I. INTRODUCTION
A. Liberty is a great blessing, but it can become a curse if it is abused and used irresponsibly.
1. A potent example is that of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32). This son was at liberty to use his inheritance as he pleased, but he squandered his wealth and ruined himself.
2. Likewise, we are at liberty to go where we please and do as we please, but if go to the wrong places and behave badly, then we will suffer.
B. In our lesson, let us consider the necessary, personal characteristic that must be exercised in order to have and retain liberty: self-control.
II. THERE OUGHT TO BE A LAW!
A. Do you ever wonder why our local, state, and federal governments make so many laws?
1. There seems to be no end to the steady flow of new legislation year after year. Federal law now consists of 165,000 pages, and 3,000 to 4,000 new laws are added every year. As a result, the average citizen unknowingly commits an average of three felonies per day.
2. When this nation was founded, lawmakers and politicians spent most of their time tending to their own homes and personal businesses. Now serving in the legislature is a full time job.
B. Perhaps this is because our nation is out of control.
1. For certain, our legislators are out of control. It is well-known that power corrupts men (consider 1Sam. 8:10-20), and it is obvious that this has happened in our government.
2. However, this is not the whole story. It seems that people of depraved mind are constantly devising ways to skirt the law in order to do harm to others.
a. New breeds of criminals have to be labeled and categorized, such as identity thieves and internet child predators.
b. Corporations have to be held in check so that they do not produce hazardous products or defraud the public.
c. Even public officials have to be regulated carefully to prevent corruption.
3. Because of these, new laws are enacted to draw new boundaries and protect the population.
a. Really, only one old law is needed: You shall love your neighbor as yourself (Matt. 22:39). Paul affirmed this in Romans 13:9:
For this, "You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not covet," and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
b. Nevertheless, men find new ways to violate the commandment of loving their neighbors every day, and therefore new laws are created.
C. Such behavior is evidence of an immature and out-of-control society, and it is a shame that almost every facet of life in the United States is now regulated.
1. We are proving ourselves to be incapable of handling our liberties in a decent manner.
2. The situation is very similar to a child who is given freedom to do something that he was not allowed to do previously. Because he is immature, he abuses the new freedom that he has been given, and it has to be taken from him.
3. As this society shows itself to be too immature to manage its liberties, gradually they are being taken away by stricter and stricter regulations.
III. DO NOT TURN YOUR FREEDOM INTO AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE FLESH
A. While Christians are subject to the laws of men, we should appreciate that the Lord does not intend to legislate every detail of our lives with His law.
1. The Bible does not give a specific law describing every possible situation that we may encounter. Christ's gospel simply gives us certain laws, principles, and examples by which we should live.
2. The Old Law of Moses gave much more detailed and specific regulations, but God has freed us from this burden through the Christ's law of grace and liberty (Acts 15:10-11).
3. Now we have the freedom to do what is right and please God by our own choice.
B. Instead of being regulated in everything, the Lord expects us to have the maturity and spirituality to control ourselves.
1. Self-control is one of the so-called "Christian graces" of 2Peter 1:5-7 that are essential to our character.
a. Having self-control equips us for service to the Lord, for Peter says, "For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2Pet. 1:8).
b. Lacking self-control demonstrates a fundamental lack of understanding concerning salvation, for Peter also says, "For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins" (2Pet. 1:9).
2. Self-control is part of the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23) that proves that we are being led by the Spirit and that we belong to Christ.
3. Paul wrote, "For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another" (Gal. 5:13). Christians should have the maturity, the love of man, and the love of God to restrain them from abusing the freedom that we have acquired through Jesus Christ.
a. We should always seek to please God rather than looking for loopholes and shortcuts to avoid accountability to God.
b. We should ask, "What is right with it?" rather than, "What is wrong with it?"
c. Again, Paul wrote, "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be!" (Rom. 6:1-2).
d. If God was forced to regulate and legislate every matter in our lives because we would always sin otherwise, then we could never be free. Romans 6:14 says, "For sin shall not master over you, for you are not under law, but under grace." If we cannot be free without sinning, then sin is master over us, and we are slaves to Satan.
C. Lack of self-control manifests itself in many ways.
1. Persons who lack self-control often lose their tempers and are given to anger. Many proverbs speak to this weakness, but we will notice only two:
a. Proverbs 14:17 -- A quick-tempered man acts foolishly, and a man of evil devices is hated.
b. Proverbs 29:11 -- A fool always loses his temper, but a wise man holds it back.
2. The propensity for gluttony and drunkenness in our nation are signs of the absence of self-control.
a. Gluttony and drunkenness are associated with one another in the Scriptures as the results of uncontrolled appetites. Notice Proverbs 23:20-21:
20Do not be with heavy drinkers of wine, or with gluttonous eaters of meat; 21for the heavy drinker and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe one with rags.
b. A nation whose leaders have control over their own appetites is blessed. Do we have these? Notice Ecclesiastes 10:17 -- Blessed are you, O land, whose king is of nobility and whose princes eat at the appropriate time -- for strength and not for drunkenness.
3. Obsession for spending, debt, and consuming also shows a lack of self-control.
a. Notice Proverbs 21:20 -- There is precious treasure and oil in the dwelling of the wise, but a foolish man swallows it up.
b. From top to bottom, our nation is mostly devoid of self-control in this area.
4. In James 3:1-12, Scripture speaks of the difficulty of controlling the tongue. Notice verses 2, 8:
2For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well...8But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison.
5. The plague of fornication in the world shows that people are failing to control their lusts. May this not be true of Christians, for 1Thessalonians 4:3-5 says,
3For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, 5not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God...
IV. CONCLUSION
A. Therefore, let us be sober-minded and self-controlled. As a nation, we should pray for the time when all people will do the right things without having to be forced. As Christians, we should always do the right things simply because they are right in the sight of our Lord, whom we love and revere.
B. Our freedom in Christ provides a test of our faith. If we can prove ourselves worthy of the liberty that God has given to us, then we can be free indeed and restrictive laws will not be necessary.