^ t e à f e ò 1 De. -Haa^ ( M . R. . I L( t e r i ^ ^ r (ioeiose-j 

t LIBERTY or LICENSE I I ¡> or 
( Christian Conduct in the 
Ì. 

Light of Grace 

«o-

FIVE RADIO BROADCASTS 

By 

M. R. DE HAAN, M. D. 

GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. 

Preached Over the Coast to Coast Network of the 

Mutual Broadcasting System and by Short 

Wave Around the World. 

H i) 1 i 





CHRISTIAN CONDUCT IN THE LIGHT OF GRACE 
Chapter One 

No 3eries of messages on Law and Grace would be complete 
without giving attention to the charge that the preaching of 
free grace gives the believer a license to sin. It is a frequent 
accusation when we boldly proclaim freedom from the law. 
The accusation is, of course, the result of a complete mis-
understanding of the truth of Bible grace. But the accusation 
is not at all new. It was already hurled at the Apostle Paul 
when he preached grace and complete deliverance from the 
law. Paul anticipated the accusation and answers it in Ro-
mans 6:1-2: 

"What shall we say t h e n ? Shall we cont inue In sin, 
that grace may abound? 

God forb id . How shall we that are dead to s in , live 
any longer t h e r e i n ? " 

Romans 6:1-2 
The grace of God gives liberty, but never license. In fact, 

the grace of God expects more from the believer than the law 
ever demanded. Our Christian conduct is guided by a far 
different, a higher law, than the law of commandments, and 
the threatenings of punishment. Our service, instead of being 
legal obedience, becomes a gracious, willing, loving service 
to our Lord and Saviour. The rule of conduct for believers 
who are not under the law is wonderfully set forth for us in the 
14th chapter of Romans. This chapter should be studied in 
connection with 1st Corinthians 8 and 1st Corinthians 10 for 
a true picture of the responsibility of the believer. In the 
14th chapter of Romans, Paul is dealing with the question of 
the eating of meats which had previously been offered to idols 
and then sold in pagan idol temples. There were some be-
lievers whofeltitwasdefinitelywrongtodothis, while others 
asserted that there was no sin in doing so. Paul gives his 
verdict, therefore, in this chapter, and sums it all up u l 
verses 13 to 16: 

. "Let us not therefore judge one another anymore; but 
judge this rather , that no man put a stumbling block or 
an occasion to fall In his brother's way . 

I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there 



Is nothing unclean In itself: but to htm that esteemeth 
any thing to be unc lean , to him It Is unc l ean . 

But I f thy brother be grieved with thy meat , now wa lk -
est thou not char i t ab ly . Destroy not him with thy meat , 
for whom Christ d i e d . 

Let not then your good be evil spoken o f . " 
Romans 14:13-16 

The law which God gave to Moses on Mt. Sinai was a perfect 
law, a good law, no better law could ever have been given. 
It was perfect and holy in every respect. I believe that the 
law which God gave was the perfect expression of the will of 
God for every man on earth. If man is to please God by his 
works, there is the law which lays down its requirements. 
Itdemandsperfectobedience, absolute holiness, from begin-
ning to end. To fail to keep it means death, eternal death, 
and judgment. But God also knew that not a single sinner could 
ever keep that law, because there is "none righteous, no not 
one. " So God demanded in the law something which He knew 
man could not keep. He demanded the impossible, for 'lay 
the works of the law shall no flesh be justified in His sight. " 

THE NEED OF GRACE 
But God gave more than a law which man could not keep. He 

also provided grace through Jesus Christ; grace, by which 
poor, lost sinners might be justified by faith in the finished 
workofHim, the only One who ever kept the law of God per-
fectly, and paid its penalty, and bore our sins in His own 
body on the tree. And now through faith in Him we are r e -
lieved from the penalty of the law, and have instead, im-
puted to us the righteousness of that law by virtue of the work 
which He completed on Calvary. And so the believer is free 
from the law. Butthe believer is not without law, or lawless, 
for now he is under the law of faith, an inner principle of love 
which seeks to do the will of God as a matter of love and grati-
tude rather than compulsion and fear. 

This same problem concerning the liberty under grace 
already occuredin the church of Corinth also, and Paul sets 

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forth the same truth in 1st Corinthians 8; namely, that we are 
to live lives which are pleasing to God and edifying to our 
neighbor. The particular question in Corinth concerned the 
eating of meats offered to heathen idols. Some Christians 
said that since they were under grace they could eat this meat 
without scruples. Their conscience was not violated, and they 
had perfect liberty in the matter. Others who were weaker in 
grace believed that it was wrong to eat with unbelievers, and 
to sit in an ungodly temple. Paul answers the question by 
replying that the re Is no harm in eating this unclean meat, if 
you are persuaded in your own mind to do so. There is no 
legal restriction, for we are not under the law. For the 
weaker brethren to judge this liberty of those who-did eat in 
the idols' temple was not an evidence of grace but of legal-
ity. and therefore, those "holier than thou" brethren who 
judged the liberty of others, were themselves sinning by 
judging them. But, on the other hand, those who did eat in 
an idol's temple while they knew that it was a stumbling 
block and an offense to these weaker brethren, were also 
not walking graciously, but sinning, for they should be will-
ing to forego their own liberty of conscience for the sake of 
others, andpeaceand harmony among the believers. Grace 
people should always be gracious to each other, each one e s -
teemingthe other better than himself, seeking the brother 's 
welfare rather than their own. 

SAME IN THE CHURCH AT ROME 
It seems that this matter of conduct concerning eating 

meats offered to idols was not a local problem at all, but 
was also raised by the legalists in other quarters. From 
Romans we gather that the same problem had arisen. Ro-
mans 14 opens with these words: 

"Him that is weak in the fai th receive y e , but not to 
doubtful d isputa t ions ," Romans 14:1 

We look down upon the weak babes in Christ, and would 
like to place them on probation, but Paul says, weak Christ-
ians need your fellowship more than others, so take them 
in. Now these weak believers were'offended by the liberty 
enjoyedby some of the more mature Christians who made a 

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custom of eating in idol temples, and bought unclean meats 
in pagan markets, and concerning them Paul says, "receive 
them, but don't argue about it, but each one of you act gra-
ciously toward the other ." Here we have, inverse 2, the 
problem stated: 

"For one bel ieveth that he may ea t all things: a n -
o ther , who Is weak , ea te th herbs . 

Let not him that ea te th despise him that ea te th not; and 
let not htm which ea te th not judge him that ea te th : for 
God hath received h im . " Romans 14:2-3 

There were those in Rome who understood grace in all its 
fullness, andate meats, even meats offered to idols. Other 
weaker brethren thought the eating of meat to be wrong, and 
made no bones abouttheir objections, andlsuppose they were 
flying at each others throats and denying the very grace they 
professedtopossess. Now, says Paul, Don't judge one an-
other. If you think it is wrong to eat meat, DON'T EAT IT. 
Leave it alone, for it would be sin for you to do it. But, 
while you abstain from meat for conscience's sake, don't 
commit an even greater sin by judging others and condemn-
ing those who DO EAT THIS MEAT, and see no harm in it. 
Grace people should be gracious to each other. And so I want 
you to listen to Paul's answer: 

"Whoart thou that judgest another man's servant? to 
his own master he standeth or f a l l e t h . Yea , he shall be 
holden up: for God Is able to make him s tand . 

