Liberties and Heresies

Our pastor has been preaching through Matthew.

We are currently in chapter eighteen.  In a recent sermon he expounded

on liberties and heresies and what we are to do with them.

It made and impression on me.  Clarity came through the insights he shared.

Very often, liberties are made law.  A list of rules to follow.

The problem is, however, the list is different for everyone.

What's on it, and what isn't, varies from person to person.

We so frequently are guilty of adding to Scripture with these lists

of ours, and then, we try to impose them on others.

It's wrong.  Plain and simple.

There are many grey areas that Scripture doesn't deal with specifically.

Conversely, there are many areas that it does address.  Emphatically.

We can infer things from God's Word and apply that wisdom to the grey
areas we encounter.  The black and white areas, however, remain just that.

Black and white.

There is no room for heresy to be embraced for the sake of peace
or in the name of love.  It's not loving to accept the unacceptable.
Peace is not truly peace when it is based on a false premise.

There are non-negotiables in Scripture.  We must stand firm on those.

There is no leeway when it comes to the Deity of Christ, the Trinity,

or the Gospel and how a person is saved.  We cannot make these areas grey.

These are the things we must be willing to die for.

But, the grey areas?  Ought we to stand to the utmost on those?
We all have convictions.  And, very often, they are different from our brother's.
Differences are not a bad thing.  There is such a thing as embracing those things
for your family that the Lord has called you to.  It is actually right and good to do so.

But, we must not impose those things on others.

We also are to be sensitive to those who land in a different camp than we find ourselves in.
Some may have liberty in one area that we are not free to embrace.
We might have liberty where another would falter.
It's in cases like these that we are to forgo our rights in order not to wound
another brother's (or sister's) conscience.  We are called to sacrifice.

We must not parade our liberties like badges of honour.

How much wisdom we need to navigate this life!
Thankfully, the Lord promises to give wisdom to His people
as they seek Him for it.  What a blessing it is to have His Word to turn to.
What a blessing it is to have one another to glean from.

What a blessing it is that we are not in this alone.

May the Lord help us to extend grace to those around us
in those areas in which we have liberty.
May He also give us a loving disposition one toward another
as we hold fast to those non-negotiables.
And, may He give us the wisdom to know the difference.

With Love, Camille