As you can see on the screen,
I've titled the message Liberty in Christ, and it probably could
be better titled How to Use Our Liberty that we have in Christ. And what I'm going to do to begin
with, in order to get some context, our lesson starts in Romans 14,
and it's going to start in verse 14, but I'm going to In order
to get some context, begin reading at verse one of chapter 14, the
Book of Romans, to bring us up to chapter 14, I mean, verse
14. The Apostle Paul writes here,
and it says in verse one, him that is weak in the faith, and
I'll go ahead and mention this. I'm gonna mention it a few times
throughout the message. The Apostle Paul here is speaking
to fellow believers, These that he's speaking of here, we need
to understand that he's talking about believers in the faith.
They believe the gospel. They believe and know how God
saves a sinner based on the righteousness of Christ. And that's what they're
looking to. But there are some issues. He's
speaking of young believers and mature believers that have grown
in grace and knowledge and the fellowshipping. one with the
other in this process, but be in mind that he's talking to
believers here, fellow believers, not unbelievers. It says, him
that is weak in the faith, receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations. For one believeth that he may
eat all things, another who is weak eateth herbs. Let not him
that eateth despise him that eateth not, and let not him which
eateth not judge him that eateth, for God hath received him. Who
art thou that judges another man's servant? To his own master
he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holding up,
for God is able to make him stand. One man esteemeth one day above
another, another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully
persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth
it unto the Lord, and he that regardeth not the day, to the
Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the
Lord, for he giveth thanks. And he that eateth not to the
Lord, he eateth not, and giveth God thanks. For none of us liveth
to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live,
we live unto the Lord, and whether we die, we die unto the Lord.
Whether we live, therefore, or die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ both died
and rose and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead
and living. But why dost thou judge thy brother?
or why dost thou set it not thy brother? For we shall all stand
before the judgment seat of Christ, for it is written, as I live,
saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall
confess to God. So then every one of us shall
give an account of himself to God. Let us not therefore judge
one another, that is, judge one another lost or saved, anymore,
but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block or
an occasion to fall in his brother's way." Now throughout these verses
here, it's clear that he's talking about fellow believers, brothers
in Christ, those that believe the same gospel. He's not talking
about an unbeliever here. Now before we look at the verses
here that we're going to deal with this morning, We must make
note that Paul, like I said, is speaking fellow believers,
individuals who believe the same gospel. He's not dealing with
unbelievers in these verses again. Also, since these verses are
speaking on the subject of eating and drinking, I want to take
a minute to give some clarity as it relates to the dietary
laws given to the nation Israel under that old covenant. The
basis for the dietary laws and distinctions of clean and unclean
meats in the Old Testament, and especially under the Old Covenant
law spoken of in Leviticus 11, these laws were given by God
to the nation Israel as a type and a picture of the cleanliness
and separation that sinners can truly experienced only by God's
grace through the blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Under
the new covenant, these dietary distinctions have been abolished
because Jesus Christ has come and he's fulfilled all those
pictures and types of the old covenant law. Let's look at a
few verses here. The Apostle Paul says in Colossians
2, beginning at verse 14, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances
that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out
of the way, nailing it to his cross. And having spoiled principalities
and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over
them in it. Let no man therefore judge you
in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a holy day, or of a new moon,
and of the Sabbath days, which are a shadow of things to come,
but the body, is of Christ. Now Paul also tells us in 1st
Timothy chapter 4 beginning verse 1. Now the spirit speaketh expressly
that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith giving
he's to seducing spirits and doctrines of devil speaking lies
and hypocrisy having their conscience seared with a hot iron forbidding
to marry and commanding to abstain from meats which God hath created
to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know
the truth. For every creature of God is
good and nothing to be refused if it be received with thanksgiving,
for it is sanctified and set apart by the word of God in prayer."
Now, people, of course, can talk about abstaining from certain
foods for health reasons. And that's fine. We need to eat
healthy foods. But we as believers need to make
certain that our not eating doesn't send the wrong message to unbelievers
or even believers. A message that we're sanctified
or made holy by what we eat or what we don't eat. Our sanctification
and holiness, our separation, from the world is the Lord Jesus
Christ and his righteousness alone. That's what separates
us from the unbelieving world. Christ is the person that separates
believers from the world, and it's not what we eat or what
we don't eat. Now, let's go ahead and begin
at verse 14 here. Paul says, I know and am persuaded
by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself.