One man esteemeth one d a / above another: another 
esteemeth every day a l i k e . Let every man be fully pe r -
.suaded in his own mind. 

He that regardeth the day , regardeth It unto the Lord; 
and he that regardeth not the day , to the Lord he doth 
not regard I t . He that e a t e t h , ea te th to the Lord, for 
he glveth God thanks; and he that eateth not , (that is, 
of meats) to the Lord he ea te th no t , add giveth God 
thanks . 

For none of us llveth to himself, and no man dleth to 
h imself ." Romans 14:4-7 

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Oh, for the grace to put in practice this principle of Paul 
and cease forever this judging and condemning of other be-
lievers because they do not agree with us in every minor de-
tail. There are those who condemn us and tell us that we are 
forever destined to hell if we do not observe one certain day 
or follow some certain custom or ritual. Well, this passage 
should settle that question . It is not a matter of the day at 
all. It is a matter of grace and of graciousness. The question 
is simply this, "Are you under the law or under grace?" H 
you are under the law, then by all means keep the command-
ments including every one of them but remember, keep them 
perfectly, for the Bible tells us that "he that offends in one 
point is guilty of all". The language of the law is very clear, 

"Cursed is every one that continueth not In all things 
which are written in the book of the law to do t h e m . " 

G a l . -3:10 

That is the language of the law, but if you are under grace, and the law was fulfilled in Christ, then everything was ful-filled, and instead, we rejoice in the liberty which we have, and as an expression of our gratitude to Him, we serve Him with the fulness of our hearts, and with all our devotion. Let us listen to Paul's words in regard to this matter: 
"One man esteemeth one day above another: another 

esteemeth every day a l i k e . Let every man be ful ly pe r -
suaded in his own mind ." Romans 14:5 

STOP JUDGING ONE ANOTHER 
We cannot, of course, give a detailed, verse by verse, ex-

position of this entire chapter, but try rather to give you the 
main teaching, and trust you will study it further for your-
selves. But now we would have you notice again verse 13: 

"Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but 
judge this rather , that no man put a stumbllngblock or an 
occasion to fall In his brother's w a y . 

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I know, and am persuaded of the Lord Jesus, that there 
Is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth 
any thing to be unc lean , to him It is unc l ean . 

But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat , now walk-
est thou not char i t ab ly . Destroy not him with thy meat , 
for whom Christ d i e d . " Romans 14:13-15 

Says the Apostle Paul, "You folks who are offended by my 
liberty in grace, Stop judging me, for you sin when you do 
it. And I, from my side, will abstain from every appearance 
of evil, and refrain from exercising my liberty in grace in 
order not to offend you or injure my testimony before the 
world. " Now if all Christians would only follow this rule 
and stop this judging one another's liberty, and on the other 
hand, not use grace as an occasion for offence to others, we 
would solve ninety percent of all the legality and trouble 
among believers, which is such a reproach before the world 
today. And that is exactly what Paul says in essence, as we 
continue in Romans 14:19, 

"Let us therefore follow a f te r the things which make 
f o r p e a c e , and things wherewith any may edify ano ther . 

For meat destroy not the work of G o d . All things in -
deed are pure but it is evil for that man who eateth with 
o f f e n c e . 

It is good nei ther to eat f lesh, nor to drink wine , nor 
anything whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is of fended, 
or Is made weak . 

Hast thou f a i t h? have it to thysel f before G o d . Happy 
is he that condemneth not himself In the thing which he 
a l loweth . 

And he that doubted is damned if he e a t , because he 
eateth not of fai th: for whatsoever is not of fai th is s i n . " 

Romans 14:19-23 

Here, indeed, is an important lesson bearing on our sub-
ject. The question is not; says Paul, "What have I a right 
to do under grace?", but "What will doing this thing do to 
another brother who does not agree with me?" For his sake, 
says Paul, Don't do it. But on the other hand, if you think 
a thing is wrong, don't do it, and if in doubt, better leave it 

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alone. We are not to please ourselves, but Seek first of all to please Him who saved us, and then to please our fellow believers. 
Nowour message on Romans 14 would be quite incomplete without the f i rs t seven verses of the following chapter, Ro-mans 15. It is just too bad that the chapter divisions are so unfortunately divided. The f irs t seven verses of Romans 15 belong with chapter 14, and I want to read them to you. 

"We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities 
of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 

Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good 
to ed i f i ca t ion . 

For even Christ pleased not himself; but , as It is wri t -
t e n , The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell 
on m e . 

N o w t h e God of pa t ience and consolation grant you to 
be llkeminded one toward another according to Christ 
Jesus: 

That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify G o d , 
even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ . 

Wherefore receive ye one another , as Christ also re -
ceived us to the glory of G o d . " Romans 15:1-3, 5 - 7 

People who are saved by grace ought to be gracious. In this passage we are told to bear one another's infirmities. He does not say to "share one another's agreements", but "Bear one another's weaknesses. " Grace people should be gracious. Christ is the great example, for He pleased not Himself, but saved us by His wonderful grace. Then Paul says we are to be "likeminded". He does not mean that we must all think alike and act alike, for God has made us all different. God loves variety. It would rob us of much of the spice of life if we all felt alike about everything, but we are to be "likeminded according to Christ Jesus. " That is what Paul says in verse 5, "according to Christ Jesus". The Greek word translated "according" is "kata" and one of its meanings is "after the manner of", and that is the meaning, "be like-minded after the manner of Christ. " This is further em-phasized in verse 7 where we read the conclusion: 
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"Wherefore receive ye one another , as Christ also re -
ceived us to the glory of G o d . " Romans 15:7 

And how did Christ receive us? By grace. We deserved 
to be lost, we were guilty, we ought to go to hell forever, we 
were all wrong, but Christ forgave us, and saved us and r e -
ceived us in grace, and now the pattern for our lives among 
the brethrenandfellowmen is Jesus. Not the law, but Christ; 
not Sinai, but Calvary. The law demands only justice; Cal-
vary bestows mercy. My friend, in your dealings with other 
Christians are you legal or gracious? Grace people, I repeat, 
should be'gracious. Do you stand on your rights, or do you 
know how to show mercy, forbear, be kind, forgiving, and 
tender, and be the least? How did Jesus forgive you? By 
His grace. You deserved judgment, but He gave you grace, 
and that is "living unto God". 

