A WORD ON CHRISTIAN LIBERTY

I’m saved. But how then should I live? It would be nice if the Bible gave me explicit instructions on how to act in every possible scenario. But it doesn’t . It seems that so few things I do day by day are left for me to decide. Should I buy this thing, engage in this sort of entertainment, drink this glass of wine, join this club, support this charity, work in this field, pay for my child’s education, upgrade my kitchen? The list goes on. Life for the Christian is dizzying. Not only does the believer have to make choices as a member of society but he must further filter those choices through the will of a holy God while paying heed to the commandment of love. These added layers make the Christian life much more complex than the life of the natural man. The man of the world need only make choices based on his own best interest. The Christian must factor into any decision that which is the pleasing to God and in the best interest of others. Naturally issues that can be anchored into some biblical principle are relatively easy to decide (not necessarily to obey). But most Christian decisions are not of this ilk. God chooses rather to use our enlightened minds to navigate through life. This sounds free but it can also be nerve wracking. It is, but it is also sanctifying. Once the Christian says, “I have no clue what to do in this situation.” He has entered a growth zone of opportunity. Now he must apply all the means made available by God in order to make the most spiritually informed decision. He must pray, seek counsel, look for providential openings, and meditate on the word of God. What is most beautiful about this process is that the Christian is not forced to do anything at this point. He is totally free to choose whatever he wants to choose. This is gospel freedom.

The Bible teaches that gospel freedom is the natural result of being justified by God. The great systematizer, John Calvin, viewed this freedom of the believer as a natural outflow of one’s justification, or, in his words, ‘an appendage to justification.’ What Calvin meant was that a man who is declared innocent before God now has the ability to serve God freely instead of living fearfully under the stringent scruples of law. In other words, the unconditional justification of the sinner is what enables the sinner to serve God from a posture of gratitude and freedom rather than cowering under the burden of fear and compulsion. Justification, in other words, changes entirely the way a Christian lives out his life of faith. It is the difference between an innocent man serving the one who freed him over against the guilty man slavishly trying to earn the forgiveness of his creditor.

This freedom of the Christian puts great weight on the decision making process. How wide and infinite are the choices of a forgiven man compared to the limited choices of a man living under bondage. This puts the doctrine of Christian liberty at the heart of the Christian life. Being free to make decisions before God is now a major focus of Christian living. ‘I am free to do anything I want to do under my Liberator, but all choices are not equal. I must choose the option which best honors the One who freed me.’ The great apostle wrestles with Christian Liberty in the books of Romans and 1 Corinthians. In both cases the choice of eating meat sacrificed to idols is at the center of the discussion in 1 Corinthians chapters 8 and 9. The question Paul is trying to answer is not ‘is it right for me to eat meat sacrificed to idols, but ‘is it best for me to eat meat sacrificed to idols?’ Paul makes it clear that the issue is not a legal one. Meat is only meat and will never be anything but meat. There is no biblical command prohibiting a man from eating meat. So what does the Christian do? Eat or not eat? Or to put it in a more modern context, what does the Christian do, drink wine or not drink wine? Take a job in another city or not take the job. Pursue another degree or not pursue it. Buy from companies with tacky human rights practices or not buy from them. Take the cruise, buy the suit, join the homeowners association, write the congressman, get the tattoo? Decisions, decisions, decisions. What to do?

In the past Christian liberty has been looked at as primarily not doing something for the benefit of the weak believer. This is certainly one aspect of the doctrine. If you know a man who typically gets out of control at a sporting event, you might love him best by not inviting him to a hockey game. If a man struggles with lust you may not take him to your local spa. You get the picture. These scenarios are rather easy to tackle. But what if there is no particular restraint upon your liberty? What do you do then? Many people when first introduced to the doctrine of Christian liberty having come out of a legalistic background are too quick to begin enjoying things they once thought taboo. In other words they look at Christian liberty as an open invitation to engage in every activity not prohibited by God. In other words they see liberty not as the freedom to do things indifferent, but as a command to engage in things indifferent to show the world how free you are. We are free in Christ so now we must smoke cigars, or play cards, or go to the casino, or buy the Mercedes. But wait. Is this not a subtle way of exchanging one system of law (legalism) for another (the mandate to express one’s liberty)? Instead of saying, “I am permitted under the eye of God to do this thing because I am free,” to saying, “Oh wow, I am permitted to do this thing so let me do it to show everyone how free I am,” expresses two entirely different attitudes. They are as far apart as east from west. One is true freedom as given by God, the other is bondage under the guise of freedom.

Christian you are free. You are free to serve God because you are His child and God has given you the freedom to move about freely in His house. But never forget that your freedom is to honor the One who freed you. Because you are in God’s house you are not commanded to do whatever you want to express your liberty. You are still under the law of Christ to do whatever pleases Him the most. This may require you giving up a liberty for the sake of a weak brother or sister. But even in the absence of the weaker brother, our liberties are never to be used as a statement of how free we are in Christ. This puts us back to the drawing board of law. Let us exercise our liberty carefully, covered in prayer, and always with an eye toward pleasing the One who has freed us. That is pure grace.