Why Christian Liberty Is Not a License to Sin

Hello, and welcome to Through the Bible with Les Feldick, an Oklahoma rancher and farmer. Les Feldick has been teaching homestyle Bible classes for over 20 years in Iowa, Oklahoma, and Texas. Les Feldick's unique style of Bible teaching has made the books of the Bible come to life. When Les is teaching, it's so interesting that people say time just seems to fly by. And now, here is Les Feldick. Okay, good to have everybody in again this afternoon, and for those of you joining us on television, why we have to make some explanations. We're in little different facilities, and we're sort of in transition, so when you see the lack of tables, don't get alarmed. We'll be back to that again at a later time. But for now, we're just glad that you're able to join with us, and again, we appreciate all the folks from the Tulsa area that come in for our taping this afternoon, and we just praise the Lord for every opportunity that we have to open the Scriptures. Again, we always have to remind our folks that all the past programs are available in book form and videotapes as well as the audiotapes, so if you're interested in any of that, you give us a call, or drop us a note. Okay, now the whole idea of this half hour is to study the Word, and we'll just get right into it. Jerry's already got the Scripture on the board. We're going to jump in again where we left off in our last program, which will be Galatians chapter 5 and verse 13. Now of course for a brief review of this book of Galatians, I know I repeat and repeat, but on the other hand that's what people say they like. They say, just keep repeating. Galatians is a book that is determining the fact that we're not under law, we're under grace. And you know a lot of people just don't know what we're talking about. And they look at you quizzically and they say, well what do you mean? Well hopefully this is what the book of Galatians is showing, that we are not under the system of law. We are not under any kind of legalistic demands for our salvation, but salvation is all of grace by faith plus nothing else it takes away from the finished work of the cross. And this is the whole concept of course of God's dealing with us in grace, is that we have to believe that He did everything that needs to be done. And as soon as we try to add to that, then we in actuality say, well Christ didn't really finish it, but He did. And God has let us know in His Word, and especially through the writings of this Apostle Paul, that it was finished, and we stand in His presence justified, forgiven, sanctified, glorified, and all those good words, simply because we can believe that it is a finished transaction. And so this has been the whole concept of this little letter to the Galatians who were going back, or being tempted to at least, to go back under legalism, which at that time of course was prompted by the Jews, and that was circumcision. And so Paul has been dealing with that in particular, but for us today circumcision is not so much the criteria, but it's all these other things that people try to tell us we have to do besides believing the Gospel. But don't you believe it, because the Word says it is by faith and faith alone, and then of course back in Romans Paul used the old man Abraham as the prime example of someone who was saved by faith and faith alone. Now as you come into Galatians chapter 5 verse 13, and of course we always emphasize that Paul writes to believers, he never writes to the unsaved world. And so as he writes to believers, he says, "...brethren, you have been called unto liberty." Now the other word for liberty is freedom. In fact I have a Bible at home that has the King James on one side, and a literal translation of the Greek on the other, and the literal translation does use the word freedom. But the King James of course uses the word liberty, and so we can stay with that. Only use not liberty or this freedom for an occasion to the flesh. Now we have to stop there don�t we? And let�s go back to Romans, because Scripture has to constantly explain Scripture. Now of course as we�ve probably noticed in these last several months of tapings, that we aren�t going as often to the Old Testament, although I guess we did back in chapter 4 didn�t we? But we don�t go as often to the Old Testament as we sometimes do, but we can go back to some of the other letters of Paul. And so now I�d like to have you turn with me to Romans chapter 3, and then we�re also going to look at a verse in chapter 6, but in Romans chapter 3 verse 8. And I think this says it all. Romans 3 verse 8. And Paul writes, Romans 3. 8. And not rather, and in parenthesis, as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say, let us do evil, that good may come. Well Paul has the answer for that kind of statement. He says their condemnation is sure. And so we even sometimes hear it in our own culture. Well to be under the grace of God means that I�m saved, and now I can do as I please. Listen, the Scripture never teaches that, and when Paul says that it was reported, it was slanderously reported. In other words they were trying to drag the guy�s ministry down in the mud, by telling people that, Oh Apostle Paul just teaches that once you�re saved by grace, you are at liberty to do whatever you want to do. And you know there�s been some great men that took that line. But now turn with me if you will in Romans to chapter 6. Well let�s look at chapter 5 first, verse 20. Romans 5 verse 20. And it�s along this same line of thinking, that yes, we�re saved by grace, we live by grace, we walk by grace, but that is not license