But to him that esteemeth anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean."
Now, we're going to be speaking a lot about your conscience and
the conscience of an unbeliever and him believing certain things
is okay to eat or drink or do in his conscience. And he hadn't
been taught, he's a young believer, hadn't been taught some of these
things. Now, here we have God's testimony
that all distinctions of meats and days under the old covenant
had been abolished by Christ's establishment of the new covenant
in his obedience unto death. Now, Paul says that I am persuaded
that there is nothing unclean of itself. These dietary and
ceremonial laws are not binding upon believers under the new
covenant. The weak, immature believers who were bound in their
consciences in these matters, they were wrong. The mature believers
were right. No food is unclean or sinful
in and of itself. Whether one eats or does not
eat is neither the issue in salvation nor the substance of our righteousness
before God. Christ and the grace of God in
and by him is our whole salvation and righteousness before God.
As Paul will state later in Romans 14, 17, for the kingdom of God
is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy
Ghost. Paul adds, however, until the
weak believer is convinced in his own conscience of this issue
to him is still wrong. He hadn't been convinced yet
that these things were okay to do. We who see our liberty to
eat all foods in moderation should not expect weak believers to
violate their conscience, and we should not judge them lost
because of their weakness in this area. Now, the apostle here
is mainly talking about the Jews that had been under that old
covenant And under that old covenant law, you had these dietary laws
and things and worship in certain days. And they had been under
those things and been taught these things for many, many years.
And even though they had come to believe the gospel, under
the preaching of the gospel, they still had some things, the
young believers I'm talking about, that they need to be taught or
right on as far as their liberty. in these issues. And so, in their
conscience, they hadn't seen it in God's word yet, hadn't
been taught it right, so they were still bound in their conscience. They kind of didn't know which
way to go with this. And that's what we're dealing
here with. And I say this, coming out of Adventism, false
religion of Adventism, which taught that these dietary laws
were still in place. And they said they believed in
Jesus. And I thought I believed in the Jesus scripture, but it
wasn't the right Jesus. It was a false one. But I had
been taught nobody comes to the gospel with full knowledge of
everything. God teaches you through the preaching
of the gospel, through his word, and you gradually learn these
things. Until you do, in your conscience,
you still hold on to a lot of things that, in your conscience,
that needs to be cleared up. And that's pretty much what Paul
is dealing with here. And so, as mature believers,
we need to be patient. Now, we're talking about believers
once again. We're not talking about unbelievers. We need to
be patient in these areas. Now, verse 15 says, but if thy
brother be grieved with thy mead, now walkest thou not charitably?
Destroy not him with thy mead, for whom Christ died. Once again,
he's talking to a believer. Paul mentions two undesirable
things we should avoid in dealing with these matters of indifference. First, we're to avoid causing
grief in our brother's conscience by questioning his salvation
and excluding him from our fellowship, based on these things of indifference. This is contrary to brotherly
love, which is what is meant by walkest thou not charitably.
Next, we're to avoid destroying our brother with these indifferent
things. To destroy the weak brother is not referring to eternal death.
No one but God can destroy the soul eternally. Once again, this
verse tells us that Paul is speaking of brethren in the faith because
he uses the phrase, for whom Christ died. Christ has saved
him securely and eternally by his death on the cross. The blood of Christ has abolished
eternal death for all for whom he died. They're all righteous
in God's sight and cannot be damned eternally. The destruction
here has to do only with the weak believer's conscience. His
conscience would be grieved if he were forced and badgered into
doing things that he was not fully convinced, that he was
fully convinced that they were contrary to God's revealed will.
