Ground Rules for Christian Freedom (Part 2 of 4)

When studying the Bible and applying its teaching In this final paragraph of chapter 10 Paul is essentially drawing together the threads of what he's been teaching in the last three chapters. The issue, the matter of discussion, is that of Christian freedom. And at the very heart of the discussion is a phrase which would appear to have become virtually a slogan in the Corinthian context. And that phrase you find in verse 23, everything is permissible.

Or perhaps in your Bible it reads, all things are lawful. The pressing issue, as we've seen in our studies, was that of idol feasts, and whether the believers could attend these idol feasts, and specifically whether stuff, meat, poultry that had been offered in the temple, in idolatrous practices, could be used in hospitality and could be accepted when offered in hospitality when we visited in the friends' and others' homes. Now, this may seem very remote for us this morning. After all, when's the last time you went over to your friends' house and when they served you up something your immediate thought was, I wonder if this had been sacrificed to idols.

It's highly unlikely. Although I don't know who your friends are. But let me give you the kind of questions, and if one of these questions happens to fit you, then don't feel bad about it, because this is just a question off the top of my head, and I could have come up with fifty of these. But here are the kind of things over which Scripture gives no express directives and for which we then need to apply biblical principle. Questions such as these—can I work for a company that produces alcoholic beverages? Can I, in all honesty, be a patron of Playhouse Square?

Can I continue to hold stock in video companies? And we may find ourselves in raging disagreement with others. And that kind of debatable issue needs principle to be applied to it if we're going to understand the nature of Christian freedom.

Now, we all have to be in any doubt here at all. Paul is on the side of freedom—a freedom which is a real freedom, not an imaginary freedom. For when he writes to the Galatians—and you may like to turn forward just to see this—he states to them very clearly in Galatians chapter 5, 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.

Very clear instruction. And in expounding the truth, he provides us with a number of ground rules, and in this final paragraph of 1 Corinthians 10. Now, last time we began them, and we wrapped it up just making a start at number three, which we entitled, Don't Tie Yourselves Up in Unnecessary Knots. We're back now in 1 Corinthians 10, and the principle is don't tie yourselves up in unnecessary knots. Every so often on television, we're treated to a program about an escapologist, one of these characters that has himself tied up and then chained up and buttoned up and zipped up and jammed up, and eventually he's just completely smothered in straitjackets and chains and buckles and zips and all manner of things. And I always look at the man and say, why would you ever want to do that?

It seems such a dumb way to make your money in life. Now, if there are any escapologists here this morning, I apologize for condemning your career. I don't mean to do that, but I think you could maybe move to another section of the circus that's not as terrorizing. But it's a pathetic picture of someone tied up. Now, they're not tied up because they're in bondage as a result of being captivated by an alien army. They're being tied up by choice. They stand there and let people tie them up, and then they spend the next few moments trying to escape from unnecessary bondage. The escapologist is a classic picture of many people within many churches.

For we have stood there and allowed ourselves to be tied up in unnecessary knots, and we then spend the rest of our lives, as it seems, trying to unzip, unbuckle, and unchain ourselves, wondering why it is that we cannot be more useful. Now, Paul has already given clear direction as to what they ought not to be involved in. In verse 21, he said, categorically, you cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons, too. You cannot have a part in both the Lord's table and the table of demons. He was unequivocal about that. You can't be involved in both sides at the one time.

You can't have it, as we said in that study, both ways. But he now makes clear that eating with your non-Christian friends and eating what your non-Christian friends provide is another matter entirely. Now, some people would have difficulty with this, because they were wanting to say, you see, verse 21 is very clear. Paul said this, said it categorically, therefore, we have to be careful about our deductions, because we can take good theology and make faulty deductions, and the faulty deductions get us in difficulty. Oh, we're agreed upon the theology, but we deduce wrongly. And as a result of deducing wrongly, we get ourselves—we just make nonsequiturs, and we end up in bipathmeadow.

So Paul clarifies this. Some of his readers were clearly overscrupulous. And they were taking this whole matter to an extreme. They were apparently turning the routine transactions of their days—namely, going grocery shopping, for example—into a matter of deep conscience. And you can just imagine them at the marketplace asking all these intricate questions about where the stuff has come from.

And the man would not have time to deal with that silliness. And Paul says it really is quite silly, because bear in mind that whatever process the meat may have come through, and irrespective of any kind of pagan accoutrements, the fact is, as the psalmist states, and as Paul quotes, the earth is the Lord's and everything in it. In other words, says Paul, even if this meat has been here and had that done to it, that's an irrelevancy in any case, because God made all of this stuff, and he made it for our good, and the whole earth is the Lord's and everything that exists in it.

Now, this is intensely practical stuff. But what Paul is saying is this, that when we're on the receiving end of hospitality from unbelieving friends, or if we're back in the Corinthian context and we're one of these people, well, says Paul, when the food comes and hits the table, don't begin a great theological discussion. The lady was working hard in the kitchen. She made the food. She brought it out.

