John 1:16-17 (Amplified) says, "For out of His fullness (abundance), we have all received, all had a share and were all supplied with, one Grace after another and Spiritual Blessing upon Spiritual Blessing and favor upon favor and even Gift heaped upon Gift. For while the Law was given through Moses, Grace (unearned, undeserved favor) and Spiritual Blessing and Truth, came through Jesus Christ."
When the "Declaration of Independence" was ratified, Ben Franklin was asked, "What did you give us?" He stated, "A Republic, if you can keep it." Many years have come and gone and the republic has been undermined by the dueling between our two party system, who seem to have forgotten the interest of the people they represent. Jesus quoted Isaiah 61 in Luke 4:18-19 (Amplified) saying, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me (the Anointed One, the Messiah), to preach the Good News (Gospel), to the poor, He has sent Me to announce the release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to send forth as delivered those who are oppressed, who are down trodden, bruised, crushed, and broken down by calamity, to proclaim the accepted and acceptable year of the Lord (the day when salvation and free favors of God profusely abound)."
The thing about liberty is that one must become responsible in his/her liberty, in order to maintain it. When you delegate your own responsibility over to someone else, then that person holds your liberty and can dole it out, as he/she sees fit. You are then, no longer free. James 1:22-25 (Amplified) says, "But be doers of the Word, obey the Message and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth. For if anyone only listens to the Word without obeying it and being doers of it, he is like a man who looks carefully at his own natural face in a mirror; For he thoughtfully observes himself, and then goes off and promptly forgets what he was like. But he who looks carefully into the faultless Law, the Law of Liberty, and is faithful to it and perseveres in looking into it, being not a heedless listener who forgets but an active doer who obeys, he shall be Blessed in his doing, his life of obedience."
Many have "heard" the Word from someone else's perspective, without looking into this Law of Liberty for themselves. Your liberty (or your perspective of liberty) then, is only what someone else sees and has delivered to you. The responsibility of liberty is one that every individual must receive, on his/her own. Paul writes to Timothy in 2Timothy 2:20-21 (Amplified) saying, "But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also utensils of wood and earthenware, and some for honorable and noble use and some for menial and ignoble use. So whoever cleanses himself from what is ignoble and unclean (who separates himself from contact with contaminating and corrupting influences), will then himself be a vessel set apart and useful for honorable and noble purposes, consecrated and profitable to the Master (fit and ready for any Good work)."
Our Liberty in Christ Jesus, is something we're personally responsible for. We've mistakenly entrusted our liberty into the hands of others, without taking on any personal responsibility for it. Now we have someone else' idea of what liberty is. I'm not suggesting that we don't need others or that we don't need the local Body of believers, but that doesn't release us from studying and receiving Revelation from God into our own spirits.
It's obvious that different denominations in the Body of Christ, have different beliefs and traditions, some of which are right and some are wrong. We're responsible to God for what we believe. Don't let someone tell you that a Revelation you've received from God is wrong and don't let someone else take it from you. 1Timothy 6:12 (Amplified) tells us, "Fight the Good fight of faith, lay hold of the eternal Life to which you were summoned and for which you confess, the good confession of faith before many witnesses."
Paul writes about the believer's personal responsibility in Romans 14:1-8, 14-15,21-22 (Amplified) saying, "As for the man who is a weak believer, welcome him into your fellowship but not to criticize his opinions or pass judgment on his scruples or perplex him with discussions. One man's faith permits him to believe he may eat anything, while a weaker one limits his eating to vegetables. Let not him who eats, look down on or despise him who abstains, and let him not who abstains criticize and pass judgment on him who eats, for God has accepted and welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on and censure another's household servant? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he shall stand and be upheld, for the Mast (the Lord) is Mighty to support him and make him stand. One man esteems one day as better than another, while another man esteems all days alike (sacred), Let everyone be fully convinced, satisfied in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. He also who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while he who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. None of us lives to himself but to the Lord, and none of us dies to himself but to the Lord, For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or we die, we belong to the Lord."
Paul continues in Verses 14-16, "I know and am convinced (persuaded) as one in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is forbidden as essentially unclean, defiled and unholy in itself. But nonetheless, it is unclean, defiled and unholy to anyone who thinks it is unclean. But if your brother is being pained of his feelings hurt or if he is being injured by what you eat, then you are no longer walking in Love; You have ceased to be living and conducting yourself by the standard of Love toward him. Do not let what you eat hurt or cause the ruin of one for whom Christ died. Do not therefore let what seems good to you be considered an evil thing by someone else; In other words, do not give occasion for others to criticize that which is justifiable for you." Verses 21-22 go on, "The right thing is, to eat no meat or drink no wine at all, or do anything else if it makes your brother stumble or hurts his conscience or offends or weakens him. Your personal convictions on such matters exercise them as in God's Presence keeping them to yourself, striving only to know the Truth and obey His will, Blessed (happy, to be envied), is he who has no reason to judge himself for what he approves, who does not convict himself by what he chooses to do. But the man who has doubts (misgivings, an uneasy conscience) about eating, and then eats, perhaps because of you, stands condemned before God because he is not True to his convictions, and he does not act from faith. For whatever does not originate and proceed from faith is sin, whatever is done without a conviction of its approval by God is sinful."
Romans 14 reveals the many different aspects of faith, in the Body of Christ. We have the personal responsibility to walk in and understand the Truth. Paul didn't tell me to "abandon my faith, .because of someone else." He did tell me, "Don't judge someone who is weaker or more immature in their faith." Every person is required by the Holy Spirit, to grow and mature in God, just like natural babies who grow into adults. Many don't observe Christmas, because they see it as a pagan holiday, while others do celebrate Christmas, recognizing it as the birth of Jesus. Both groups are honoring God, when they observe what their faith tells them. Don't let someone place you into the position, where you move outside your own faith, for it condemns your conscience and brings you under condemnation. Seek out your liberty for yourself
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