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The Christian Liberty

Posted on 14 Feb 2021, Pastor: Tolu Makinde

Title: The Christian Liberty

Text: Rom. 14:1-12

[Rom 14:1] Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations.

[Rom 14:2] For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs.

[Rom 14:3] 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.

[Rom 14:4] Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.

[Rom 14:5] One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.

[Rom 14:6] 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 God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.

[Rom 14:7] For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.

[Rom 14:8] 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.

[Rom 14:9] For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.

[Rom 14:10] But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

[Rom 14:11] For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.

[Rom 14:12] So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.

Introduction

Liberty is the condition of being free from restrictions or control
The power to act, believe, or express oneself in a manner of one’s choosing
Freedom
- In the name of liberty, our environment has changed for the worse.
- TV shows 15-20 years ago compared to today
- Nudity means nothing anymore
- Kissing is common on Disney channel
- Alcohol & drugs is common practice among celebrities, even the young ones.
- In the name of liberty, we are changing the doctrine of Jesus to that of the world.
We are NOT at liberty (free) to do everything
- If the world is crumbling in the name of freedom, remember you are citizens of heaven.
- We are to abide by the laws of our home nation.
- We are in this world, but we are not of this world.
- 1 Jn 2:15-17, 1 Jn 5:5
  - [1Jn 2:15] Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
  - [1Jn 2:16] For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
  - [1Jn 2:17] And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
  - [1Jn 5:5] Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

Main Topic

There are certain things we are at liberty to do and there are those we are not at liberty to do
Being a Christian does not give us the right to do everything in the name of the Lord
We are set free from sin and the bondage from sin – that is our liberty

Do Not Judge

We are not at liberty to judge others
- [Mat 7:1] Judge not, that ye be not judged.
- [Mat 7:2] For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
- [Rom 14:13] Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.
- [Rom 14:14] I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean.
We are at liberty to correct, we are not at liberty to judge.
Don’t confuse correction with judgment.

Live not to yourselves

We are not at liberty to live unto ourselves
[Rom 14:7] For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.
- We do not live or die to ourselves
- We live and die unto the Lord
Man is made of spirit, body, and soul (1 Thes. 5:23, Heb 4:12)
- Your soul does not belong to you
  - [Eze 18:4] Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.
- Your body is not yours
  - [1Co 6:19] What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
- Your spirit is definitely not yours
Since none of what you are made of belongs to you, you have no liberty to do whatever you want with yourself.
We are to do what is pleasing to the One that owns the spirit, soul, and body
We need to change our mindset from democracy to theocracy.
- Democracy votes for presidents and leaders
- Theocracy is being kingdom minded where the word of the King is the law
- Democracy says you own what is yours
- Theocracy says you and what you own belongs to the King
- Democracy says you live to please yourselves
- Theocracy says you live to please the King
It will be very difficult for many democratic minded Christians to live in heaven
- Your vote does not count
- Your opinion does not matter
- You do not have any rights, except to worship the King

We are accountable

Rom 14:15-21
You are accountable for your actions
If eating meat will cause others to stumble, stop eating meat.
If drinking will cause others to stumble, stop drinking
- Drinking allowed Lot’s children to sleep with him – committing incest – an abomination. (Gen 19:30-38)
If what you say will cause others to be offended, don’t say it.
- [Eph 4:29] Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

Do not tempt others

We cannot tempt others with our liberty
Rom. 14:13
- [Rom 14:13] Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.
We are to follow after things that make for peace
- [Rom 14:19] Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.
The strong ought to help the weak – Rom. 15:1-2
- [Rom 15:1] We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
- [Rom 15:2] Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification.
We are to please our neighbor, as long as the pleasing does not lead to sin
- Jesus did not come to please Himself. He came to please us
- [Rom 15:3] For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me.
- That’s the meaning of being selfless and not selfish
- You cannot have it your way all the time – it’s not McDonald’s

Conclusion

We are NOT free to do whatever we want in the name of liberty.
The world might be crying for freedom
Freedom does not mean you are free to do anything
Freedom can lead to the compromise of one’s faith and walk with the Lord
There is a fine line between freedom and sin
We should be concerned about heaven, more so than the things that makes no difference to the Kingdom

Sermon

The Christian Liberty