Sermon Tone Analysis

Question: What does it mean to be free as a believer?

What is Christian liberty or freedom?

Let’s begin by reading:

Main Point: OUR FREEDOM WILL EITHER INVIGORATE OUR LIFE OR DRAIN IT.

First, why do I need to hear this?

Why do I need to understand the difference between Christian freedom and freedom as we know it?

Well…as a people we are enamored with ourselves and our pursuit of pleasure—even if it costs us everything we have and value.

Our desire for self-expression and personal freedom has risen to a such an intense level that it is making us sick spiritually and physically.

Let me illustrate…

For the last 15 years I have held two jobs (a Police Officer and a Pastor) that allowed me to witness the extent that we will do what we want and have reasons (strong or weak) to justify the ________.

Some of the insanely painful things I’ve observed are:

1) I worked a case where a man with an outstanding warrant refused to call EMS for his friend—who died—because he did not want to risk the possibility of going to jail.

2) I worked a case where a drunken argument led a man to fatally shoot his cousin and, then, his uncle beat him into a coma.

3) I heard numerous men justify their affairs and various sins because they “felt” it was right.

4) I’ve been on a crime scene where a parent couldn’t stand that her newborn child hampered her life, so she shook her child to death.

5) I had a friend I worked with who used his free-time on duty to cheat on his wife.

It cost him his job, his ministry, his wife, and the respect of many.

6) I arrested hundreds of people who used their freedom to become enslaved to drugs, alcohol, and sex.

7) I’ve pastored numerous individuals who absolutely wrecked their lives by indulging in what they should have fled from.

IN SHORT, THE DESIRE FOR PLEASURE AND SELF-GRATIFICATION ABSOLUTELY ENLSAVES AND KILLS US!

Though we may abuse our freedom to our own demise, the Bible paints a picture of freedom that is intoxicating.

That is to say, the Bible teaches that freedom is an immensely good thing.

That is to say, the Bible teaches that freedom is an immensely good thing.

The Lord wants us to be FREE from SIN.

The Lord wants us to be FREE to INTERACT WITH Him.

The Lord wants us to be FREE from all the EFFECTS of sin.

However, Christian freedom is often used—in the negative—as an avenue we travel to justify our sin.

Bearing this in mind, I want to take a few minutes and look at two underlying principles that we desperately need to understand as we engage this text:

1) THE ABUSE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERTY IS A SIN THAT DESTROYS THE LIVES OF OTHERS

-and-

2) THE EMBRACING OF GODLY LIBERTY IS A BLESSING THAT GIVES AND STRENGTHENS LIFE.

Before we take a detailed look at what Paul says in , let’s take a minute and see the overall picture of what the Bible says about freedom and what our society says about freedom:

The Bible addresses the concept of Freedom from two angles:

From the Positive: Freedom is one of the greatest blessings God gives us!

a. = We get to approach God

b. = We get to abide in God’s freedom

c. = Jesus set us free

d.

= The intention behind the work Christ was our freedom

e. = We’ve been set free from sin

2) From the Negative: We tend to use our freedom as a means of sin—this is evil!

From the Negative: We tend to use our freedom as a means of sin—this is evil!

a. = Freedom does not mean freedom to indulge in sin

b. = We are to live in freedom, but we are to avoid sin

As Americans we’ve discussed freedom in great depth—here are a few quotes from both the positive and negative.

From the positive:

From the positive:

TRUE FREEDOM HELPS OTHERS = “Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.”

(Abraham Lincoln)

TRUE FREEDOM IS RESPECTFUL = “For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”

(Nelson Mandela)

TRUE FREEDOM IS RESPONSIBLE = “Liberty means responsibility.

That is why most men dread it.”

(George Bernard Shaw)

TRUE FREEDOM IS AWARE OF “SELF” = “The real difference in the believer who follows Christ and has mortified his will and died after the old man in Christ, is that he is more clearly aware than other men of the rebelliousness and perennial pride of the flesh, he is conscious of his sloth and self-indulgence and knows that his arrogance must be eradicated.

Hence there is a need for daily self-discipline.”

(Dietrich Bonhoeffer)

TRUE FREEDOM IS MORAL = “Everything one has a right to do is not best to be done."

(Benjamin Franklin)

From the negative we see that:

“The urge to save humanity is almost always a false face for the urge to rule it.”

(H.L. Mencken)

“The urge to save humanity is almost always a false face for the urge to rule it.”

(H.L. Mencken)

We use our freedom to dominate others

b.

WE USE OUR FREEDOM TO JUSTIFY EVIL =

“Anything that feels good couldn't possibly be bad.”

(Angelina Jolie)

We use our freedom to justify evil

“The self-indulgent man craves for all pleasant things... and is led by his appetite to choose these at the cost of everything else.” (Aristotle)

We us our freedom to destroy ourselves

“To use good things to our own ends is always a false religion” (Richard J. Foster, Celebration of Discipline)

i. “To use good things to our own ends is always a false religion” (Richard J. Foster, Celebration of Discipline)

ii.

“Too many of us now tend to worship self-indulgence and consumption.”

(President Jimmy Carter)

“Too many of us now tend to worship self-indulgence and consumption.”

(President Jimmy Carter)

We use of freedom as our religion

William Booth, a preacher and founder of the Salvation Army, once said:

“I consider that the chief dangers which confront the coming century will be religion without the Holy Ghost, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration, politics without God, and heaven without hell.”

(William Booth)

Sadly, most people do not use their freedom to the glory of God and the good of others; rather, freedom is often used to engage in sin and deconstruct Christianity into something that seems more suitable to us.

Paul sees this problem and addresses it in .

We will find the best answer to the freedom question in how Paul specifically addresses idolatry.

First, the specific question Paul addresses is this: “Can we eat food that was sacrificed to an idol/false god?”

Why should we care about this?

We don’t actually engage in sacrifices any longer, so does this matter?

Animal sacrifice is still practiced within Hinduism, Islam, and various other religions (some still perform human sacrifices).

[1]

While we may not practice animal sacrifices, we do purchase goods from stores that use profits to promote Satan’s war against God.

Disney openly embraces gay rights

o Coca-cola openly embraces gay rights Target openly supports gay rights

Coca-cola openly embraces gay rights

o Target openly supports gay rights

Target openly supports gay rights

Amazon openly supports gay rights

Amazon openly supports gay rights

Know this, while we may not actually see the sacrifice made to the idol in person—and though the sacrifice is not an animal—chances are that the toothpaste you use (Colgate), the jeans you wear (Levi’s), the bank you bank at, and the foods you eat all support causes and agendas in direct opposition to the way God has commanded us to follow.

So… what are we to do?