We're to love, encourage, and be patient with our brethren
in Christ, even our weak brethren. Here again, the phrase, the key
phrase is weak brethren, which in these verses refer to those
Jews who had been brought to faith in Christ and repentance
of dead works, but who had not yet been taught and convinced
of the liberty that we who are saved by God's grace have in
Christ. These weak brethren knew that
abstaining from eating and drinking foods and keeping certain days,
they knew that that was not their salvation or righteousness before
God. If they didn't know that, they
would not be believers. They knew that. These individuals
that Paul was addressing here knew that forgiveness and righteousness
comes by the obedience unto death of Christ, but they were not
convinced in their own conscience that God's commandments given
under the Old Covenant law concerning the eating of certain meats and
keeping certain days were no longer in force and were no longer
required to be obeyed by Christians. I'll mention that since it mentioned
days here. In Adventism, they still hold
on to the Saturday Sabbath, and I did for years. not seeing that that was a picture
and type of Christ. That's a picture of Christ. He
is our Sabbath. And these things had to be taught
clearly. You come and you see that it's
all Christ, but they're not really clear in your mind yet. And you
have to be taught these things. A lot of things are not real
clear in our minds. And I'm talking about for years,
a lot of things, still different things are not real clear. We
have to be taught. Verse 16 and 17 says, let not
your good be evil spoken of. For the kingdom of God is not
meat and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy and the Holy
Ghost. The good here, according to the context, refers to the
doctrine of Christian liberty, which is a good thing. Christ
has procured it, and it's bestowed upon his people. Christian liberty
is a valuable blessing in itself, and with this liberty comes many
privileges, and these privileges may be evilspoken of by those
who don't understand it yet, especially if a strong believer
does not use wisdom and show brotherly love toward the weak
believer as he's going through these things. We must be firm,
however, when it comes to our liberty in Christ. We are to
stand firm and cannot compromise or give in to the self-righteous
notion of unbelievers. As we have an example at the
Church of Galatia. Look at Galatia 5 verse 1. Paul says, wherewith Christ hath made us
free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. But
when it comes to our liberty in the indifferent things, indifferent
matters, of eating or not eating certain foods, we can and we
must, at times, for the sake of a weak brother, forego our
liberty without compromising the gospel of God's grace in
Christ. If the exercise of our liberty in these indifferent
things causes a weak believer to stumble, or if it causes division
within the church, or if it's done in a mean-spirited way,
it could be spoken of as evil. We must realize then that this
is not the substance or way of the kingdom of God. These things
contribute nothing to the ground of salvation, nor do their observance
or non-observance give any true evidence of salvation. Our entrance
into the kingdom of God is attained and is maintained based on the
blood and the righteousness of Christ. Christ alone brings peace
with God and joy in believing. This is the testimony of God
the Holy Spirit. Now, after Paul says in verse
16 and 17 that the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but
righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost, he says in
our next verse, for he that in these things serveth Christ is
acceptable to God and approved to men. We who are saved by God's
grace in Christ serve God in all things, even these indifferent
things. And we do it as the Holy Spirit
guides and motivates us in grace, gratitude, and in love for what
Christ has done for us. Also, in showing love toward
our weaker brethren, we serve Christ, not ourself and not men.
This is acceptable to God, and it is the fruit of his power
and grace, as it is cleansed by the blood of Christ. and as
it glorifies and honors Christ, our Lord, Savior, and our only
righteousness before God. Then it says, and approved of
men, it is a good testimony of grace toward men and to our brethren,
in that it honors Christ and it edifies our brethren, even
to unbelievers who, even though they may still insult, accuse,
persecute, but they will not be able to do these things justly. We must strive to be at peace
with all men without compromising the gospel that we believe. Verse
19 says, let us therefore follow after the things which make for
peace and things wherewith one may edify another. We know that
concerning the gospel, we believe there is no peace between believers
and unbelievers. But as fellow believers in Christ,
we are to follow after, or pursue, all things that promote peace,
unity, and growth among our brethren. We are exhorted to make a diligent
and continual effort to promote these things, these things that
edify and bind us together, and to avoid those things of indifference
that divide us. According to Hebrew 10.24, where
it says, and let us consider one another to provoke and to
love and to good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together
as the matter of some is, but exhorting one another, and so
much the more as you see the day approaching. Verse 20, the
Apostle Paul says, for meat destroy not the work of God. All things
indeed are pure, but it is evil that a man who eateth A man,
that man, it is evil for that man who eateth with offense,
offense. The work of God here is the believer
himself, individually, and the whole body, the whole church
collectively. We're chosen of God, justified
and redeemed by the blood of Christ, regenerated and called
by the Spirit of God, and we're preserved unto glory. by Christ. Eating certain foods cannot destroy