Grace people should be gracious. People who talk about 
grace should show more grace, and if you, remembering how 
you were savedby grace, will stop judging your brother, your 
wife, your husband, your preacher, and at the same time be 
careful to remove everything from your own life, which might 
offend others, even though you may have no conscience in 
the matter at all, most of the trouble in your home, in the 
church, among your friends, would be at an end forever. 
Standon your RIGHTS? Brother, you have no rights, for it 
is allof grace. If you received your just deserts, and rights, 
you would be in condemnation today, but God was gracious 
and gave His Son to save you. And now He becomes our great 
example, and we read in 1st Peter 2:21-24, 

"Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example , 
that ye should follow his steps: 

Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: 
Who when he was revi led , reviled not again; when he 

suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him 
who judgeth righteously: 

Who His own self bare our sins in his own body on the 
t r e e , that we , being dead to sins, should live unto r ight-
eousness: by whose stripes ye were h e a l e d . " 

PEOPLE WHO ARE SAVED BY GRACE SHOULD ALWAYS BE 
GRACIOUS! -8-



Chapter Two 
"All things are lawful for me, but all things are not 

expedient : all thing; are lawful for me, but all things 
edify n o t . " I Cor . 10:23 

"Allthings are lawful for me", says Paul in this chapter. 
Four times he makes this statement, twice in this chapter, 
and twice in 1st Corinthians 6. "All things are la wild, for 
me". Paul insists that he as a believer is not under the law 
of commandments but under grace. His service to God is not 
legal but voluntary, rendered from a heart of love, devotion, 
gratitude and not from fear of condemnation. It is his delight 
to serve the Lord, because he is free from the law and con-
demnation, and never because he is under the law. He en-
joys his salvation instead of enduring it. 

This, of course, immediately raises the question, "If the 
believer is not under the law, then he can live as he pleases, 
do as he wishes, and it will make no difference. " Now, of 
course, such language reveals a total ignorance of the true 
meaningof grace, but since it is constantly raised by honest 
people, the question must be answered, and it must be an-
swered from the Scriptures. The Bible is crystal clear in 
its answer to this vital question. The believer has liberty 
but never license. The Bible is clear that there are those 
things which are evidently and positively sinful and are the 
works of the flesh and are never to be even considered in the 
life of the believer. Paul names some of these things in 
Galatians 5:18-21, 

"But If ye be led of the Spiri t , ye are not under the 
l aw. 

Now the works of the flesh are manifest , which are 
these; Adultery, fornicat ion, uncleanness, lasclvlous-
ness, 

Idolatry, wi tchcraf t , ha t red, va r iance , emulations, 
wrath, s t r i fe , sedit ions, heresies, 

Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revell tngs, and such 
l ike: of the which I tell you before , as 1 have also told 
you In time past , that they which do such things shall not 
Inherit the kingdom of G o d . " G a l . 5:18-21 

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These sins are all plainly condemned, and have, of course, 
noplace at all in the Christian's life. There is no argument 
with anyone on that score. But, how about those things which 
are not definitely set forth in this category, those things on 
which there is honest difference of opinion among sincere, 
earnest, and godly believers who are seeking to please God? 
How about matters of food and drink and pleasures, social 
conduct, frequenting certain places, innocent amusement, 
games, relaxations, about which so many Christians differ 
sharply? How about habits and hobbies, and some of the 
things about which many have no conscience? Some Christ-
ians believe certain things to be sinful, while others equally 
sincere see no harm in them at all. Some of these things are 
geographic and local, frowned on in certain are as, while quite 
acceptable elsewhere. In some communities certain things 
are looked upon as sin; in others there is no consciousness of 
sin about these same matters at all. In certain countries 
Christians indulge in meats and drinks which if practiced in 
other localities would cause them to be condemned as not even 
beingsaved, or atleastbeing carnal, and not spiritual. But 
atthe same time, the very ones who condemn these things in 
others, maybe doingother things equally condemnedby those 
whom they themselves condemn. 

Now we are not to be judges in these matters at all-; for the 
others whom we judge will then have the same right to judge 
us in the things which we allow. Since there is such variance 
of opinion, we must turn to the Word of God in regard to this 
difficult matter, as our sole and only authority and rule of 
practice. Many passages deal with this, but we begin with 
one which is so clear as to leave no question. We refer you 
to 1st Corinthians chapter 8. It opens with these words: 

"Now as touching things offered unto Idols, we know 
that we all have knowledge . " I Cor . 8:1 

A serious controversy had arisen in Corinth among the 
Christians concerning the question of frequenting pagan tem-
ples and eating in ungodly places. May I suggest that you read 
carefully the entire chapterof 1st Corinthians 8. It would be 
very profitable. Let me give the setting as briefly as possi-

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ble. Paul had been preaching grace, and freedom from the 
law for Gentile believers wherever he had gone. The legal-
izing Judaizers of his day, however, took sharp exception to 
his teaching and sought in every way to bring these Gentile 
believers back under the bondage of the law. Now in Corinth, 
Paul's preaching had resulted in the conversion of a large 
number of Corinthians and these had formed a body of be-
lievers called the "church which was at Corinth. " Now the 
city of Corinth was a very religious city and given over to all 
sorts of pagan idolatries. There were temples and idols and 
paganpriests galore. In these temples, heathen sacrifices 
were daily brought and offered, and of course, the worship-
pers brought the very choicest, fattest and most luscious 
animals to be sacrificed to their pagan gods. Nothing in-
ferior wouldbe accepted. When the priests had taken these 
animals and offeredparts of them upon their altars, the r e -
maining portions of these choice animals were then offered 
for sale in the marketplaces so that the priests might realize 
some money from their sale to maintain their services, while 
the buyers were able to obtain this very choice meat at a 
greatly reduced price, hi addition to these meats being offer-
ed for sale in the market places, they were also served at 
banquets and meals. These meals were served in the idol 
temples andanyone could go in, buy and eat these meats with 
the other courses, just as you can go into a restaurant today 
andbuy a meal, but with this difference, that these restau-
rants in Corinth were sponsored by pagan priests and were 
located in pagan temples and the meats were meats, many of 
them unclean, which had been previously offered and dedi-
cated to pagan idols. This central social function in Corinth 
centered about these pagan temples and feasts, and were 
deeply religious in nature. 

THE BURNING QUESTION 
Now the question which arose among these new Christians was this: "Are we Christians permitted to go into an idol's templs and sit down and eat with pagans of these meats which have been offered to idols?" There were, as there always are, two opinions. There were those who were quick to say that a Christian has no place in an idol's temple, and should 

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never sit down with these heathen, and especially not to eat 
of uncle an flesh which had been offered to idols. They were 
quick to condemn and censure and excommunicate all those 
who were caught doing this very sinful and unchristian thing. 

But, there was another group in the church who took the 
opposite view. They said, What difference does it make ? 
That meat is better than we can buy anywhere else. And it 
is cheaper too. Why should we not take advantage of i t? Now 
remember, the early Christians were mostly poor, and they 
might have said, "We have but very little money, and if we 
can save a little by eating in these more economical places 
and get better food, we will just have more money to give to 
the church and missions and charities. There you have the 
two sides and so, these two groups argued and the controversy 
waxed so hot that Paul had to give his judgment in the matter, 
and it was one of the main reasons the epistle to the Corin-
thians was written. 

