Week 3 Day 4 - Individually Responsible

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Day 4 – Individual Soul Liberty & Responsibility

(Romans 14:4, 10, 12)

⁴ Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.

¹⁰ You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. ¹²So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.

(2 Corinthians 5:10-11)

¹⁰ For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. ¹¹ Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience.

    Today’s heading may not sound all that exciting or interesting and it may be a bit wording and hard to understand. But the truth is, Individual Soul Liberty and Responsibility just may be one of the major distinctions and identifications of being a member of a Baptist Church, to those inside and outside our church.

    Other topics we have addressed this week deal with “orthodoxy” or “right” (ortho) “doctrine” (doxy). Today’s topic deals with “orthopraxy” or “right practice”. But the two are intricately related: what you truly believe will affect how you live. The right doctrine when applied will impact right actions.

    When Christ came, He redeemed not only our eternal destination to heaven. He saved our very souls, our innermost being. Legalism and the law deals with the outer actions and Jesus once taught that the sin of the Pharisees was that they cleaned the outside of the cup, but the inside was filthy.

    In fact, in this passage, Jesus did not mince words. Read it for yourselves: “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean” (Matthew 23:25-26).

    Individual Soul Liberty means we have a personal relationship, not a legalistic relationship, with the Lord. Being a Christian means being someone who has “Christ in you, the hope of all glory” (Colossians 1:27). He didn’t save you only to change your destination of heaven or hell, He also changed the desires of your heart.

    This was predicted in Ezekiel twice (11:19 and 36:26), which says, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” Jesus referred to this as being born again and was amazed that a learned leader like Nicodemus did not know these things. “Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’” (John 3:6-7).

    When we are born again, God begins to change our heart; that is, our core beliefs and desires. Romans 10:10 says, “For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” God also begins to renew our minds; that is, He changes our way of thinking. Romans 12:1 says, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

   As believers, we have a new heart, a renewed mind, and we have freedom to follow God as revealed in His Word. His Spirit lives in us and our souls have liberty not legalism to live by.

    Individual Soul Liberty is coupled with Responsibility. One might say, “With great freedom, comes great responsibility.” Better yet, Peter Marshall, a Scottish born pastor and chaplain of the U.S. Senate, said, “May we think of freedom, not as the right to do as we please, but as the opportunity to do what is right.”

    Jesus lifted us from captivating and oppression (Luke 4:18). Freedom liberates us from sin (Romans 6:7), freeing from sin, not to sin. Our freedoms should not make the weak stumble (1 Corinthians 8:9). James said liberty leads us to do good works (James 1:25). Peter said our freedom should not be a “cover-up” for evil (1 Peter 2:16).

   One preacher said (actually, a lot of preachers have said), “Christ freed us from the penalty of sin at salvation, we are now being freed from the power of sin, and one day, we will be liberated from the presence of sin.”

For Week 3 Day 5, click here