Lawful, but not Expedient

On becoming a Christian we have liberty! Before we were in bondage and now we are free!

In Moses time the Jews in slavery to the Egyptians were in bondage to them. Egypt was a "picture" of sin and freedom from Egypt was all about being free from bondage which is a picture of freedom from sin, and being so, is a type of salvation. With the escape from Egypt came liberty. The Hebrews were free to serve God or free to disobey. For them there was a consequence for disobedience. They would be cut off from God! That's why the event which led to freedom, the Passover, was only a picture of salvation. There were consequences for disobedience.

With the advent of Jesus' sacrifice for all mankind, salvation is available to all! With true salvation we're no longer bound to the "Law", but are truly free as long as we don't deny Jesus. That's called "grace" and with grace comes Christian "liberty". We're no longer bound by the law, but obey because we love Jesus!

"Liberty" means we are free to act and believe as we want! However, Christian liberty is slightly different! We are only free to "act", but our belief must be in Jesus. As long as we have belief in Jesus we have freedom to act. That means that we don't have all the does and don'ts of Mosaic Laws, but if we love Jesus we have a desire to keep God's Laws; The Ten Commandments or as The New Testament summarizes them: loving God and loving others! Hence, liberty is not open-ended. We are obliged to believe in order to be rewarded with freedom. Actually, for Christians, salvation is partial liberty.

There us a "Perfect Law of Liberty":

James 1:25 "But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed."

In summary, "The Perfect Law of Liberty" says that  if we seek liberty, not only are we obliged to continue in it, but do it!  Do what? Be in the state of liberty? What's that?

2 Corinthians 3:17 "Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty."

The Lord (Jesus) is the Spirit and liberty is residing in his Spirit. Belief leading to faith provides the Spirit and with that faith comes liberty. Consequently, being in a "State of Liberty"  is residing in the Spirit of the Lord, or being steadfast in the faith as Philippians 2:12 implores us to be.

Liberty, then, is being free from bondage from the law. We are no longer required to obey for salvation, but obey because we love the Lord! Obeying the Law is called "works". We're not saved by works, but through faith (Ephesians 2:8). So that we're not braggarts, we must realize that nothing we do in excess of faith saves us. The sinner's vain attempts to be "good" are futile unless belief, acceptance, sorrow and repentance is there. That's salvation by faith!

Below we can see that "works" or following the law, doesn't consummate salvation nor prolong its gestation.  We are free to follow the Law (Mosaic Law) or not to follow it! It does nothing for our security. However, we MUST still follow God's commands if we love him:

John 14:15 "If ye love me, keep my commandments."

Therefore, Christians will keep God's commands! What are they? Love God and love others. However, this "Greatest Commandment" and "One Like It"  are shorthand for The Ten Commandments. We show love for God by keeping his commandments to love him and others. We are to keep God's Law (The Commandments), but are free from Mosaic Law and all its trappings. We still have no other Gods, we still are to be truthful, we're still to be free from murderous thoughts and actions, but we no longer have to sacrifice, refrain from any type of activity on the Sabbath, eat kosher, be ceremonially clean, etc. The Hebrews were required to be lawful to be holy, but always came up short! To be Holy Christians must have saving faith and just be there! It's called "grace" and with grace comes faith and love!

1 Corinthians 10:23 "All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not."

"Expediency" is doing what's appropriate! We are freed from the law, but it may be appropriate to obey the law.   Is it lawful to hate? No! We're commanded to love. Christians never have the freedom to hate. Liberty doesn't cover hate of God nor hate of another.  Is it appropriate to rescue an ox from the pit on the Sabbath. According to Jesus, most certainly. We are in effect breaking the Sabbath by working to save the ox, but it would be cruel and unloving to allow the ox to die an unnecessary death.

Are we free to commit adultery? No! That's one of The Ten Commandments (coveting neighbor's wife). That's not only unlawful out of love (philio)  for others, but neither is it appropriate behavior for a disciple of Christ. Likewise, for murder! It's neither lawful nor expedient because we're to love others!

What then is lawful, but inappropriate? It's lawful to get intoxicated. That has nothing to do with loving God or others. We can drink all the booze we desire and get drunk. It won't send a person to hell (unless it's coupled with apostasy), but it's not expedient! Drunkenness is totally inappropriate and we're told to be sober (1 Thessalonians 5:6). Since we can't think and worship God as he desires to be worshiped, when inebriated, drunkenness is lawful, but not expedient! The same goes for tattoos, yoga, horoscopes, stingy giving, uncleanliness, gluttony and the like. It 's lawful to eat non-kosher foods, and most of the time it is appropriate. However, in the older days it was not appropriate to eat unclean (non-kosher) foods because people who did often risked death. (God wanted the Jews to multiply, not die out!)

To show our love of Jesus, we must respect the will of Jesus. We no longer follow the law by sacrificing grain and animals to please God, but we are expected to sacrifice ourselves:

Romans 12:1 "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service."

We are to be Holy by living holy! That's sacrificing ourselves. Denying ourselves the pleasures of the world AND magnifying and loving Jesus is "our reasonable service". We are TO DO that! That's the expedient work of the true Christian! If we're not sacrificing ourselves (our own desires) are we being holy? No! It's not acceptable to be unholy. We're expected to live holy lives and that is expedient!

What pleasures are we to put aside? Pleasures of this world. Priorities must be placed on what's holy. If we put anything above Jesus then we're not doing our reasonable service!

Let me ask a few questions:

1. Do you seek entertainment over worship. Which do you do more of?
2. Do you drink more than that one glass of wine that you claim that you only drink?
3. Do you forgive others. Do you ever tell another that you're sorry?
4. Are you provoking in your conversations or empathetic?
5. Do you belittle others and gossip?
6. Does your appearance reflect modesty or do you look as the pagans look?
7. Are you more concerned with getting things or helping others?
8. Do you pray for God's will or your own? Do you get answers you want or what's biblical?
9. Do you keep the commandments" All of them? Even in your heart?
10. Is the Bible paramount or do you disagree with some of it?
11. If you accept the Bible as God's word, why do you continue to disappoint the Lord?
12. Do you accept the philosophy of the world over God's truths?
13. Can people tell that you're a Christian by observing?
14. Is your music, movies and television ungodly or offensive to God? Is your entertainment prurient or pure?
15. How much time in a day do you allow for the Lord? Little? Some? More? Much?
16. You get the idea. Examine yourself. Are you doing your "reasonable service"? Are your actions expedient (appropriate if you love the Lord)?

Liberty must be edifying to the Lord. What we do must reflect well on Jesus!  The adage, "What Would Jesus Do?" is all about edifying Jesus. Does dancing like a slut edify Jesus? Does getting drunk? How about gossiping and believing the Bible is not always right? Does that edify Jesus? No it's not appropriate and consequently is not expedient! Look at the above list and other actions you do daily. WWJD? Are you edifying Jesus by your life? Only you can answer that!