Now before we go on, let me ask you a question. With which 
side do you hold in this matter? Are you one who would say, 
' I t is wrong to go to a worldly place to eat, it is wrong to sit 
with unbelievers, it is wrong to eat unclean meats offered to 
idols ? I believe in separation and think we should stay away 
from such places, and not injure our testimony as Christ-
ians. " Or will you take your side with the others who said, 
"We are under grace, ALL things are lawful unto us, this is 
my Christian liberty, and I can do as I please in the matter. 
It is none of anyone else 's business. Unto his own master 
every man standeth or falleth. I have to answer for this be-
fore God, and no one else, and so you have no right to judge 
me. " May I ask you, on which side do you take your stand? 
ALL right then, if youhave chosen sides, let us hear what Paul 
says, for you may be surprised at Paul's answer: 

"As concerning therefore the eat ing of those things that 
a reof fe red In sacr i f ice unto Idols, we know that an Idol 
Is nothing In the world, and that there Is none other God 
but o n e . 

For though there be that are cal led gods, whether In 
heaven or In ea r th , (as there be gods many, and lords 
many) 

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But to us there Is but one G o d , the Father of whom 
are all things, and we In Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ , 
by whom are all things, and we by h i m . " I Cor . 8 :4-6 

Now what does Paul mean In these words? Well, says Paul, for myself, I see nothing wrong at all in this matter of eating these meats offered to idols. I would not even give those idols the satisfaction of even recognizing their exis-tence. I ignore them completely; they are nothing at all to me, and I for myself can eat that meat with a clear con-science without any personal scruples. If the meat is good, r i l eat it. I am not under the law. "All things are lawful unto me", for God hath shown that there is nothing unclean in itself. We know that an idol is nothing in the world. I wouldn't even recognize them. We know there is only one God and one Saviour Jesus Christ, so when I eat of the idol's meat in an idol temple, Idonotendorse the idol, I just ignore him, but I give thanks to my God for this good food, even though provided by these pagan priests and chefs. 
BUT I WON'T EAT IT ANYWAY 

But that is just half of Paul's answer, for Paul merely 
says, "personally, for myself, I see no harm in it, BUT FOR 
ANOTHER REASON I WON'T EAT IT ANYWAY. " Now the 
reason why, was this. He said, my reason for not going into 
theidol 'stempleandeatingthatmeatisquite another matter, 
which is not legal at all, but I refrain from eating it because 
I am saved by grace, andfree from the very law which would 
prohibit me as a Jew from doing so. And then Paul gives his 
reason for not eating in these places, even though he sees 
nothing wrong in his doing so for himself personally, and 
here is the reason which Paul gives: 

"Howbe l t t he re l sno t ln every man that knowledge: for 
some with conscience of the Idol unto this hour ea t I t as 
a thing offered unto an Idol; and their conscience being 
weak Is d e f i l e d . " I Cor . 8:7 

All believers, says Paul, have not advanced in grace as 
far as have others. They have not the same knowledge of 
the liberty of grace that God has shown to me. They still 

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have the strings of the law tied to them, and they feel just as 
sincerely as Ifeel the other way; namely, that it is wrong to 
eat in an idol's temple and partake of these unclean meats. 
Of course, if they had more knowledge of grace they would 
agree with me and see no harm in it, but they are weak and 
have not yet advanced to this knowledge, and so they think it 
is wrong for them, and for me as well, to eat that meat, and 
tobeseenina pagan temple. Now just remember, that those 
who would criticize Paul for what he did under liberty of 
grace, are defined by Paul as being weak and lacking in the 
full knowledge of grace. 

THE CRUX OF THE MATTER 
Now what are we going to do about it? Paul gives the an-

swer: 
"But meat commendeth us not to God: for ne i ther , If 

we eat (still talking about this Idol meat) are we the 
better; nei ther , If we eat not , are we the worse . " 

I Cor . 8:8 
It is entirely up to the individual conscience, and there is 

no particular merit in eating it, and no merit in abstaining. 
There is no harm or sin in eating it, neither is a man the 
worse if he doesn't eat it. The whole matter is a thing of 
personal conscience. If you, brother, think it is wrong, Paul 
seems to say, "Don't you touch it, for if you do, it will be a 
sin, "but listen, If I think it is all right, you have no right to 
judge me. As far then as the meat is concerned, "let every 
man be persuaded in his own mind. " 

THE FINAL TEST 
Butnow comes the final test, for this is not the end of the 

matter. Whether we eat it or not, should be determined by 
its effect upon our testimony and upon the lives of other be-
livers. If you have the knowledge of grace, and in the light 
of your knowledge of the liberty of grace see no harm in eat -
ingthatmeat, go ahead, EXCEPT FOR ONE OTHER THING, 
and this other thing is to be our rule of practice, and here is 
one of the several "buts" in this chapter: 

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"BUT take hoed lest by any means this liberty of your's 
become a stumbllngblock to them that are w e a k . 

For If any man see thee which hast knowledge sit at 
meat In the Idol's temple, shall not the conscience of 
him which Is weak be emboldened to ea t those things which 
are offered to Idols; 

And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother p e r -
ish, for whom Christ d i ed? 

But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their 
weak conscience , ye sin against Chr i s t . " I Cor . 8:9-12 

Here then is the conclusion of the matter. The sin is not in the liberty which you have to do certain things which others may feel are wrong, but your sin is in allowing this liberty to become a stumblingblock to a weaker brother who sees it differently than you do. My question then is not, "Is it wrong for me personally to do this or that thing" ? but, "What will it do to a weaker brother ?" "What will it do to my testi-mony ?"Oh yes, I know you say, the folks who criticize you for your libetty are called "weaker brethren", and need more instruction in grace. That all sounds very pious but it is not really the language of grace, but of pride instead. I get sick and tired of people who talk about grace and use expressions like this; "since Isawthe light", and "if so and so only knew the Word of God like I do". That very language proves that you need a deeper knowledge of grace yourself. Paul says, if anything I do, (even though it is not wrong for me personally) offends my brother, and causes him to stumble, I will give it up gladly, I will not assert my liberty, and so Paul ends the chapter by saying: 

"Wherefore, If meat maketh my brother t o o f f e n d , I will 
ea t no flesh while the world s tandeth , lest I make my bro-
ther to o f f e n d . " I C o r . 8:13 

Grace people should always be gracious. So will you re -member these points. You have no right to judge a brother in regard to his own conscience. We shall deal with that at length in our next message. We may judge SIN, those things that are particularly forbidden, but in regard to these mat-ters of doubt, "let every man be persuaded in his own mind. " 
Secondly, if you know the grace of God, you will not use 

- 1 5 -



your liberty of grace to injure or offend a weaker brother, 
who may not have the same knowledge that you have and see 
things exactly as you do. To say, "I see no wrong in this 
thing, and even though Brother Doe thinks it is wrong, I am 
going to do it anyway, for it is none of his business", be-
comes in itself a sin of being uncharitable and ungracious, 
and Paul says you are "giving the lie to your statement that 
you know the grace of God." God help us to order our lives 
according to the pattern of grace, and not the pattern of law. 

