Soul Liberty
1 December 2013 AM – Romans 14:1-13 – Romans – Scott Childs
Introduction: Since the time of Christ, many unbiblical churches have tried to force people to believe as they do by persecuting all who refuse. Those who use force to make people believe against their will do not believe in soul liberty.
Soul liberty means that every person has the right to believe as he chooses, without harm or hindrance from any one, so long as he does not interfere with the rights of others by doing so. However, he will answer to God for his choices. This is true for Christians and non-Christians alike.
All independent Baptist churches have in their doctrinal statements a list of ungodly activities which the members agree to not do. While this increases church unity and decreases the number of questionable activities, it does not remove one’s soul liberty. There are many activities for which the Bible sets no standards in principle or in command. These are left to individual soul liberty.
Transition: Romans 14:1-13, God instructs us about soul liberty. As we look at this “soul liberty” passage, we will find three instructions that God expects us to obey.
I. We Must Accept One Another’s Soul Liberty (1-4)
A. God wants us to accept those who differ
1. Ro 14:1 tells us to receive those weak in the faith.
a) The word “receive” means to take them to ourselves, or to accept them.
b) The phrase “weak in the faith” indicates that the differing opinion was over something that did not bother stronger Christians. The weak in the faith have a more sensitive conscience toward what is permissible for Christians.
2. We learn in Ro 14:2 that it had to do with eating meat instead of being a vegetarian. The vegetarian diet was for religious purposes, not health. This food problem arose from two possible sources (1) Jewish food laws (cf. Leviticus 11) or (2) meat sacrificed to pagan idols (cf. 1 Corinthians 8-10). Bob Utley Neither choice was sinful.
3. Ro 14:3 tells us not to despise or judge those who differ since God set no standard for these issues.
a) Those who eat meat must not despise or look down on those who are vegetarian.
b) The vegetarian must not judge or condemn those who eat meat.
Many Christians try to use this passage to excuse their choice of sinful activities that do not pass God’s “prove all things” test in 1Th 5:21-22. They wrongly call things like music, alcohol, clothing style, hair length, “amoral” (meaning that God has set no standards for them) when the Bible gives is clear guidelines on these issues. We can only justly apply the passage to issues for which the Bible sets no standards in principle or in command. One example might be whether you have a Christmas tree or not.
4. The Bible guides us with principles as well as commands. For example, we find no command in the Bible that states, “Thou shalt not smoke cannabis”, but 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says that a Christian’s body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. The obvious principle is that anything that harms the body dishonours the Holy Spirit’s temple.
B. We must remember that we are not the judge (4)
1. Christians are children of God and God is their master.
2. They will answer to God for their actions. We will look more at this in a few minutes.
II. We Must Keep the Focus of Soul Liberty (5-9)
A. We must always seek to please the Lord
1. Paul introduces the issue of honouring one day above another. In the OT, God gave the Sabbaths (Saturday and other holy days) to the Jews.
Ezekiel 20:12 Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them.
2. Christ, fulfilled the law and these Sabbath days are not binding on a Christian.
Colossians 2:16-17 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
3. This still bothered some of the Jewish believers.
4. Those who set aside Sabbaths and those who did not, both sought to please the Lord. Those who ate meat and those who did not, both sought to please the Lord. On issues where there is no Bible command or principle violated, each Christian must do what he believes is right in his own conscience.
5. All that we do as Christians ought to be ruled by our thoughts of what pleases Christ. Life is not about pleasing self. It is about pleasing Christ.
1 Corinthians 10:31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
6. We may view the idea of living and dying in the section in two ways.
a) It may literally speak of living every day to please the Lord and when we face death whether in peace or by martyrdom, we are to die in a manner that pleases the Lord.
b) Or, living may picture partaking in an unclear activity to please the Lord, and dying may picture abstaining from an unclear activity to please the Lord.
B. Christ died and rose again so we can please Him
1. Christ died and rose again for all who will believe.
2. He wants to be Lord of both the living and the dead.
III. We Must Let God Judge Another’s Soul Liberty (10-13)
A. Every Christian will stand before God’s judgment
1. It is not our job to judge another’s soul liberty. That is God’s job.
2. The judgement seat is the Greek word Bema which describes a place of judgment. It often described the raised place of judgment at an athletic event.
3. The judgment seat of Christ is a judgment for Christians only. It will be a time when Christ rewards or rebukes our Christian conduct. It has nothing to do with the Christian’s eternal destiny. That was settled when he trusted Christ for salvation.
a) Every knee will bow to Christ
b) Every tongue will confess to God
c) Every one of us will give account of himself to God.
2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
B. God will judge our use of soul liberty
1. To prepare for the judgment seat of Christ, we must carefully use God’s proving test every time before we do something that may be questionable.
1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil.
a) We must not do anything that fails the test of God’s Word.
b) We must be prepared to answer to God for things that we believe pass the test.
c) If we are in doubt, we should not do it.
2. We must let God judge the soul liberty of other Christians. God is all-knowing and he makes no mistakes. We will answer to God if we judge them in error.
Conclusion: This passage does not give us the right to disobey God’s commands or principles. Instead, it ought to remind us to prove our choices very carefully. If we choose to do what God says is wrong, we will answer to God for it.
On the other hand, the passage instructs us to accept one another’s soul liberty, keep the focus of soul liberty on pleasing God, and let God be the judge of another’s soul liberty choices.
We need to ask God to give us a good attitude toward others when we disagree with their soul liberty choices. At the same time, let’s ask God to help us be wise and godly in our proving of questionable issues.
In heaven, no one will look back on their earthly life and say, “I am sorry that I lived more godly than necessary”, but many may say, “I am sorry I did not live more godly than I did.”
Song: Have I Done My Best – 368