is the word I usually use. Now in Romans 5 verse 20, he says, Romans 5. Now all that tells you is that no matter how far down an individual can go into sin and wickedness, yet the grace of God is always capable of going even lower, and bringing him back up to a place of righteousness. Now we want to come on into chapter 6. But verse 21 of 5, Romans 5. And I would like to put like a king, because that�s what reigning implies, that as sin or the old Adam has reigned unto death, even so might grace, this liberty, this freedom, that grace might reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Alright then you come on into chapter 6, verse 1. What shall we say then? And again Paul I�m sure still has on his mind what we read in chapter 3, that he was slanderously reported as teaching and preaching that they could now do as they pleased. Alright he says, Romans 5. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? In other words, are we to actually test God�s offer of grace, by seeing how much we can do and get away with it? Of course not! He says, God forbid! Verse 2. How shall we that are dead to sin, and again you remember when we were in Romans sin, old Adam. So how shall we who are dead to that old Adam, live any longer therein? And so this is the whole concept, that yes, we�re set free, we are at liberty, and yet not liberty to go contrary to the Word of God. That wouldn�t make sense would it? But to have liberty as a believer. See this is what I�m always stressing, this is where we can maybe have some differences of opinion, because something that may not strike me as being intrinsically sinful to someone else, it may be. And so here�s where our liberty comes in. You have to determine between yourself and the Lord as to what your behavior is going to be in certain areas. We covered this several months ago. Giving is one of them. Someone may be led to give 30, 40, 50% of their income. Well that�s great, but someone else may not be able to have that kind of opportunity, and they may give considerably less, but no one is mandated as to how much they give. That�s Christian liberty. That�s what we have in grace. Now that�s just one example. Alright, now if you�ll come back with me then to Galatians chapter 5. And so we�re not to use this liberty as an occasion to the flesh and say, �Well, I�m now saved. I�m a child of God and I can do whatever I want to do.� Well I think most true believers know better than that. It�s these people who probably have a pseudo salvation. They may have tasted of it, and they may have had an emotional experience, but they�ve never really entered into a genuine salvation experience. And those kind of people may be able to take this approach. But for the true believer, I think most of them know better than that. Alright, let�s come back again to the verse 13. Galatians 5.13a So use not liberty or our freedom for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve, or be literally a bond slave for one another. Now you want to remember that Paul is writing to the Galatian believers who are in various congregations, and so he�s not talking necessarily that they have to work that way amongst the unbelieving world, but amongst themselves. Believers with believers. They were to literally be like servants through love one to another. Now of course I�ve got to come back to what I haven�t had on the program for a long, long time, and that is my definition of Biblical love, or the agape love as we saw it in John�s Gospel when Jesus said to Peter, �Peter, lovest thou me.� Remember those accounts? And Peter never really did get the full impact of agape love, because Peter cut back and said, �I phileo you, I am fond of you.� It was a less term than agape. But my best definition for those of us in the English speaking world of agape love is seeking that other person�s highest good. That is true agape love in practice, is when we always under every circumstance try to seek that other person�s highest good. And that means many times we will even sell ourselves short in order to accomplish that which is the highest good for the other. So this is what he�s talking about, that rather than use our liberty for an occasion to satisfy the lusts of the flesh, rather we are to let that God-given agape love, and that�s the word in the Greek, agape, the agape love, or that which always seeks the other person�s highest good. Then verse 14, for all the Law, all the commandments, all the Law is fulfilled in one Word, and what�s the Word? Ephesians 4.1a Now let�s go back again and compare with what Paul writes in Romans chapter 13. And again you like to just compare Scripture with Scripture so that you don�t say, �Well you know that doesn�t really mean what it says.� You know a lot of people say that when they�re confronted. They say, �Well it doesn�t mean what it says.� Yes it does. And if you don�t believe what it says in this one, then find another place where it corroborates it, and it all fits. Romans 13, verse 8, the last half. Romans 13, verse 8, �For he that loveth another hath fulfilled the Law.