1Corinthians 8:12 But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ.
You can abuse Christian liberty. You can take it too far! You can take your liberty so far that it becomes a stumbling block to your brother.
The watch word of the day is Christian liberty. I do not have to follow all those rules. That is so true. There has no doubt been way too much emphasis placed on what we are to do and not to do.
Christians have developed lists. Christians have become way too judgmental. We seem to have PHD’s in fault finding and criticism. That is an all too common extreme.
But the other extreme is the idea that “I can do this and no one has the right to judge me!” True all things are lawful! 1Corinthians 6:12 but that does not mean that it is expedient.
There are no rules to follow to be saved, to keep saved, or to make God love me more or less! This is very true but spiritual maturity does require me to realize that my behavior does affect others.
This verse says that when you sin so you wound the conscience of your brother and thereby sin against Christ. You might know things that others do not know but be careful not to offend your brother or cause him or her to fall.
It would be better to have less liberty and bless others! I would rather limit myself to reach and help others.
We do that as parents. We know what to say when (most of the time or at least some of the time) but when we have children we immediately start limiting ourselves. Our children get into trouble by just repeating what they hear their parents say.
So mom says, please don’t say that in front of the children. Dad says well it is true isn’t it. Then the child repeats it at school, the teacher disciplines the child and the child says well I don’t know what I did wrong my dad says it all the time!
You know the drill. You know how it works. So you use some restrain. You do that because you are raising children.
Well we are reaching the lost. We are training Christians. So show some restraint. Be careful what you say and do.
You can go too far in Christian liberty!
