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Transforming Grace
Discussion Guide, Chapter 6a: Called to be Free (Fences)
Central Idea: As followers of Christ we are free. Free from the drive to earn
God’s favor by our actions. Free from the oppression of trying to live up to manmade
religious rules and regulations. Free to let the Holy Spirit create in our lives something
beautiful and pleasing to God.
Warm-Up Question: What thoughts come to mind when you hear the phrase,
"Christian freedom"?
Christian Freedom
- How does Jesus view Christian freedom
?
- He commands us to be free. Read Gal 5:1. It is for freedom that Christ has set us
free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
- The truth is what is liberating, because belief in the truth saves. Read Jn 8:31-36. To
the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are
really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you
free." 33 They answered him, "We are Abraham's descendants and have never been
slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?" 34 Jesus replied,
"I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35 Now a slave has no
permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36 So if the Son sets you
free, you will be free indeed."
- What are Christians set free from
? (Review)
- The condemnation of the law (status).
- Eph 2:15. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the
barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by abolishing in his flesh the law with its
commandments and regulations.
- Gal 3:13. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us,
for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree."
- Rom 8:1-2. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,
2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of
sin and death.
- The mastery of sin and death (practice).
- Rom 6:1-2, 6-7,11-14. What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace
may increase? 2 By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? …. 6
For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done
away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—7 because anyone who has died
has been freed from sin …. 11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive
to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you
obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of
wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death
to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. 14 For
sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.
- SG #1.b. What does this new freedom do for the human spirit?
- It motivates, liberates, refreshes, and empowers our spirits to take hold of God’s
grace.
- It gives peace and joy because we are free to please God.
- It removes any hindrances from becoming all that we were meant to be in Christ Jesus.
- It compels us to love Him through obedience.
- How do we grow in the freedom God has given us
?
- By ridding ourselves of sin and craving spiritual milk (the Gospel). 1 Pet 2:1-3. Therefore,
rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. 2
Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your
salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
- By seeking God’s power to make all things grow. 1 Cor 3:7. So neither he who
plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.
- By pleasing Him by bearing spiritual fruit, increasing in our knowledge of God, being
strengthened by His power, and giving thanks to God for what He has done. Col 1:10-12. And
we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in
every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being
strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great
endurance and patience, and joyfully 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you
to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.
- What are the fruits of the Spirit
?
- Gal 5:22-23. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control.
- Col 3:12-14. Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe
yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each
other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the
Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together
in perfect unity.
Legalism
- What is legalism
? There are two ways of looking at it:
- Thinking we can earn or forfeit God’s favor based on our behavior
- SG #1.c. Why do people tend toward this? Because man has been given the innate
hunger for worth and meaning. Without God, man seeks to satisfy this hunger in himself.
This pride leads to a search toward ambition and a sense of self-accomplishment, in which
we desire to be recognized for the things we do, and in which we fear punishment from God
for the things we do.
- Enforcing the conformity to man-made rules
- SG #1.c. Why do people tend toward this? Because man tends to "serve the
kingdom he sees." He tends toward man-pleasing instead of God-pleasing because man is
more "visible" to him.
- SG #5.b. What are some of the consequences of legalism? Have you ever seen how
legalism can destroy a Christian fellowship?
- Elitism (Closed circles of friends)
- Self-Righteousness/Piety
- It gives us a false sense of security, which can be dangerous.
- It gives us a sense of despair if we think that we are saved based on our performance.
- Quote (Max Lucado, In the Grip of Grace, pg 12): "The impact [of legalism on
people]… is remarkably predictable: either despair or arrogance. They either give up
or become stuck-up. They think they’ll never make it, or they think they are the only
ones who’ll ever make it. Strange, how two people can look at the same [set of good
deeds] and one hang his head and the other puff out his chest."
- The means become more important than the end. The law becomes more important than the
intent of the law.
- It sometimes keeps us from doing other activities that are good, lawful, and sometimes,
commanded.
- Lk 14:1-5. One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee,
he was being carefully watched. 2 There in front of him was a man suffering from dropsy. 3
Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, "Is it lawful to heal on the
Sabbath or not?" 4 But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him
and sent him away. 5 Then he asked them, "If one of you has a son or an ox that falls
into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull him out?"
- Fences
. Building fences around sins to the point that we no longer can identify the
sin.
- What are some ways we can protect ourselves from sin
?
- Run away from the temptation as soon as we identify it
- Fill our minds and hearts with Godly things, to keep out temptations
- Make personal rules for ourselves that keep us far from sin
- Why should we create fences around sin
?
- Because the farther away we are from sin, the less likely we will be tempted.
- We should run away from all temptation
- Skim Gen 39:1-12. Joseph created a fence: He even refused to be near her (verse 10)
- 1 Thess 5:22. Avoid every kind of evil.
- 1 Tim 2:22. Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and
peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
- Quote (TG, pg 122-3): "Our family went on vacation to a different part of the
country to enjoy the beach and the ocean …. When we got there, however, I discovered
the beach was swarming with scantily clad young women. (I’m not talking about
ordinary swimsuits. When I say scanty, I mean scanty.) Now like Job, I had ‘made a
covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a girl’ (Job 31:1) …. After about
twenty minutes of continuously diverting my eyes, I said to my wife, ‘You and the
kids stay as long as you like. I’m going to the car.’
