Morning Devotional
July 21, 2005
"Freedom in Christ" (Part 2)     
    by Don Emmitte

So Christ has really set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don't get tied up again in slavery to the law. Listen! I, Paul, tell you this: If you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ cannot help you. I'll say it again. If you are trying to find favor with God by being circumcised, you must obey all of the regulations in the whole law of Moses. For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God's grace. But we who live by the Spirit eagerly wait to receive everything promised to us who are right with God through faith. For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, it makes no difference to God whether we are circumcised or not circumcised. What is important is faith expressing itself in love. (Galatians 5:1-6 NLT).

 

When we are faced with a gray area in life, attempting to decide if something is wrong or right for the Bible and us does not specifically address it, we must ask ourselves first if the action is sinful. That may sound overly simplistic, but it is not. The Bible is to be our guide for life. For example, we know adultery is wrong, because the Bible tells us so. Jesus adds a higher standard to the law. He tells us that it is not only wrong to commit adultery, but that adultery actually occurs when it happens in our heart. From His instruction, therefore, we learn that lust is wrong. Lust in our heart then is not a gray area, it is a sin. The Bible tells us so.

 

First, when faced with a gray area, we must apply the Scripture test to it. If the Bible says it is wrong, it is wrong, and not profitable for the Christian. Is there a Scriptural basis for saying your gray area issue is wrong? Pray through this and see if the Bible says “no” to your gray area. The Bible is the final authority.

 

And, second, God did not leave us without help to answer the moral dilemmas of life, or the “gray areas” as we are calling them in this series. Are you struggling to answer the question of whether something would be right or wrong for you? Have you made sure it does not directly violate Scripture? Then, next you should check your moral compass.

Jesus departed the earth in bodily form, but He left behind a Helper. The Holy Spirit is to help us discern right from wrong. If you are a Christian, the Holy Spirit will not allow you to sin against God without some form of encouragement not to. That may come in the form of an inner feeling of conviction, another Christian trying to warn you against the act, or the preacher seeming to “speak directly to you” about the issue. The Holy Spirit will use a variety of ways to help keep you from a gray area that to you would be sin.

If you are struggling to decide if something is right or wrong for you and you have a “feeling” that it might be, don’t dismiss this feeling completely. God does give you and me a moral compass in the person of the Trinity called the Holy Spirit. His counsel to us is vital for holy living.