Don't immediately say, where did you get this? And don't follow it up by, have you been to the temple? And don't then hit her up about idol sacrifices and about every other thing. Just eat what's put in front of you. Now, what is the principle here? Here's the principle, I think. We should not forfeit the privilege of Christian freedom lightly, just because of the way the wind blows. The only reason we should forfeit the privilege of Christian freedom is if it is going to offend another. Now, this is the principle that is run all the way through.

It's kind of like the key verse in it all. 1 Corinthians 8 and 9, be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. But it is a genuine freedom. It's not an imagined freedom. It's real. We should not refrain from participating in neutral things just because someone has created an external list of their own choosing.

Do you hear this? This is what the Bible is saying. We should not refrain from participating in neutral things just because what we are about to do or enjoy or experience happens to be on the top ten of somebody's list. A list which they cannot substantiate from the list which God gave us, namely, the Ten Commandments.

It is from their external way of life. Paul says, Don't allow that kind of thing to be coercive in your life. The restriction of Christian freedom should be from within, on account of principle, not from without, on account of precept. And definitely not somebody else's precept. Legalism does not produce holy living.

Legalism produces bondage. Colossians 2.20. Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world—in other words, you came to faith in Christ, and an amazing transaction took place.

You're not the same person anymore. And you died to the basic principles of this world. Why, says Paul, as though you still belong to it, which you don't, do you submit to its rules?

Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch. These, he says, are all destined to perish with use, because they're based on human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility, and their harsh treatment of the body.

But they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence. You see, that is the great affair in the lives of our children as we seek to raise them. If we simply raise Pharisees for children, then when they go away to college and to university, having been constrained only by an external frame of life and never having come to know the love and power and conviction of Christ, then it is almost inevitable that they will go out and sow all their wild oats and kick over all the traces. And that is why we look at the circumstances in the lives of guys in pastoral ministry, for example, and we've said, goodness gracious, how could that man ever be involved in that kind of thing? After all, I heard him at such-and-such a conference, and he wrote a book about this, and boy, was he strong on that! The chances are, the chances are, in certain cases—in certain cases—that the man himself was operating from an external constraint, rather than from a genuine, internal, liberating conviction. Anybody this morning, and you're tied up in unnecessary knots, don't be overscrupulous, don't be legalistic, don't be constantly asking fussy questions, don't be going in the corners all the time, having a little party with yourself and trying to analyze and subanalyze and psychoanalyze.

Just relax. The main things are clear, the plain things are obvious, the outs are out, the ins are in, the debatable things are debatable, therefore we will apply principle. We won't simply ask, Am I allowed? We'll ask, Is it constructive, and does it edify? We will put the concerns of other people before us. Thirdly, we will determine that we're not going to tie ourselves up in unnecessary knots. Principle number four, verse 28 and 29, be considerate of the weaker conscience.

Okay? If some unbeliever invites you to a meal you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience. Now, if it stopped there, that would be fine, but it doesn't.

He then goes on to an exception. However, he says, if anyone says to you, this has been offered in sacrifice, then do not eat it. Oh, goodness, I thought we just had a rule here that I could apply, and now the principle is having another shadow cast on it or another facet of light on it. That's exactly the way it is. Because, you see, offense usually arises in the Christian community, in my experience, when neutral things are handled indiscriminately.

When neutral things are handled indiscriminately. And it goes like this, I can do anything I want, because everything is permissible, and I don't care who you are, and I don't care what you are, and I don't care what you think, and I don't care about your kids, and I don't care about your mom and dad, and I don't care about the elders, and I don't care about anything. I am free, and I am free, and I am free, and that's all I need to know.

Oh, that's not all you need to know. Paul said, I can eat that stuff if I went there. Yes, he did. But he also said that if someone pointed out that it was a major problem to them, you had to restrict your freedom. Indeed, the greatest Christian freedom is the freedom to restrict my freedom for the good of another. That's the ultimate expression of freedom. The man in the street who's addicted has not that kind of freedom.

The secular man does not know that freedom. It is the work of the Spirit of God within our lives that takes a real, genuine freedom and allows us to curtail it, exercising our freedom to curtail it, so as to not hinder the weaker conscience around us. Well, you see, but that may end up with us not doing a ton of things that we were told we shouldn't do as a result of external constraints. It might. And therefore, it might seem or feel like we're only doing it because of external constraints.

It might. But God knows the motive of our hearts. Whether we are restraining from something because we're afraid of the public perception, or whether we are restraining from something because we are afraid of the impoverishment that we'll create in the life of someone else because their conscience is sensitized to it. You'll notice that the restriction is a restriction of activity. It's not a restriction of conscience. We're not restricting our conscience in doing that.

We're simply restricting our actions. Our conscience remains free. Our conscience is not controlled by another believer. Our activity may be controlled by our response to another believer, but not our conscience.

You understand the distinction? And that's where the real bondage lies when our conscience becomes subjugated to the external lists of another, so that we do not have a realistic freedom. We are not able to eat and to drink to the glory of God. We are now tied and bound by someone else's convictions. So in other words, it's in an exercise of necessary freedom. We're not tying ourselves up in knots. We are simply being considerate of the weaker conscience.

