What does Moral Freedom Mean for the Believer in the Modern Church
“That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;”
Phil 2:15
Six Steps to Reprobation
1. Claiming that we are under “grace” we are free to do what we want.
“For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Jude 1:4
This step I have put first although these steps may not appear in this exact order but rather they are evidences that a soul is taking the wrong steps down the wrong road. They are a sign of a spiritual wandering eye. Some on who is allowing the spiritual power to be drained out of them because they cannot let go of the flesh. A person that claims the above statement is one that cannot tolerate the “Rules” of the Christian life because they are enslaving themselves in the old nature. We are Christians are part of a new nature in Christ and have the ability to sit with Him in the heavenly places, but this person has been deceived by Satan that he does not have access to this power and has slid into sin. So to him any one who sets a high standard in his particular area of failure is legalistic. They are simply too orthodox. They need to understand in his mind that we are under grace. You might catch this person saying that we all fail from time to time. Why is it that we have to be completely free? Are we not a work in progress? Slowly over time as we will see they will turn away from absolute slavery to Christ, which is true freedom, to a terrible taskmaster the “old man” and sinful nature.
2. Despising Submission and Evil Speaking of Those in Authority
“The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished: But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.”
II Peter 2:9,10
It is interesting how this passage in II Peter starts out. “The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation” We must always remember that there is a way out for those that trust in the Lord. God wants to help us we are the ones refusing the help. I remember counseling a young man who was struggling with a particular moral sin. In the discussion we kept hitting walls it seemed like this young man had tried everything but without success. Finally I asked “Do you want to be free?” He dropped his head and said slowly “No”. Wanting it is everything. God extends His help and we refuse it. Only for these people they have refused it so many times they have begun to despise any authority. You often find these people attending church but never becoming members. They don’t even want a pastor’s authority over them even in limited ways. They want freedom of thought. How can any one to tell them what to do if they have no true respect for the Man at the top Jesus Christ?
3. Scoffing at Spiritual Truths which are beyond Human Reasoning
“But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.”
Jude 10
Spiritual power annoys people on this path because they personally have none of it because they have rejected the Holy Spirit and His power. I constantly come across these people in Church, and they always want to play down Jesus’ miraculous powers. They especially hate it when God works through a fellow Christian with power, because it reminds them of their own lack of spiritual power. The Greek work for power in the New Testament is Dunamis from which we derive our English word Dynamite. Now to me the word Dynamite implies a lot of explosive power. How come these people can’t see it that way?
We are getting to a point now that the sensual drives are so out of control that they corrupt themselves in open ways. At first people like this can hide their sin as the passions get more out of control and they seek for new pleasures to satisfy themselves with they like a boiling cauldron begin to spill over and hurt people on a more massive scale than y before. All sin hurts people but the more it gets out of control the more it hurts others around us.
4. Complaining About Moral Strictness and Developing New and Fashionable Philosophies
“For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.”
II Peter 2:18-19
It is interesting that these people promise liberty and freedom only to enslave other like themselves in sin. They are constantly talking about spiritual things. They love to fill the air with all kinds of spiritualized things all the while fearing that their might be a discussion in Church about real heart issues. These people seem to love Church but Church better not invade their private lives. There is plenty of time for “Bible Study” in there book but never time to talk about how the Bible really applies to their lives. They are not interested in personal application especially in the areas were things might count. They might be happy to give illustrations about the other Church down the road but they never want to talk about the real problems that plague their lives. True confession is the last things in their minds.
5. Arguing Irrationally over Pseudo-Philosophies that Contradict God’s Word
“But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain. A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject; Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself.”
Titus 3:9-11
What Paul is saying here is get to where the rubber meets the road. Start talking about what Jesus did for us and how that changes my life completely. There is not need to waste time dividing hairs on foolish questions. So often I have seen church study groups study all the finer points of the passage and totally miss the obvious point of what it is about. They probably needed the message of that passage but they were so busy studying some obscure Greek syntax that they missed the point altogether. Not that studying the Greek is bad or that we should not be detailed in our studies of God’s word but do not miss the over point straining at a fruit fly.
6. Using the Guise of Religion to Cover Pride, Lust and Rebellion
“For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.”
II Tim 3:2-5
The key part of this passage here is this phrase “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.” We can have all our ducks in a row and still be missing the point of the Christian faith. Jesus died for us not look good but to be good. He didn’t come to paint the out side of a dilapidated barn he came to rebuild from the foundation. Some of us are too in love with the old barn that we do not want it torn do and replaced we are clinging to trash and we think that if we brush it up give it a coat of paint it is going to be acceptable. This is why so many in the Christian faith have no power to overcome sin. We must let go and let Christ move in to rebuild a whole
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