� Every part of it. Because love is always the answer for what the Law demands. And I�ve gone over this more than once. Can you steal from someone that you really love? No way. Can you go out and bear false witness, or the other word is gossip. Can you gossip about someone that you really love and are seeking their highest good? No way. In the same way with the sexual immorality of the day. If true, agape love is functioning, the present day surge of immorality and adultery would die on the vine. Because there is no true love in that kind of sexual satisfaction. It always leaves people miserable. Triangles do nothing but cause unhappiness and grief and sorrow. Why? Because there�s no true love involved in something like that. And so coveting, you don�t wish that you had something that someone has whom you love. And so love is the fulfilling of the whole Law. And then Paul goes down and repeats them. So when I say that Paul teaches that we�re not under Law, we�re under Grace, that doesn�t mean that Paul says we�re free to steal, we�re free to gossip. No, no way. But all he means is that the Law does not hang over us as a threatening punishment, that if you break it, the hand of God is going to come down on you. That�s not what he�s saying. He�s saying that once we come into salvation through faith and under the Grace of God, our whole system of want to changes. We no longer want to do these things that are contrary to the Law. So it isn�t a matter of having to have the Law in order to maintain a Christian discipline, because as we�re going to see when we get down a couple of verses later, it�s that indwelling Holy Spirit that takes the place of the Law. And that�s what we have to constantly emphasize. Now if you�ll come back to Galatians chapter 5, reading verse 14 just for repetition�s sake, for all the Law is fulfilled in one word. Love your neighbor as yourself. And that takes care of everything. Now verse 15 is just an admonition, but if you bite and devour one another, now of course that�s going to take in primarily which commandment? Bearing false witness. My, you can destroy a person�s character in 5 minutes. And you know this is what�s so sad about our particular political system. We love our freedoms and our liberties, but you know all someone has to do is by innuendo make something of a derogatory comment, and immediately that person is put on the defense. But what has happened in the eyes of the public? He�s guilty. Whether he is or not, just by virtue of implication he is now guilty until he can prove himself innocent. Well Paul is telling believers, this is the same thing you�re doing to each other. Every time you say something nasty about one of your fellow believers, you are by implication putting them in a place of defending their character. And Paul says you better be careful, because it�ll eat you alive. But if you bite and devour another one, take heed that you be not what? Consumed, literally just eaten up by those to whom you are being an adversary. Now let�s move on, and here�s why I�ve already drawn my circles on the board to save a little time. This I say then, walk in the Spirit. Now that�s capital S, so that�s the Holy Spirit. In other words, walk in the power and the control of the Holy Spirit, and you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. Now that makes sense, doesn�t it? When the Holy Spirit is operating, you�re not going to go out and steal. The Holy Spirit will never tell a believer to go and steal. The Holy Spirit will never tell someone to go and commit adultery. The Holy Spirit will never tell someone to gossip. So when you�re under the control, or you�re walking in the Spirit, then these things that are still part and parcel, that are still lurking there in the background in our old Adamic nature, if the Holy Spirit is in control, then those things won�t come to the fore. Now here�s where I�m really ready for this half hour lesson. Let�s go to verse 17. Now of course when Paul speaks of the flesh, what�s he talking about? Old Adam, that old Adamic nature. So he says, The old Adamic nature lusteth, or desireth, or what I think is a clearer word, it may not be anything that�s connected to the Greek, but for sake of clarity, I like to use the word, wareth. The old nature actually declares war on our new nature, and consequently the new nature has to declare war on the old nature, and so it�s a constant battle. See? The battle lines are defined from the very moment that we�re saved, until we leave this life, either by death, or we trust one day soon through the Rapture. But until one of the other happens, we are in a constant warfare. So the old Adam, then the flesh lusteth or wareth against the Spirit, and that of course is the implication of the new nature, and the Holy Spirit is warring against the flesh, or old Adam. And now if you think that I�m amiss, just look at what the rest of the verse says, and these two forces within each and every believer, these two forces are what? Contrary! They are at total odds. They cannot agree on anything, because the new nature has a whole new set of values that are in compliance of course with the righteousness, and the holiness, and the laws of God. Whereas that old nature, whose God is Satan, and the God of this world, it�s bent in rebellion, it�s bent in unbelief, and so they are two totally opposites, and they war constantly. Alright, and so they�re contrary one to the other, so you cannot do the things that you would. Alright, let�s go back to our, we haven�t had this in a long time, and you know I�m always kind of, I shouldn�t say amused, but I�m enlightened, and I think encouraged. I guess in my system of teaching over the years, there are two things that people constantly write or call and say, one or the other, or sometimes both, has really opened my eyes to the Scripture. The first one is the timeline, and I think most of you agree with that. The timeline has just opened the Bible for so many people. The second one is the three circles, and we had a gentleman at one of our last seminars, who just violently, it�s a wonder he didn�t come out and shoot me. He said, �Les, I hated you with a passion.� He said, �I hated those tapes.