I think that's the explanation of the ending question of verse 29. Why should my freedom be judged by another's conscience? There are times which may be all time when we need to restrict our freedom, avoid doing certain things that the Bible does not say absolutely categorically we cannot do, and the reason is not because we aren't free, the reason is because we don't want to harm others. However—and this brings us to our fifth point—as important as our brother's conscience is, we cannot allow his scruples to control, ultimately, all of our activities. Well, you see, I thought you just said that you may have to do that.

I said, Yeah, you may have to do that. But we can't push the principle to extreme. You can't drive this into oblivion.

You can't push it way out on the end. It becomes silliness. Now the fact is that some believers try to use this principle, and we have all probably tried to use the principle, as a means of manipulation. But if ever we're tempted to take the principle to an extreme, then it would mean that we would derive our conduct entirely from what other Christians say or think.

And we would not, then, be operating out of unrealistic, genuine freedom. Well then, what is the significance of verse 30? This 30th verse, at the end of 29, I found really hard. Indeed, I would be prepared to think even more about these.

I'm not sure that I've got it exactly even now, but let me give you my best at it. What is verse 30 saying? If I take part in a meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of something I thank God for? Paul may be saying, Why should I be on the receiving end of judgment and criticism just because of the overscrupulous nature of another's conscience? That might be what he's saying.

He certainly fits the text. Alternatively, he may be saying this—and I lean to the latter rather than the former—he may be saying this, If we use our freedom as we like—that is, not applying guideline four in consideration of the weaker conscience—the result will then be that men and women will condemn our freedom. And consequently, because of our lack of consideration, the end will be that this thing that Paul is trying to make sure is understood as a great gift from God will become the butt-end of condemnation. And so he says, Unless we're on our guard about that kind of danger, we are ruining our freedom by making a wrong use of it. I want you to understand that. In other words, if we take the principle of Christian freedom and use it indiscriminately, then it may call down the judgment of others because of our wrong use of Christian freedom.

Then, rather than we are able to enjoy it and people are blessed by it, it just becomes a whole nightmare. Now, with that, Paul then goes into four verses, thirty-one to eleven-one, full of entirely positive guidelines for the life of the Christian community. The little word sol, the two-letter word with which thirty-one begins, introduces this question of positive principles within the framework of the church—neither Jewish nor Greek, but the third race, namely, the church of God.

He's not concerned about barriers nor stumbling blocks or about rights or responsibilities. He wants to make sure that nobody is caused to stumble from a Jewish persuasion, from a Greek persuasion, or where you have them both thrown in together in the church of God. I wondered, are there some here this morning who don't have a clue what I'm talking about at all? I was speaking this week from the book of Jonah, and in the course of an afternoon, I had occasion to be with a fellow from Connecticut, and he said, I've been sitting there all week working out what in the world you're trying to say. He said, and I think this morning—and it was Thursday I began to understand—there may be some here this morning, and you've come to worship because you've been invited, and this idea of Christian freedom and of responsibilities and rights is something totally alien to you, because you've never come to know the freedom that is found in Jesus Christ. And that is where we all need to begin. And for others of us who've come from backgrounds that are phenomenally legalistic, some of the things that I've been saying in these days are liberation, and at the same time as they're liberation, they're also a little bit scary.

And not a few of you are sitting there questioning whether I have actually left the rails myself. And then others of you have come from backgrounds where you thought that the Old Testament was locked in a chamber somewhere, and the New Testament was completely on its own, and there was no place for guidelines and law in the Christian life. You're wondering just why it is that we're mentioning these things. We'd better get this right, as individuals and as a church.

For to fall into the pit of legalism will be to close down most of the doors of opportunity in useful service in the coming days, and to fall into the abyss of a kind of antinomian licensed chaos will be to neutralize our effective witness in the community. We need the Spirit of God to bring the Word of God to the people of God so that we might truly understand and truly live in the genuine experience of Christian freedom. You're listening to Truth for Life with Alistair Begg. I trust you are benefiting from this practical study in the book of 1 Corinthians. If you have missed any of these messages, you can catch up online. In fact, all of Alistair's teaching can be heard or watched for free through our mobile app or on our website at truthforlife.org. Simply search for a study in 1 Corinthians.

We are currently in volume 4. While you're on our website, take a minute and download a free audio book we're making available from Alistair. It provides a biblical framework for marriage. The book is titled, Lasting Love, How to Avoid Marital Failure, and it's read by Alistair himself. This is a book that provides you with Scripture-based marital advice from an author and pastor who walks his talk. He's now been happily married for more than 40 years. In the book, Alistair demonstrates that a long and loving life together is truly possible when we pursue marriage and fulfill our roles according to God's design, especially when we're intentional about safeguarding this sacred relationship.

Again, the download is free. The book is called, Lasting Love. The audio book can be downloaded at truthforlife.org slash lasting love for a limited time. We hope you have a wonderful weekend and enjoy worshiping with your local church this weekend. On Monday, we'll learn how exercising our freedom with the right focus can be life-changing. The Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life, where the Learning is for Living.