NO License to KILL
Theme: Purity, Judgment, Grace
Scripture: Titus 1:15-16 - To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciousness are corrupted. They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.
Observation: When someone truly becomes free in Christ there is a freedom that cannot be explained. You suddenly realize that you are no longer bound to the man made regulations of this world. You are not bound to deny yourself of certain food & drink or religious patterns of trying to impress God. You are dead to those things so they have no power over you. "You truly are free" - however you must be sure that the exercising of this freedom does not step across a line & violate biblical principles and lead you into sin.
Application: So how does this work? As an example many religious people will say you cannot drink a wine or beer at all- fullstop. But the Bible does not teach that, all it says is do not be drunk & out of that behaviour so cause a brother to fall.
What is the problem? - the problem is the person who is trying to enforce this law is not pure in this area, in this area their conscience has been corrupted. Perhaps they have had a alcohol issue in their own life, or perhaps they grew up in an alcohol abused home environment so at a conscience level they are not pure when it comes to this area of alcohol. So the correct course of action for them to remain positioned right with God is to stay away from alcohol altogether.
The problem arises when because of their conscience issue they then try & make a law out of it and begin to enforce their position onto to some for who it is pure in that area.
It's the same with things like which day you are going to celebrate as a family for your sabbath rest, or vegetarian verses carnivore, or which movies are appropriate & inappropriate to watch for you.
Everything is dependant on the conscience of the person involved & whether they are damaged in that area & only you can know that. What is important is that you don't use you freedom to SIN - for example to say oh i'm ok to watch pornographic movies - no you can't do that because scripture says to remain sexually pure & not lust after another person sexually. So they are out....Friend don't use your freedom as a license to SIN, but also don't use it as a license to KILL by passing judgment on others who differ in their approach to certain issues simply because of a purity of conscience.
Always remember to the PURE all things are PURE - but none of us are PURE in every area of life. Anytime your conscience tells you it is wrong do not violate it, as for you it is wrong! However just remember even though it is absolutely wrong for you it may not be for your friend or brother next door. So long as it doesn't violate scripture we must not pass judgment on others when it comes to these kind of things.
Prayer: Father help me to always be one who imparts grace. Help me to understand clearly when someone is violating scripture to quickly help them to see the wrong, repent & move back onto the path of righteousness. Also help me to always be able to clearly see what is a difference of purity & conscious issue from family of origin in regarding to application of scripture that is not black & white. Teach me how to impart life & a desire for holiness in relationship with you. I ask this in Jesus name AMEN
Created 11 months ago