� He said, �If I could have gotten away with it,� his wife was watching him, he said, �I would have destroyed every one of them,� but he said, �Finally, finally,� he said, �things were falling in,� and he said, �I agreed I would watch one half-hour segment if she would just get them out of the house and get them out of my sight.� And he said, �I watched the first half-hour, I went about ten minutes into the second half-hour,� and he says, �you had the circles on the board,� and he says, �it just totally blew my mind that there was my problem. I was under the control of that old Adamic nature, and I had to have what my wife had and what you were talking about.� So there was just another prime example of how this teaching on these circles, and the only reason I�ve done that is just to kind of clarify. Now the outer shell of our make-up, of course, is the body, and as we�ve pointed out from Corinthians, the body is just the exercise of the five senses, and it�s merely the temporary dwelling place for this next part of us, the soul, which I usually refer to now then as the personality, the real you and the real I is in this area of the soul, and it�s made up, most of you know this, forwards and backwards, the mind, will, and the emotions. And that�s what really makes us click. It�s our mind that does the thinking, it formulates everything, the will of course is what carries it out, and then our make-up of emotions, which is of course our anger, and our love, and our joy, and what have you. And then we have the third part that Adam was first created with, body, soul, and spirit, whereby he had fellowship and communion with the Creator. Now we know that as soon as Adam sinned, as God had said, �The day thou eatest of, thou shalt surely die.� And so Adam didn�t die physically for 939 years, but his spirit, that part of him with which he had been having fellowship with his Creator, it died, and I don�t like to use completely disappeared, but like a tree in the wintertime, it was just dormant. I think it�s still there, but it�s dead, like a car battery that�s been run down, it�s dormant, it�s dead, and it�ll remain dead until some outside energy comes in and regenerates it. All right, then at the same time when Adam ate and he became a sin nature, or what we call the old Adam, that personality with which he was created became then a sin nature. It had only one bent, and that was rebellion against everything that God instructed, or taught, or admonished, it would say, �No.� In fact, all you have to do is just stop and think for a minute. You look at the world around us, and it�s been this way all the way back through human history. Everything that God says, this do, for our own good, what does Satan say? Well, the opposite. He�s always telling the human race to do the opposite of what God has instructed. On the other hand, everything that God says we shouldn�t do, and it�s for our own good, what does the devil say? Do it! And so this has been the conflict then between man and God ever since Adam became then that original sin nature, and his spirit or the place of fellowship was completely put out of commission, it was made dormant, and so now when we come into the human experience, yes, we�re living in that same body of flesh and blood and bone which operates the five senses, and it�s in that body that now our old personality, this sin nature is operating, and that�s as much as we�ve got. We�ve got no way of communicating with God. Now probably people don�t like this, but even the poor GI in the foxhole, when he would cry out to God, �Oh save me from all this!� God didn�t hear that unless he called out for salvation. That�s the only prayer of an unbeliever that God hears, because you see there�s no means of communication for the lost person and God. There is none, and Romans 8 makes it so plain that he�s an enemy of God. Well you don�t deal with your enemy if you�ve got one, it�s just not the way we do things. So here we are as a race of people living in the flesh with an old sin nature, a personality that is enmity against God, and with nothing to keep us in communication with God. Oh, but now comes the cross, and Paul teaches so explicitly for the first time in Scripture about this whole idea of a sin nature, and that is that if this sin nature now can be crucified, and literally by faith committed unto God, to have Him put it to death, and so this old sin nature has to be declared dead, at least so far as God is concerned, although He remains a viable force in our living. But the minute that God reckons old Adam as crucified, He puts within us a new nature, a divine nature, which is the very mind and nature of Christ Himself, and that�s what we mean when we become Christ like, or when we become Christian. But never lose sight of the fact that even though God reckons old Adam as dead, and God sees him no more, and that�s what I teach when I teach justification. It�s just as if we�ve never sinned, so it�s just as if old Adam has been completely put out of God�s sight. But in our experience as a believer, oh He�s still there. The only hope we have, and we�ll have to pick it up in the next program because our time is gone, but the only hope we have is that God has intervened with something that will help us control this old Adam, and we can keep Him defeated. And so this is what we�re going to see then in our next half hour. Thank you for watching Through the Bible with Les Feldick. If you would like more information about the Les Feldick Ministries, or about this program, write to Les Feldick Ministries, Route 1, Box 760, Kenta, OK 74552. That�s Route 1, Box 760, Kenta, OK 74552.