Question:
Who can have liberty? 

Answer:

Liberty defined means, “Exemption from slavery, bondage, imprisonment, or control of another.  Freedom, deliverance!”  Who can have liberty?  All believers that are made free by the truth and the Son.  The unbeliever needs freedom from sin and Satan (Acts 26:18), but the believer needs deliverance from self—the flesh, legality—false brethren, looseness and license of the world.

In order to have liberty, you need to realize these three key points.  You need to realize that you are guilty of committing sins against God.  Realize that not only have you done evil, but you yourself are sinful (Romans 7:14).  And finally you need to realize that you are helpless to do what you should in your own strength.  Romans 7 shows the conflict between our new nature and our sinful nature.  The Lord wants to save us from this struggle.  We know what is right, but we have no power to do it (vs.18).  We can’t fight the flesh in our own strength.  We need to turn from ourselves and turn to Christ (Romans 8:3,4).

There are three steps involved in becoming delivered from our flesh.  1. Learning from God (Romans 6:1-10): The believer’s identification with Christ deals with sin’s power, not merely sin’s penalty.  Sin shouldn’t have dominion over us.  2. Reckoning with God (Romans 6:11-15):  To reckon means to depend on, count on, be sure of, rest assured, believe. Reckoning deals with faith; having faith in the facts.  The facts need to not only be in your head, but in your heart.  We are dead to sin, but alive to Christ.  Turn your back on sin, flee from sin!  3. Yielding to God (Romans 6:16-23):  Since I am crucified with Christ, I am free from not only the penalty of sin, but from the power of sin.  2 Corinthians 5:20 tells us we are ambassadors for Christ.  The definition for an ambassador is a country’s representative in a foreign land.  That is our job description.  We are Christ’s representatives in this foreign land!  What a wonderful job description!

Question:

How do you know if you or someone you know is using license?

There are a few dictionary definitions of the word license: “Freedom to deviate from strict conduct, rule, or practice, generally permitted by common consent; Excessive, undisciplined freedom, constituting an abuse of liberty”; and, “Using freedom from the Law as an excuse to sin.”

Question:

How do you know God’s will? How do you know what to do?

6 points.  1. Do I want to do God’s will? (Ephesians 6:6, 1 Peter 4:2, John 7:17).  If you honestly want to do God’s will, He WILL show you.  You can’t just want to know about it so you can decide if you want to do it or not.  2. The Bible shows us His will already:  (1 Thessalonians 4:3—abstain from sexual immorality; Ephesians 5:18—don’t be drunk with wine, but be filled with the Spirit; Ephesians 6:1,2—obey your parents, and honor your father and mother; Romans 12:1,2—present your bodies as a sacrifice to God, don’t be conformed to the world, but renew your mind.  For marriage, we are told to marry only believers and those who are in the Lord (that wipes out a lot of people). 3. Get to know your Bible: When we know the Bible, it will help us make decisions.  There are no directions that tell you to go to which college or the name of the person you are to marry, but there are things that can direct you in making those decisions.  4. PRAY!  It is in the quiet times you have with the Lord that He can speak to you.  If you don’t have this special time with the Lord, you are missing out on the input He wants to give you.  5. Holy Spirit:  John 16:13 says, “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come” (NASB)  AMEN!  6.  Get counsel:  Proverbs 11:14 says, “Where there is no guidance, the people fall, but in the abundance of the counselors, there is victory.”  Get advice from older people.  Phil gave out a list of phone numbers of some of the older brothers.  He wanted us to know that they are more than willing to help you when you are facing a tough decision.  Although their counsel is valuable, the most important thing is with the Lord.

Question:
“What is legalism?”

Answer:

The Webster dictionary defines the word Legalism as such: “In Theology, the doctrine of salvation by good works”; and, “Strict, literal, or excessive conformity to the law or to a religious moral code.” Also, conformity to man-made moral codes, rules, or laws to remain in God’s will (Matthew 23:25). The Pharisees were more concerned about their outward appearance than true godliness. And finally, insistence that other believers are to follow one person or a group’s subjective standards and rules.

There are numerous ways that you could be legalistic, but Paul gave us a list of some of the more common ones: Fish on Friday, no radio, no movies, no dancing, no playing cards, no lipstick or earrings, no activities on Sunday, no restaurants that serve alcohol, no TV, no pants for women, King James only…. And the list goes on. Paul also made a point that the desire to do what is right does not make us a legalist.

He brought out some characteristics of a legalist. They focus on the law as a rule of life. They may conform to the letter, but not the spirit of the law; may be satisfied with a lower standard of morality than found in Christ; obey out of fear of retribution or hope of reward. They find loopholes in the law to allow more freedom of their own will. They also concentrate on their own list of rules, while neglecting the serious and Scriptural commandments. They may also have pride in their adherence to the law or set of rules. You wouldn’t need to be outwardly critical of others, but you could take pride in yourself, thinking you are better than others. They compare themselves with others. The verse he used was 2 Corinthians 10:12: “For we are not bold to class or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves; but when they measure themselves by themselves, they are without understanding” (NASB). Christ should be our standard. We will always find someone who is worse than ourselves. And finally, they are often critical and fault-finding of others and may not accept criticism in return.

After learning what a legalist is, we were then shown how to respond to a fault-finding legalist, or to Scriptural reproof. Start off asking for Scripture or Scriptural principles. Listen politely, answer gently, receive genuine, Scriptural reproofs (Proverbs 10:17). Don’t respond, “You’re just a legalist!” Obey your parents (Ephesians 6:1). Don’t plead that we are “Not under law but under grace” (Romans 6:14,15). Don’t use liberty as an occasion to stumble others (1 Corinthians 8:9). Do not respond by attacking his/her faults (Galatians 6:1). Don’t become a legalist yourself.

Legalism can cause a lot of harm. It produces an atmosphere of fear rather than love, joy, and peace (Galatians 5:22,23); it weakens the fellowship with fellow believers, even without saying anything (Galatians 5:15; Philippians 2:3). It takes fellow believers’ focus off of Christ (Colossians 2:20-23). Also, it enslaves believers to man’s ideas rather than to true righteousness and holiness (Romans 6:18-22).