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good and build them up. For Christ did not please himself, but as it was written, as it is written, the reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me. The focus cannot be on our rights, but to love and encourage others. Calvin says, nothing is plainer than this rule, that we should use our freedom if it results in the edification of our neighbor. But if it does not help our neighbor, then we should forgo it. This directive is easy to write about or even talk about, but it's challenging to practice and difficult to remember because it's so unnatural to us, especially living in the narcissistic culture we live in. We naturally want things to be about us. But we must remember the Gospel. Our Lord Jesus, the One who was perfect, who was still the Son of God when He lived on earth, would have had the right and the power to man so many things. He humbled Himself and did not come to be served, but to give His life as a ransom for many. But for us, as Hughes points out, exercising Christian liberty is Very much like walking a tightrope. As you walk a tightrope with balance and pull in hand, at the one end of the pull is love, the other hand is Christian liberty. When these are in balance, your walk is as it should be. We're all immensely free in Christ. Our only bondage is the bondage of love to our fellow believers. Lastly, the controlling factor is our accountability to God. We must constantly ask ourselves, am I pleasing God with my exercise of Christian freedom? Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10.31, which is well known to us, so whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all for the glory of God. And the reason for this accountability is the reality that we will all have to give an account to God one day, as it says in Romans 14.12. Let's give Calvin the last word on this. Only let my readers remember this. With whatever obstacles Satan and the world strive to turn us away from God's commands or delay us from following what he appoints, we must nonetheless vigorously go forward. Then, whatever dangers threaten, we are not free to turn aside even a fingernail's breath from the same God's authority. And it is not lawful to undertake any pretext for us to attempt anything but what He allows. We are immensely free in Christ. I would even say the freest people on earth. But our freedom was a costly freedom. But it is a freedom that liberates us from the shackles of sin and selfishness. May we as pastors, and obviously not everyone's a pastor here, but be examples of this freedom to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. My prayer is that we be able to help our people to center their freedom in the glorious gospel so that they will know how to walk, how to walk a life of love, walk in love as they live in the freedom in Christ. Amen.