this great work of God's power and grace in Christ. Satan and
all of hell will not prevail against the church that Christ
has built and established according to what Christ says of himself
in Matthew 16 verse 18. where he says, and I say also
unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock, speaking
of Christ, the rock, I will build my church, and the gates of hell
shall not prevail against it. All believers know these things,
and we must not let such indifferent things spoil our unity and our
fellowship. The next part of Romans 14, verse
20, All things indeed are pure. Paul
is speaking strictly of foods we're to eat. There's no sin
in certain foods. Christ says in Matthew 15 verse
11, it says, and he called the multitude and said unto them,
hear and understand, not that which goeth into the mouth defileth
the man. Not what you eat that defiles
you, but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth A
man. I can remember reading these
verses here and struggling through all this back years ago having
to do with what you eat or what you don't eat as far as being
defiled by it. And God uses these verses here
with me, but like I said, you have to grow in a lot of these
areas. And then in the last part of
verse 20 where it says, but it is evil for that man who eateth
with offense. Eating certain things is evil
if a man eats such things with the intent to cause a brother
to stumble. You might have a weak believer
that has something in his conscience having to do with not doing a
certain thing, and you know there's nothing wrong with it, with eating
a certain thing or a certain day or whatever, but you You go ahead and do something
in front of him that might cause him to stumble. I'll say this,
I think I mentioned this to Mark last night. When I was an Adventist, I didn't
mow my yard on Saturday. That was a Sabbath. I didn't
mow my yard, didn't do, try to abstain from not doing
work. I done work, you know. And then when I saw the gospel
and I started believing the gospel and started going to church on
Sunday, I'd mow my grass on Saturday,
and sometimes I'd mow my grass on Sunday. And my next-door neighbor,
he was real religious. He couldn't understand that.
He had me out here mowing grass on Saturday, and sometimes I'd
mow the grass on Sunday if I had to. I got off subject just for a
minute, but eating certain things is evil if a man eats such things
with the intent of causing a brother to stumble. Not feeding a self-righteous
unbeliever, no. Not feeding them. Now, verse
21 says, it is good neither to eat flesh nor to drink wine or
anything whereby thy brother stumbleth or is offended or is
made weak. It is good, therefore, to abstain
from eating or drinking anything that would cause a brother in
Christ to stumble or to become weak, even become weaker. Since it
is evil to our brother's conscience, and since it causes him grief,
brotherly love demands that we neither eat nor drink any of
these things in his presence. while he is trying to work these
things out and try to clear it up in his conscience.
We must consider that the word brother qualifies these exhortations
though. Paul is not exhorting us to feed
the prejudices and self-righteousness of unbelievers. When the gospel
is challenged by any practice or abstinence, We're to stand
fast in that liberty that's in Christ. Verse 22 says, hast thou
faith? Have it to thyself before God.
Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he
alloweth. Hast thou faith which is to be
understood not the faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and in the
doctrines of the gospel, but it refers to the specific point
being discussed, which is, are you fully persuaded by God's
word in your own mind that God has abolished all distinctions
of meets and days? If you are, then you can happily
eat and drink in moderation without any thought of condemnation.
Hold fast your conviction. but do not impose your liberty
in this matter upon your weak brother. Do not make this the
ground of your fellowship. This can also be applied to the
weak brother's dealings with a strong believer. Do not let
your conscience in this matter be the ground of your fellowship.
Now, it can be flip-flopped over with a weak believer looking
at a strong believer that sees his liberty in these things. And he looks at him and his mind,
he, I don't know where he's saved or not, you know. He has a question
in his mind because he's doing certain things or eating certain
things because of his liberty in Christ. And a weak believer
would look and have these kind of thoughts. So we're not, he's
not to do that either. It works both ways with the weak
and the strong believer. Verse 23 is our last verse that
I'll look at. And he that doubteth is damned
if he eat, because he eateth not of faith. For whatsoever
is not of faith is sin. Again, damned means condemned
and speaks of the weak believer's conscience. It don't mean you're
condemned eternally. Just means the weak believer's
conscience. and not his standing before God.
If he eats not of faith, he eats without being persuaded that
it's lawful for him to eat. Imagine, in your conscience,
believing something is not, you shouldn't do it, but you go ahead
and do it anyway. Maybe because got some pressure on you or whatever.
And that's what he's talking about here. That's not good either.
He must therefore condemn himself in the sense that he must agree
that he does what he truly believes is displeasing to God, but not
damning to his soul. For whatsoever is not of faith
is sin. If we believe that something is against God's revealed will,
and then we go ahead and proceed to do it, it is sinful to us. In the end, a believer must be
convinced that what we do or abstain from doing is according
to God's word. And it comes through growth in
grace and in knowledge as we grow together as a church, as
fellow believers, and grow together as a church. Well, our liberty
in Christ. Thank you.