GRACE PEOPLE SHOULD ALWAYS BE GRACIOUS! 

Chapter Three 
"All things are lawful unto mo, but all things are not 

expedient : all things are lawful for me, but all things 
edify n o t . " 1 C o r . 10:23 

"All things are lawful for me , but all things a re not 
expedient : all things are lawful for me, but I will not be 
brought under the power o f . a n y . " I C o r . 6:12 

If there was any one single thing which Paul was dead set 
against, it was against being put back under the law from 
which he had been delivered by the grace of God. For many 
years Paul had lived under the law of Moses, and done his 
very utmost extended best to keep that law in all sincerity, 
sothathe could say, "as touching the law, blameless", and 
yetattheendof all those years of struggling to keep the law 
he found himself a poor lost sinner standing in the need of 
the mercy and the grace of God. Paul knew the utter futility 
of trying to please Godbyhis own works, and therefore, was 
ready to fight to the finish those who would bring believers 
back under the bondage of the law. 

And so Paul repeats FOUR TIMES in this one epistle to the 
Corinthians the statement, "All things are lawful for me. "As 
far as the law is concerned, lam free to do as Iplease. Now, 
don't misunderstand that statement, for Paul did not say that 

- 1 6 -



he could do anything that he pleased and there would be no 
wrong In it. Ah, no, quite to the GOntrary. What Paul says 
is this, as far as the "law of Moses" goes, I am not under 
it any longer. But I am now under the law of grace, and my 
Christian conduct is now motivated by a higher law, the law 
of love for God and a gracious consideration of my fellow 
brethren, even those who may disagree with me. Our se r -
vice is just as punctual as the law ever demanded, and more 
so, but it' is not merely because the law commands it. It is 
not legal, but the result of gratitude for His great deliver-^ 
ance. The true believer will seek to do God's will and follow 
His commandments to be sure, but not because the law de-
manded it primarily, but because grace expects it. Per -
sonally, the believer is not under the law but stands in the 
perfect liberty of grace. But as a member of the body of 
Christ and of society, his conduct is determined by another 
rule, and that is, his influence and effect upon other people, 
andthe glory of God, and not his own feelings only about the 
matter. Paul had been setting forth this great truth in 1st 
Corinthians 8 which we have studied, and also referred to in 
Romans 14. To show how important it is to get this proper and 
important slantonthe matter of living under grace, it is again 
repeated in 1st Corinthians 10. Here is the passage I would 
like to have you consider: 

"All things ore lawful for me, but all things are not 
exped ien t . All things are lawful for me, but all things 
edify no t . 

Let no man seek his own, but every man ano ther ' s 
wealth (welfare) . 

Whatsoever is sold in the shambles (butcher shop) that 
e a t , asking no questions for conscience sake . 

For the earth Is the Lord's and the fulness t h e r e o f . " 
I C o r . 10:23-26 

How clearly Paul states the matter. He says we are not 
under the law. The word, "shambles" in verse 25 means 
"butcher shop" and what the Apostle says is, "there is no-
thing unclean in itself. " But if this action of mine in exer-
cising my liberty under grace in eating these meats which 
have been offered to idols, offends a weaker brother, I should 
be gracious enough to lethis conscience lead me, rather than 
my own conscience. Now as an illustration of this, Paul 
continues in verse 27: -17-



"If any of them that bel ieve riot bid you to a feast , and 
ye be disposed to go; whatsoever Is set before you , e a t , 
asking no question for conscience s a k e . " I Cor . 10:27 

Here indeed is the problem. Suppose that an unbeliever should ask you to a feast in his home, as his guest, or prob-ably inanidol'8temple ifyoulivedinPaul 's day, What should you do? If you have conscientious scruples about it, because at an unbeliever's feast ceremonially unclean food would be served, then you should not go. If you think it is wrong, then it would be wrong for you to go. Remember, this is in Cor-inth, a heathen city, given over to idolatry. But, says Paul, if you want to go, there is no harm in going. As Paul puts it, "if ye be disposed to go" then go ahead, eat what they serve and enjoy yourself, asking no questions. 
THE INEVITABLE "BUT" AGAIN 

But there is one condition attached to this liberty. Listen to it in verse 28: 
"BUT If any man soy unto you. This (meat) Is offered 

In sacr i f ice unto Idols, eat not for his sake that shewed 
I t , and for conscience sake: for the earth Is the Lord's, 
and the fulness thereof: 

Conscience , Isay, not thine own, but of t he other: for 
why Is my liberty judged of another man's consc ience? 

For If I by grace be a par taker , why am I evil spoken 
of for that for which I give thanks? 

Whether therefore ye e a t , or drink, or whatsoever ye 
do , do all to the glory of G o d . " I C o r . 10:28-31 

You see the point, I trust. If that which you do under grace 
in the liberty of faith, offends another, then you sin if you, 
knowing you are offending a brother, continue in it. You may 
reply, as Paul states it here, "why is my liberty judged of 
another man's conscience ? Why am I evil spoken of for that 
for which I give thanks?" And the answer is that no man 
liveth unto himself. The question is not MY LIBERTY and 
MY RIGHTS, but the GLORY of God. People who are saved by 
grace should be gracious. Since we are saved by grace, we 
have renounced our own will and seek now only to do the will 

- 1 8 -



of God to please Him and our neighbor, and not ourselves. 
That, my friend, is living by grace. That is living unto 
God, and that is what Paul means when he says: 

"For I through the I aw am dead to the law, that I might 
l ive unto G o d . " G a l . 2:19 

The question is not one of legality at all, but "what can I 
do to please Him who hath redeemed me by His grace ?" I 
serve Him, not because I fear punishment if I don't obey, or 
'losemy salvation,.but I serve Him because He has so won-
derfully saved me and given me eternal life. 

SOME PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS 
We repeat again, people who talk about grace should be 

gracious. It is a sad, sad thing that many, many believers 
including fundamentalists, always talking about grace, grace, 
grace, are often the most legal Christians in all the world. 
They lay down rules and laws, and judge one another, and 
find fault, and condemn and exclude. If you don't part your 
hair like they do, conform to all their local and often pro-
vincial "do's" and "don'ts" and customs, you are excluded 
from their fellowship. If you are born again, my friend, 
and washed in the blood, you are my brother in Christ, and 
I want fellowship with you. I may not agree with you in all 
things, but let 's disagree in love, and let us be gracious about 
our differences, at least, and seek to help one another. 

