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Give Me Liberty!
Three Principles for Liberty & Love!

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Sam Nadler

Give Me Liberty!
Three Principles for Liberty & Love
by Sam Nadler

By liberty, we do not mean that we are free to sin without feeling guilty, nor that we are free to do whatever we want without regard for God and others. Sin is both lovelessness toward man, and lawlessness toward God. Liberty means that we can enjoy "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." How then are we to use our liberty, to enjoy what Benjamin Franklin called "the right to do what is right"? We do so by applying three principles found in 1 Corinthians 8-10. Though these principles may appear to limit our liberty, they in fact help us to appreciate the importance of "faith working through love."

Do not Stumble Others!
"Food will not commend us to God; we are neither the worse if we do not eat, nor the better if we do eat. But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak" (1 Cor. 8:7-8).

We enjoy our liberty as long as it does not stumble "the weak" (1 Cor. 8). By "the weak" we mean believers who have not yet come to realize that "the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Rom. 14:17). We are not to use our liberty to eat or drink "whatever we want," for we must take into account whether a weak believer might be stumbled into sin over it. Messiah died for this person, so we care for them and not merely seek to enjoy our own knowledge. Paul concludes:

Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause my brother to stumble (1 Cor. 8:13).

So we are to do nothing that will stumble another believer into sin. The motivation is not to ‘impress God’, but love.

You who are mature, use your liberty to edify even the least of the brethren. Look for opportunities to build up and encourage the brethren, especially those that are weakened or easily stumbled.

Everyone’s Slave!
We enjoy our liberty as long as it does not hinder the Good News from reaching those without Messiah. Though Paul had the right to be paid for his ministry, he chose not to exercise this liberty, so as not to hinder the Good News (9:1-18). But he goes further and says:

For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more. To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews ... I have become all things to all men, so that I might by all means save some. I do all things for the sake of the Good News, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it (1 Corinthians 9:19-20, 22-23).

Even though Paul himself was Jewish, he still recognized the need to be sensitive to the varying inflections of Jewish communities. Whatever community he was in, love limited his liberty, so that nothing would hinder or distract from reaching out with the Good News. So let us do nothing in our liberty to hinder the communication of the Good News to those outside the faith.

Opponents of the Good News sometimes use this passage to portray Paul as deceptive - someone who would simply fashion his faith into whatever a group wanted to hear. In reality, however, his message never changed: the love of God has entered our world and made atonement, so that anyone who repents and trusts in Messiah may be saved! What Paul sacrificed was his personal preferences, including cultural expression. Sacrificing these things made Paul a partaker in the Good News (1 Cor. 9:23). For to accomplish our salvation, God Himself made the ultimate transformation - He came in the flesh and suffered on a cross, which was not his personal preference.

Remembering that the Good News is "to the Jew First," how are we and our congregations presenting the Good News in such a way that it does not hinder the message from making sense to the Jewish people (Rom 1:16)? Though this is the thrust of our ministry, the Scripture grants this calling to all! Our nation and even faith communities have presented a message that history has freely ripped from its Jewish context. Contrary to this abuse of liberty, all redeemed Gentiles are called to make Israel jealous (Rom. 11:11). Let us press on to the mark, using our freedom so that the Good News may be a truly seen as the revelation of the Jewish Messiah and Savior of the world.

Sanctify the Name!
We enjoy our liberty as long as it does not dishonor the Lord. In the wilderness, my people thought we were so secure in our calling as Israel that we felt we could arrogantly sin, and God would have to bless us anyway (1 Cor. 10:1-5). We were dead wrong (10:5-14). In Messiah, therefore, we are not to anything that even through its appearance would bring dishonor to the name of Yeshua, that is, "unless we think we are stronger than the Lord" (10:22). If you’re mature, use your liberty to exalt the Lord, and look for opportunities to praise Him, delight in Him, and bring honor to His Name.

Our people have been confused by an overreach in liberty. Viewed through a "Gentile lens," faith in Messiah appears as a non-Jewish god, and therefore idolatry and dishonor. But our liberty in Messiah is given to us for the benefit of others. So remember the words of Paul, "by laboring you ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Yeshua, how He said, It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35).

On this July 4^th, even as many pray "God bless America," may we use our liberty to bless God and sanctify His Name!
 

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