- We are told to be sensitive to the convictions of others, so we build fences for their
benefit. 1 Cor 10:32-33. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the
church of God—33 even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking
my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.
- SG #5.a. What are some examples of fences?
- Dress codes in worship services (helps protect from lust and irreverence)
- Limiting TV-watching (helps protect from mindlessness and time-wasting)
- Limiting listening to secular music (helps protect from ungodly thoughts)
- Not going to the beach (helps protect from lust)
- Not drinking alcohol at all (helps protect from being tempted to get drunk)
- Not going into bars (helps protect from being tempted to get drunk)
- Not dancing (supposedly protects from emotionalism)
- No card-playing (supposedly protects one from the appearance of evil: gambling)
- No "radical" dress (green hair, mohawks, spiked leather jackets, etc)
- When do fences turn from good to bad
?
- When we start to lose sight of the original sin (the "why").
- When we elevate the fence to the level of God’s law.
- When we force our own fences on other people.
- When we allow other people’s fences to be forced onto us.
- General Rules of Thumb
- With all fences, justify them by always linking them to the original sin (create
"chain-link" fences that you can still see through to the original sin, not
brick-wall fences). Never build a fence that causes you to lose sight of the sin.
- Examine the fences you impose on others, and stop pushing non-essential convictions on
them.
- Examine the fences others impose on you, and gently probe their reasoning for the fence,
but be careful to do it humbly and with a teachable spirit.
- Examine the kind of fences that have to do with "associations" with other
types of people. You could be isolating yourself from reaching out to them with the Gospel
because of your concern for not "jumping the fence."
- Conclusion
- Salvation comes with Christian freedom. You can’t have one without the other.
- Jesus commands His children to be free.
- We are set from the punishment and mastery of sin.
- Don’t use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature. (Gal 5:13).
- We grow in Christian freedom by growing in the fruits of the Spirit.
- Legalism: Two flavors
- Earning or forfeiting God’s favor for salvation or for daily blessings.
- Elevating man-made rules to the level of God’s law (our focus)
- Man-made legalism tends to weaken and eventually destroy Christian fellowship.
- Fences are good, but tend toward man-made legalism.
- We should run away from sin and temptation
- We should not run so far away that we no longer identify the sin we’re running
from.
- We should examine all fences, especially our own, and be gentle and humble about the
fences of others.
- Applications
- This week, ask God to reveal to you what your fences are. Write them down.
- Force yourself to explain the reason for the fence.
- Re-construct some of your "brick-wall" fences into "chain-link"
fences.
- Be sensitive about others’ fences, and explore with them the reasoning behind their
fences, rather than immediately judging them.
- Pick a couple of the fruits of the Spirit and ask God to help you work on them
specifically this week.
- Search out opportunities to learn how to grow in those fruits.
- Be particularly watchful for the freedom that comes with growing in the fruits.
NEXT WEEK:
- Differing Opinions
. Having different opinions on non-essential issues and forcing
them on others.
- [Use Evangelicals and Catholics Together issue to demonstrate this]
- At what point do different viewpoints start to matter?
- We should not try to enforce our opinions on others.
- We should not let others enforce their opinions on us.
- How should we handle "gray areas"?
- Spiritual Disciplines
. Allowing the methods or acts of prayer, Bible reading, and
witnessing be more important than the goals of the disciplines.
- How do we sometimes become legalistic among our circles concerning spiritual
disciplines?
- Necessary for spiritual growth
- Encouraging others
- Methods can be different
- Promote as privileges, not duties
- What Others Think
. Seeking the approval of men more than the approval of God.
- Why do we let other people run our lives and determine who we are?
- Approval of Man vs. Approval of God
- Our Security: Identity in Christ
Matthew Henry’s Commentary
1 Cor 10:23-33.
There were cases wherein Christians might eat what had been offered to idols, without
sin. Such as when the flesh was sold in the market as common food, for the priest to whom
it had been given. But a Christian must not merely consider what is lawful, but what is
expedient, and to edify others. Christianity by no means forbids the common offices of
kindness, or allows uncourteous behaviour to any, however they may differ from us in
religious sentiments or practices. But this is not to be understood of religious
festivals, partaking in idolatrous worship. According to this advice of the apostle,
Christians should take care not to use their liberty to the hurt of others, or to their
own reproach. In eating and drinking, and in all we do, we should aim at the glory of God,
at pleasing and honouring him. This is the great end of all religion, and directs us where
express rules are wanting. A holy, peaceable, and benevolent spirit, will disarm the
greatest enemies.
Geneva Notes
1Co 10:2310:23 {6} {t} All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient:
all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.
(6) Coming to another type of things offered to idols, he repeats that general rule,
that in the use of indifferent things we ought to have consideration not of ourselves
only, but of our neighbours. And therefore there are many things which of themselves are
lawful, which may be evil when done by us, because of offence to our neighbour. (t) See
before in 1Co 6:13.
1Co 10:2910:29 Conscience, I say, not thine own, but of the other: {8} for why is my
liberty judged of another [man's] conscience?
(8) A reason: for we must take heed that our liberty is not spoken of as evil, and that
the benefit of God which we ought to use with thanksgiving is not changed into impiety.
And this is through our fault, if we choose rather to offend the conscience of the weak,
than to yield a little of our liberty in a matter of no importance, and so give occasion
to the weak to judge in such sort of us, and of Christian liberty. And the apostle takes
these things upon his own person, that the Corinthians may have so much the less occasion
to oppose anything against him.
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