Let us not judge one another anymore, but seek to help 
and instruct and correct in the spirit of love and gracious-
ness. Are you prone to judge and criticize others for things 
theydo, about which they may have no scruples at all? Nine-
ty-nine times out of a hundred when we judge some sin in 
others, we are only throwing up a smoke screen to divert 
attention away from some sin or habit in our own lives which 
may even be ten time s worse than the one which we condemn 
in the life of someone else. I do not find one verse in the 
Bible which tells me to judge my neighbor, but rather that 
we are to judge ourselves. We may judgo sin and er ror in 
people's lives, but we are never to judge one another. And, 

- 1 9 -



my friend, when we start looking into our own hearts and 
lives, we find so many faults, that others will look like angels 
in comparison. You are very censorious and critical about 
somethingyour brother does, but do you realize that you are 
judging him, which is an even greater sin ? Do you ever judge 
the politer but more serious sins of your own life ? Do you 
ever gossip ? Do you ever whisper ? Ever pass along to 
others some sin or fault of a friend? The Bible has far more 
to say about gossip than the sin that you may be condemning 
in your brother at this very time. Gossip is worse than steal-
ing a man's possessions. These may be replaced, but a good 
name stolen through careless gossip can never be replaced. 
Slander is more than merely spreading derogatory things 
about a neighbor. It is murder, murdering a man's reputa-
tion, never to be undone. Before you judge your neighbor 
again for something your self-righteous soul condemns, ask 
yourself the question, "Am I guilty of some of the things the 
Bible condemns in me, while it is probably utterly silent 
concerning that thing you are bo scathingly denouncing in your 
neighbor" ? You can condemn your neighbor for being a spend-
thrift, but are you covetous ? I know people who would con-
demn a poor man for filching a loaf of bread because his fam-
ily was starving, and yet, while he himself loudly howled for 
the indictment of the poor man for petty larceny, he himself 
was as covetous as the devil himself, ran a sweat shop, drove 
his employees like slaves, squeezed the last drop of sweat 
and blood out of them in his shop or factory, to swell his 
coffers with his ill-gotten gold, and then was a big shot in 
the church because he took a few hundred dollars of this 
"blood" money and gave it with much publicity and fanfare 
for the poor benighted heathen, while he trafficked in men 
here at home. 

There is a sin worse than a poor man stealing a loaf of 
bread. We do not justify the theft, but it may be as great a 
sin to sit in judgment upon him, when you have an abundance 
and don't know what poverty or hunger is. Are you stingey? 
Have youan unforgiving spirit? Are you proud? Ah, friends, 
these are the politer sins which do not come up for condem-
nation, but according to the Word of God are denounced even 
more vigorously than many a fault which you may condemn in 
your fellow man. 

-20-



ARE YOU GRACIOUS? 
People who have been saved by the grace of God should al-

ways be gracious. Do you think of others rather than only of 
yourself? You see, this enters into every single department 
of our lives. It is the little things which are the evidence of 
grace in our every-day life. Do you drive your car gracious-
ly, always thinkingofthe other fellow, or do you double-park 
and tie up traffic and inconvenience everybody else ? When 
you park your car do you leave room for someone else, or do 
you parkin the middle of a two-car space, so no one can get 
ahead or behind you, just so it will be a little easier for YOU 
to get out by and by? You see, I am trying to get this thing 
of grace down to where you and I live. That's what is wrong 
with the world today. Everything runs by law, instead of by 
grace. We stand on our legal rights instead of acting in grace 
toward one another. Ah, my friend, if you were to receive 
your deserts and your rights, you would be lost today, but 
by His grace you have been saved. Let us listen to the words 
of grace as found in Ephesians 4:29-32, 

"Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your 
mouth, but that which Is good to the use of ed i fy ing , that 
It may minister grace unto the hearers . 

And grieve not the holy Spirit of G o d , whereby ye are 
sealed unto the day of redemption . 

Let all b i t te rness , and wrath , and anger , and clamour, 
and evil speaking, be put away from you , with all mal ice: 

And be ye kind one to another , t ende r -hea r t ed , forg iv-
ing one another , even as God for Christ 's sake hath fo r -
given y o u . " Eph. 4:29-32 

There is a pattern of grace, not law, but grace, forgiving because we have been forgiven. 
Now before I close this message, may I emphasize this very solemn warning. Even though we are saved by grace, it does not mean that God will not hold us accountable for our deeds. The very fact of grace carries a tremendous respon-sibility. If we turn our liberty into license and turn the grace 

- 2 1 -



of God into lasciviousness, He surely will visit His children 
with severe chastening. God does not punish His children 
who are saved by grace, but He chastens them. The law pun-
ishes, but love chastens. The punishment of the law is re t r i -
butive and punitive; chastening is corrective. And so if you 
abuse God's grace, He will surely chasten you. You may re -
call that in Matthew 18 Jesus gives the parable of the unjust 
servant who owed his master ten thousand talents, approx-
imately twelve million dollars, a sum he could never expect 
to pay. But the master freely forgave him all the debt be-
cause he had compassion, and that was grace. And then that 
same servant forgot all about it all too soon, and we read: 

"But the same servant found one of his fe l low-
servants, which owed him a hundred pence (15 dollars): 
and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat , 
saying, Pay me that thou owest . 

And his fellowservant besought him, saying. Have 
pa t ience with me, and I will pay thee a l l . 

And he would not: but went out and cast him into p r i -
son, till he should pay the dd>t. 

So when his fellowservants saw what was done , they 
were very sorry, and told . . . . . their lord all that 
was d o n e . " 

M a t t . 18:28-31 

How ungracious! He had been forgiven twelve million dol-
lars, and he wouldn't even forgive his fellowservant fifteen 
dollars. And notice what the other servants did when they 
heard of this very ungracious act. They were sorry and told 
their lord. They were not like too many of us, secretly hap-
py to see the other fellow fail. They did not rush to the tele-
phone to tell everybody what a mean man he was. They did 
not gossip and whisper about him, and spread the bad news. 
Ah, no! They told no one, but went and told it to their lord. 
God help us to be like that when a fellow Christian stumbles 
and sins. Let us be sorry, to be sure, but let us tell no one 
but go to the Lord, and tell Him alone, for He alone is able 
to deal with him in grace and in chastening. Right here we 
might well quote Galatians 6:1, 

- 2 2 -



"Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a f au l t , ye which 
are spir i tual , restore such an one in the spirit of meek-
ness; considering thyself , lest thou also be tempted. 

Bearyeone another 's burdens, and so fulfil the law of 
C h r i s t . " G a l . 6:1-2 

Now Ihave tried to be very direct and plain in speaking to you, and I do hope and pray that you will also be gracious in receiving this message. Maybe you do not agree with all Ihave said, especially concerning our frcec'om from the law. Maybe you differ sharply with some things which Ihave said, but if you do, be gracious about it. Some of you have writ-tentome, many in a very condemnatory tone, consigning me to judgment itself, because I have preached pure grace, and grace alone, wholly apart from our own merit. Some of you have accused me of preaching "that damnable doctrine of free grace". Now, beloved, that is not gracious. Of course, if you are under the law, then that explains your legal and con-demnatory attitude, but if you are under grace, you should be gracious. May God help us to put into practice this great principle. 
A closing word to the sinner, gathering up what we have 

said so many times in this series of messages, your only 
hope of salvation, my friend, is to abandon every dependence 
of saving yourself, give up all your own righteousness and 
admit and acknowledge that you have broken every one of 
God's commandments, that you cannot keep them, that you 
are under condemnation, and your depraved nature is unable 
because of the weakness of the flesh to please God, and then 
cast yourself entirely upon the mercy and the grace of God. 

