Today we live in a culture, that believes that no one has the “right” to tell me what I can and cannot do. If the Bible does not speak against a specific act, it is assumed that we can do whatever we want. However, Galatians 5:13-14 reminds us that just because I may have the liberty to do something, doesn’t mean that I should do it. We do not possess a spiritual license to do as we wish. This would be seen as Spiritual “Sadduceeism.” Sadducees were a sect of Israel which taught religious tolerance to the nation of Israel, the problem was that they were only tolerant to those who agreed with them on their “liberty in God” This is part of the reason they hated Jesus so much, because He challenged their doctrine. We need to be careful that we do not desire to exalt ourselves at the expense of others. Demanding my right to exercise liberty, and exercising it at the expense of others, is a sign not of maturity but of carnality. Paul reminds believers in 1 Corinthians 12:31 “that I show you a better way” and then shares with the wonderful instruction in 1 Corinthians … READ MORE

Most people like decisions to be clean, a “yes or no” answer works great, but when we have options we go nuts trying to figure out what to do. When we live in Liberty we must be careful that our decisions are built on love for others. Have you ever seen a compliant child, who is doing all the right things on the outside but then manifests rebellion, and you wonder what brought on that behavior? Luke 15:11-32 gives us the parable of the lost son, but in reality you have two lost sons in this parable. The first is the one we focus on, but the second (seen at the end of the chapter), is a child that is compliant. He serves his father, but is rebellious at heart. His Pharisaical obedience is manifested through his frustration that the father would love his brother, after he behaved differently than he did. We must be careful that the “rules” are not more important than people. Legalism leads to external conformity to rules, but no real heart for God. The danger of this type of mindset is that it leads us to a judgmental attitude, as we believe that people who … READ MORE

We have a tendency to be yes or no people, and any time we get into gray areas, we get nervous, and then we tend to make those areas black and white. We believe that things are right or wrong, and that is final! It wraps decisions up in a bow, and makes it all nice and neat. Unfortunately, life is never nice and neat, and many things are not simply “yes or no”. So what do we do with the gray areas of life? Galatians 5:1-14, explains that there is a way that leads to bringing glorify to God, in the arena of liberty. Paul puts it this way in 1 Corinthians 12:31, “… I show you a more excellent way”. Often we move to one of two extremes in Liberty, Legalism (which often leads to judgementalism) and License (Which often leads to intolerance), instead Paul argues in both Galatians 5 and 1 Corinthians 13 that the best choice is that of love. When we have a choice that seems to be neutral or that does not seem to have a clear biblical admonition, then we must chose that which demonstrates love to those around us. This is not … READ MORE