Kevin Schmidt

When we have come to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and are saved, we call ourselves Christians. As Christians we have liberty in our daily walk. 

The Apostle Paul talks about this liberty in I Corinthians 6:12, which says, “All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.” 

Paul sets forth two principles in this verse to help us judge between moral indifferences in our liberty. The first principle we get from the first part of the verse, “All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient.” We could state this another way and say, “All things are lawful for me but may not be helpful to others.”

Some things of moral indifference here would be: can a Christian eat pork, play cards, dance, drink alcohol, go to the movies, listen to rock music or be a vegetarian? All these things in themselves may be OK for you as a Christian to do, but if you were to do it, could it cause a brother or sister that is weak in the faith to stumble? If so, as a mature Christian, the choice should be no.   

Now principle number two we find in the second part of the verse: “All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.” It might help if we state it this way, “All things are lawful for me but can be addictive.”

Things of moral indifference here would be drinking alcohol, smoking, chewing tobacco, taking prescription drugs, playing video games, using your cellphone or being a workaholic. This just simply means if what I would do will lead to addiction in my life then I will not do it or be brought under the power of it.

I hope this has evoked some thought on our Christian liberties and that we realize the world is watching. We need to make good choices that show our love for Jesus and for others is greater than our love of self.       

If you are not a Christian you can become one by knowing: 1. That you, too, are a sinner before God (Romans 3:23); 2. That the penalty of your sin is death (Romans 6:23); 3. That Jesus who is God paid the penalty of your sin on the cross (Romans 5:8); 4. That your part is to accept Jesus as your Saviour (John 1:12).

After considering this, if you want to become a Christian and follow Jesus, I leave you with this prayer to say to invite Jesus into your life: “Lord Jesus, I am a sinner and deserve to be punished for my sins.  I believe that you paid for my sins and I want to receive your gift of eternal life. By my faith in you, I put my life in your hands as my saviour and lord, amen.”   

(Kevin Schmidt is the pastor of Charity Baptist Church in Powell.)