"Forby grace are ye saved through fa i th ; and that not 
of yourselves: it is the gift of G o d . 

Not of works, lest any man should boast . 
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus 

unto good works, which God hath before ordained that 
we should walk in t h e m . " Ephesians 2:8-10 

- 2 3 -



Chapter Four 
"Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but 

judge this rather , that no man put a stumbl ingblock or an 
occasion to fall in his brother's way . 

I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there 
is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth 
any thing to be unc lean , to him It is unc l ean . 

But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat , now w a l k -
est thou bur char i t ab ly . Destroy not him with thy m e a t , 
for whom Christ d i e d . 

Let not then your good be evil spoken o f . " 
Romans 14:13-16 

T h i s i s the divine principle of Christian grace which so few 
people seem to understand, and so few believers are willing 
to accept and practice. We may sum up this whole matter 
of Christian liberty in these words, "the Christian should 
never give way to any known or definite sin, but consider 
himself to be dead to all sins clearly indicated in the Bible. " 
The Word of God leaves no room for doubt in this matter. It 
names manyof them, fornication, adultery, lying, stealing, 
gossiping, whispering, envyings, jealousies, variance, emu-
lations, seditions, temper, profanity, drunkenness, covet-
ousness, unforgiveness, malice, evil speaking, and all the 
other definite sins, are condemned in the Scriptures. When 
these are continued in, and unrepented of, we must withdraw 
ourselves from all such that they may be brought to repent-
ance. This is clear from the words of Paul in 2nd Thessa-
lonians 3 :14-15 , 

"And if any man obey not our word by this ep is t l e , 
note that- man, and have no company with him, that he 
may be ashamed. Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a 
b ro the r . " 

2 Thess. 3:14-15 

The assembly of God has a responsibility in disciplining 
those who thus walk unworthily and in open sin. Failure to 
deal with erring brethren who walk in open disobedience to 
the clear teaching of Scripture will injure the assembly's 

-24-



testimony, and result in the loss of blessing. In 1st Corin-
thians 5 we have an example of a case in point. There was a 
man, a believer, a member of the assembly in Corinth, who 
lived in open sin. The Corinthian church is severly rebuked 
by Paul for failing to deal with him. He may have been an 
influential or a very wealthy man, and probably gave liberal-
ly to the church. Too often believers who harbor sin in their 
lives try to cover it up by other acts of seeming devotion, in 
an effort to salve their conscience and gain people's admira-
tion, and so divert their thoughts in this way from the sin 
which they harbor in their lives. It is a fact that people often 
exhibit great zeal, while living in sin, as if this would justify 
their e r ror . 

No, says the Apostle Paul, you are wrong in failing to deal 
with any sinning brother, no matter how influential he may be. 
Here is Paul's statement very definitely given: (1st Cor. 5:1) 

"IHs reported commonly that there is fornication among 
you , and such fornication as is not so much as named a -
mong the Gent i les , that one should have his f a the r ' s 
w i f e . " 

I C o r . 5:1 
This man in Corinth was living with his father 's wife. In-stead of dealing with this sin, they had allowed it, and so Paul continues: 

"And ye are puffed up , and have not rather mourned, 
that he that hath done this deed might be taken away 
from among y o u . " 

I C o r . 5:2 
Paul says, if the man will not repent, you ought to pray for the Lord to remove him (apparently Paul is referring to r e -moval by death, according to 1 Cor. 11) rather than have him continue in his unrepentant condition. And then follows Paul's admonition, and he says: 

"In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ , when ye are 
gathered together , and my spiri t , with the power of our 
Lord Jesus Christ , 

-25-



To del iver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of 
the f lesh , that the spirit may be saved in the day of the 
Lord Jesus . " I Cor . 5 :4 -5 

This was to be an assembly action. They were to break 
fellowship and cease to pray for him, except that God might 
intervene and take him away by death if need by, to stop his 
continuing in this sin. This evidently is the sin unto death, 
of which John says in 1st John 5: 

"There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shal I 
pray for i t . " 

I John 5:16 

Now so much for this aspect of our subject. We have spent 
this time to give this explanation because when we speak of 
the believer's liberty of grace in Christ, some people sup-
pose that we are giving license to sin, but it is nothing of the 
kind. Those sins which are positively condemned in Scrip-
ture should be judged and taken care of, but there are some 
matters on which the Bible is silent. These are matters of 
personal conscience. They are called "weights" as distin-
guished from clearly forbidden sins. In Hebrews 12:1 we read: 

"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with 
so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every 
WEIGHT, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and 
let us run with pa t ience the race that is set before u s . " 

Hebrews 12:1 

Will you carefully notice that in this passage two things 
should be put aside by the Christian. "Weights" are dis-
tinguished from "sins" in this particular verse. The figure 
which Paul uses is that of a race. The believer is repre-
sented as a runner in a race for a prize. The runner is not 
only to abstain from all things which would definitely be 
harmful and weaken him, but in addition to these definitely 
prohibited things, he is also to discard every bit of extra 
weight and external impedimenta, which would hinder his 
free motion. He is to lay aside all extra and unnecessary 
clothing and apparrel which would impede his freedom in run-
ning. Now, wearing clothing is not wrong, but in a race it 

- 2 6 -



becomes a "weight" which hinders us in the race. 
Just so in the race of the believer's life, definite sins are 

clearly condemned in the Bible, and have no place in our 
Christian life, of course. On this there is no argument. But 
there are these other things on which the Bible does not speak 
withdefiniteness, and which are not clearly forbidden, which 
may nevertheless become "weights" and hindrances in our 
lives. They are those matters of personal conscience. They 
are the questions of meats and drinks, customs and personal 
habits, amusements, and innocent pleasures, games and 
apparrel and feast days and holidays and sabbath days. These 
present a different problem. They may not be sins in them-
selves, but may become sins by our attitude toward them. 
Paul refers to them in these words: 

"Him that is weak In the fa i th ' rece ive y e , but not to 
doubtful d i spu ta t ions . " 

Romans 14:1 

If a believer is weak in the faith and is given to judging his 
brother's liberty in grace, don't ignore him, receive him, 
but not for doubtful disputations, or to argue about the dif-
ferences of opinion. "Doubtful disputations", Paul calls 
them. Don't argue about doubtful matters. There are some 
things which YOUR conscience may permit, which mine de-
finitely won't. They are matters of "doubt", because they 
are matters of personal liberty. And as an example Paul says: 

"Forone bel jeveth that he may eat all things: another 
who is weak, eateth herbs. 

Let not him that eateth despise him that ea te th not; and 
let not him that eateth not judge him that ea te th : for God 
hath received him. 

