I Corinthians 9:1  Am I not an apostle? am I not free? have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? are not ye my work in the Lord?
19  For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more.

Galatians 5:1  Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

I Peter 2:16  As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.

There is a common argument among professing Christians and others who claim an interest in Christianity. That argument has to do with the doctrine of freewill. It is a commonly misunderstood doctrine. The majority of people believe that freewill means they have the right to make up their own mind with regard to the brand of Christianity they will espouse to and that their brand is just as valid as the next person’s brand. The majority of professing Christians or those who are “window shopping”, want little or no rules. Thus the modern churches have made a point of emphasizing the phrase: ‘come as you are, all are welcome’.
Now in a sense that is true of any true church. I have never pastored a church where we posted a sign at the door suggesting a certain dress standard in order to enter our church. I have heard of a pastor who would observe who was coming into his church and if he saw a woman come in dressed in red, he would change his sermon on the spot to speak about prostitution. I happened to mention that in a sermon I was preaching and there was a woman dressed in red in that service, and she took offence to my mentioning that. She did not know that pastor, but she thought I was condemning her for being dressed in red. I assured her that was not my point. I told her that my wife had a red dress and a red blouse that she wore occasionally. The Bible does not condemn the colour red. It was true at one time that some prostitutes would dress in red to draw attention to themselves. There used to be a “red light” district and it was known to be the place to find a prostitute. That fact does not make the colour red off limits to born again Christians.
The spies were let down from the wall of Jericho by a red colour chord. Rahab was told to have that same red chord hanging out of her window and over the wall when Israel would come to take Jericho. If she did that, God would spare her household. The Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ was red. It was that Blood that was needed to take away sin.
Having said all that, it is important to note that God does have rules for humanity. He had rules for Adam and Eve. He had one negative rule and several positive rules. Adam chose to reject the one negative rule and the result was that he became a sinner and he plunged all of humanity into sin by that one act of disobedience.
God had rules for Cain and Abel, and Cain chose to defy God’s rules and he decided to bring a bloodless offering unto God. He chose of the fruit of the ground for his offering. God did not accept his offering, but He accepted his brother Abel’s offering because it was an animal, of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. Abel sought out the best that he had. He had to kill that animal and shed the blood of that animal in order to bring his offering to the Lord. The writer of Hebrews tells us that Abel brought a more excellent sacrifice than Cain did. God required the shed blood of an animal as part of a proper offering. The blood of the animal was a picture of the atonement (covering) for sin that man needed. The sacrifice that Jesus would give would be His own shed blood which was more than a covering. That Blood would take away the sin of those who would turn to God in repentance and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation.
Lost people have free will. We are all born lost. The lost have the opportunity to remain lost. They can live miserable lives and they can choose to go to hell when they die. False teachers can choose to be false teachers. They can take God’s Word and twist It and make It say things it does not say. Sometimes God strikes one of them dead. Sometimes He lets them get old before they die. Sometimes they live quite healthy lives. They boast of how they tell the devil to leave them alone and they claim he listens to them. One of them talked of the fact he was turning grey but he did not want to turn grey so he told the grey hair to be gone, and he claims it was gone. Many gullible people have chosen to believe that man’s many lies. He obviously has not bothered to read His Bible. The Bible declares:

Proverbs 20:29  The glory of young men is their strength: and the beauty of old men is the gray head.

That man is quite ugly to look at. The word “beauty” in the above verse speaks of beauty of character. The man I mentioned does not have beauty of character either. It is appropriate for him to colour his hair and keep the gray out of it.
In the verses we have at the opening of this devotional God addressed the matter of freewill. The apostle Paul was a free man. He had the freedom to do many things. However, he understood and as a child of God, he had a responsibility before God and men. He was not going to use his freedom to go back into bondage to sin. He could not lose his salvation, but he sure could make a mess of his calling as an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. He could be a stumblingblock to the lost. He could be ashamed before the Lord. He did not want that, and so he chose to humble himself and submit himself to the will of God and be a blessing to both God and man.
In Galatians 5:1, Paul was directed by God to speak of the liberty that true saints have in Christ. True saints have been set free from the bondage of sin. The way to remain free from the many snares that the devil puts in our way, is to submit to God’s will and Word. A true child of God does not see that as entanglement. He understands that is where liberty is found. The liberty that the true child of God has is to be set free from the bondage of sin.
The true child of God can go through the day and finish the day without having to hang his head in shame because he is guilty of sin. He can confess his sin and he can be restored to a right fellowship with the Lord. He can be a blessing to others as he humbly submits to God’s will. He can know the peace of God in His heart. None of these things are automatic. They are all possible for the true child of God. However, the true child must be willing to receive them. He cannot receive them if he wants to have his own way. When a person who claims to be saved, twists God’s Word, he does so to his own destruction. That is what Peter was told to write in II Peter 3:

II Peter 3:16  As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.

A person who wants to claim to be an authority on God’s Word, had better be sure he has God’s permission to be that authority. God will hold each person accountable for how he handles God’s precious Word.
In I Peter 2:16, Peter addressed the matter of being free. Being free does not mean we can desire to injure someone else spiritually, or physically. It does not mean we can break God’s law. Those who are born again do not have that freedom. If a true child of God wants to challenge God’s law, God will deal with that person through chastening him. God also calls on other born again Christians to help that errant brother to humble himself and repent and confess the sin and submit to God’s law.
No man is an island unto himself. The true child of God will impact other saints as well as lost people. People are always watching. Some are more observant than others. Some are more careless than others. Some like it if they can find a professing Christian committing sin, because that gives them license to commit the sin they want to commit.
Freewill carries responsibility with it. As mentioned at the beginning of this devotional, there are liberties a person can take in attending a local church. However, there are Biblical standards that must be applied to those who are born again Christians. Some years ago we had visitors attending our church. It was a couple who liked the preaching and the friendship they found in our group. After a short time the wife felt comfortable enough to tell my wife that she liked coming, but one thing offended her. She did not like it that most of the women wore dresses or skirts and tops. She did not like to wear dresses and to be in the midst of so many who were wearing them, made her feel uncomfortable. Her problem was a heart problem. She did not have the right to demand that the women dress immodestly, just because she wanted to. She was welcome to attend and learn, but she did not have the right to set or change policy. That is for those who walk in the fear of the Lord.
A godly pastor will teach the whole counsel of God and he will not ride his ‘hobby horse’ to drive people away. He will be patient and give the Holy Spirit His rightful place in working in the heart of those who attend. He will abide by godly standards himself and hold those standards for those who want to be a part of the membership of the local church. Others will either get saved and submit to godly standards, or most likely they will leave and find a group that will scratch their itching ears.
No one will escape the judgment of the Lord. That is what all must understand. There are thousands of people who are on the broad way that leads to destruction. Thousands more have been on that way and died on that way. They are in torment today and will remain there for all eternity. No true child of God wants to see others go to hell. They want to help them to see the importance of turning to the truth and knowing God’s forgiveness and blessing. Prayer is an important aspect of that care. Those who are lost do themselves no favour by rejecting a true church where they can hear the truth. If they get saved, they will rejoice in the things of the Lord. They will be thankful for those who loved them enough to show them the truth.
Pastor Bartel