Who art thou that ¡udgest another man's servant? to 
his own master he standeth or f a l l e t h . Yea , he shall be 

• holden up: for God is able to make him s t a n d . " 
Romans 14:2-4 

Ygu see, in matters of personal liberty concerning food 
and drink and such things, says Paul, we are not to judge, 

-27-



but "let every man be persuaded in his own mind." (Ro-
mans 14:5) Now the same thing is true of special days and 
seasons, for Paul continues: 

"One man esteemeth one day above another: another 
esteemeth every day a l i k e . Let every man be persuaded 
in his own mind . " 

Romans 14:5 

There is no direct command anywhere in the New Testa-
ment for a certain day to be observed above all others by be-
lievers in this dispensation. By precept and example, to be 
sure, Christians have set aside the f i rs t day of the week as 
a special day of worship and assembling themselves together, 
but if another day had been chosen, it would have made no dif-

ference . It is not the day, but the spirit of our worship. ''It 
is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing. " For 
the sake of order and unity and to prevent confusion, we r e -
gard this day as the most appropriate and significant in view 
of Jesus' resurrection, but again, I repeat , the New Testa-
ment contains no command concerning any one special day. 
It is rather the principle of one day in seven which is im-
portant. Now, before you take exception to this statement, 
and take issue with me, you try and see if you can find a 
single command concerning a special day. To be sure, the 
first day of the week was practiced and observed by the apos-
tles, and we follow that practice of the early Christians as a 
matter of grace, but not as a matter of command. We do have 
it, I repeat, by precept and example under grace, but not as 
a matter of law. 

And so we are definitely warned not to judge one another 
in this matter. Paul says in C'olossians 2:16, 

"Let no man therefore judge you in meat , or in dr ink, 
or in respect of an holyday, (HOLY DAY, not holiday) 
or of the mew moon, or of the sabbath days: 

Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is 
of Chr i s t . " C o l . 2:16-17 

- 2 8 -



And then to clinch once and for all the Christian's liberty and grace, he says in verse 20: 
"Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments 

of the world, why, as though living In the world, are ye 
subject to ordinances, 

(Touch not; taste not; handle not; 
Which all are to perish with the using;) a f te r the com-

mandments and doctrines of m e n ? " 
C o l . 2 :20-22 

So far then we can sum up Paul's teaching as follows: We are not to judge matters of personal liberty in other believers, but again, we repeat, as we have said so many times before,' this is only half the story. For neither are we to allow these matters of personal liberty to become an occasion for stum-bling or offense to other people round about us. The rule of my life is not to be MY conscience in the light of God's Word, but I must be guided by YOUR conscience in my life and con-duct. I think this will bear repeating. I as a believer under grace am not only to be guided by my own conscience accord-ing to the Word of God, but by the conscience of others as well. Let me clarify this. We refer you again to 1st Cor-inthians 10:29 where Paul says in this connection: 
"Conscience, I say, not thine own, but of the o t h e r . " 

.Now that may seem strange, and yet it is very clear. The 
setting of this we have already seen. Paul says if you are 
invited to a feast in an unbeliever's home and you feel you 
can be of some usefulness for Christ in going, and giving 
your testimony there, go ahead. Eat whatever is placed be-
fore you, asking no questions, for conscience sake. It may 
be that some of the food will be food dedicated to idols and 
bought in an idol temple, andunderthelaw ceremonially un-
clean. For you to eat it, if you see no harm in it, is no sin, 
however. But, if there is someone else there who does not 
see it the way you do, someone who believes it to be wrong 
to eat this meat offered to an idol, and says, "that meat you 
are eating is unclean, it is a sin for you to partake of it", 
then for the sake of not offending this man's conscience vou 

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should be willing to forego you own liberty, and your own 
ideas in this matter, andforthe sake of another's conscience 
refrain and abstain from it. To insist on your own liberty in 
grace, to the offense of others then makes your liberty a sin, 
instead of liberty. And so Paul concludes this section in 1st 
Corinthians 10 with these important words: 

"Give none o f f e n c e , neither to the Jews , nor to the 
Gen t i l e s , nor to the church of G o d . " 

I C o r . 10:32 

Paul could say, "I have become all things to all men, if 
by any means I might win some. " How necessary, there-
fore, the warning of 1st Corinthians 8:9, 

""But take heed lest by any means this liberty of your's 
become a stumblingblock to them that are w e a k . " 

I Cor . 8:9 

But now you immediately ask the question, how far must 
we go in this matter of ordering our lives and conduct for the 
sake of other people's conscience ? Some people object to 
my wearing jewelry, some object to my amusements, my 
use of a little makeup, some Christians find fault with the 
clothes that I wear, what I do with my money, what I do on 
Sunday. Someobjectto my friends, to my use of coffee, and 
tea, and what not. How far must I go in this matter? Lis-
ten, my friend. That will depend entirely on how much grace 
you have in your heart. The more grace, the more you will 
be willing to sacrifice for others. If you are legal, you will 
probably continue to judge others and say it is none of any-
one else's business what I do. But if you are really gracious, 
you will in so far as possible, do what Paul did when he said: 

"Wherefore , if meat make my brother to o f fend , I will 
ea t no flesh while the world s tandeth , lest I make my 
brother to o f f e n d . " 

I C o r . 8:13 
Paul says, I won't even eat ceremonially clean meat, lest 

people should mistake it for unclean meat and condemn me. 
Or listen to Paul again, in 1st Corinthians 10:31 and 33, 

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"Whether therefore ye e a t , or dr ink, or whatsoever ye 
do , do all to the glory of G o d . 

Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine 
own prof i t , (that is, insisting on my own rights) but the 
profit of many, that they may be s aved . " I Cor . 10:31,33 

Or listen to this from the Apostle Paul: 
"Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but 

judge this rather , that no man put a stumbling block or 
an occasion to fall in his brother's w a y . 

I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there 
is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any 
thing to be unc lean , to him it is u n c l e a n . " 

Romans 14:13-14 
"It is good nei ther to ea t f lesh, nor to drink wine, nor 

any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or, is o f fended , 
or is made weak . 

Hast thou f a i t h? have it to thyself before G o d . Happy 
is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he 
a l l o w e t h . " Romans 14:21-22 

GRACE PEOPLE SHOULD BE GRACIOUS 
"Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but 

judge this ra ther , that no man put a stumbling block or 
an occasion to fall in his brother's w a y . " 

Romans 14:13 

GRACE PEOPLE SHOULD BE GRACIOUS 
I should like to close this message and this series of mes-

sages with a quotation once again from Romans 15 :1-3 , 
"We then that are strong ought, to bear the infirmities 

of the weak , and not to please ourselves. 
Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good 

to ed i f i ca t ion . 
For even Christ pleased not himself; but , as it is wr i t -

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t e n . The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on 
m e . " Romans 15:1-3 

May the Holy Spirit of God Himself teach us who are saved 
by grace to put in practice his admonition: 

"Let us therefore follow af te r the things which make 
for p e a c e , and things wherewith one may edify a n o t h e r . " 

Romans 14:19 

If this little-known truth, so little preached in our pulpits 
today, were better known by God's people and practiced, it 
would end much of the division and the trouble and the criti-
ciem and the splitting which has become such a reproach to 
the cause of the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ. May we 
have burned upon our own hearts this great truth that people 
saved by grace should be gracious. 

GRACE PEOPLE SHOULD BE MORE GRACIOUS! 

-32-



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