Overcoming the Old Ways // You Have Been Set Free, Part 3

A Different Perspective Official Podcast

One of the things that robs us of freedom are our old habits. Old ways of thinking, old ways of behaving and you know those old habits; they can be more difficult to shake than you might think.

Okay the subject for today is circumcision. I know it's not exactly something you want to be thinking about but stick with me, there's an important point to be made. And what we're really chatting about is freedom, your freedom here, now, today. But first let's head back to 1st century Jerusalem.

See there's a rocky transition underway for those who believe in Jesus, from Judaism, the religion of their forefathers, to Christianity. From a life lived under a complex set of religious rules to a life of freedom in Christ. A lot of the things that seem pretty obvious to us today had to be nutted out back then, it wasn't easy.

One of them was male circumcision which to this point had been part of God's law for His people. Let's take a look at how the Apostle Paul puts it in Galatians chapter 2 verses 3 to 5:

But even Titus who was with me was not compelled to be circumcised though he was a Greek. But because of false believers secretly brought in who slipped in to spy on the freedom that we have in Christ Jesus so that they might enslave us, we did not submit to them even for a moment so that the truth of the Gospel might always remain with you.

See there's a tussle here between the old traditionalists who didn't believe in this whole nonsense about grace through Jesus and Paul to whom the Gospel of grace, the fantastic news of Gods unmerited favour towards us had been revealed by Jesus Himself. Circumcision was just the flash point, the real debate was between the slavery of living under the set of rules and the freedom that we have through our faith in Christ.

And it's a struggle that continues to this day in the heart of many a believer because grace is so radical, so counterintuitive. We live in a 'dog eat dog' world and there seems to be plenty of 'dog' to go around. Yet along comes Jesus and says in effect:

Look it's not about following a bunch of rules, it's about experiencing my love and so that you can I'm going to pay the price on a cross for all the things that you've done wrong in your life.

The reason Paul takes this so seriously is that it strikes at the very heart of the Gospel of grace, the truth. Besides have you noticed? It's pretty much impossible to follow the rules anyway, we all fall short, that's why we need Jesus. So if you've been struggling under a bunch of rules do yourself a favour, ditch them. Go to Jesus instead; start having a rich dynamic relationship with Him and your unbounded freedom will flow out of that relationship. Don't let rules enslave you!

And you and I, we aren't the only ones that suffer from this problem. Take Peter the Apostle, we think of Peter as one of the New Testament's 'A' list yet he made quite a few mistakes along the way not the least of which was political correctness. This age of rampant political correctness isn't something new in the 21st century, it turns out that there's nothing new under the sun.

Now look, it's absolutely a good idea that we shouldn't deliberately go out there to say or do things that will hurt others but it's a very bad idea to take that to the ridiculous nth degree, to the point where we curtail our freedoms in order to appease those with a agenda.

And that's exactly what was going on in the first century as Christianity was being birthed out of Judaism. There was a tussle between the two; there were difficult issues to work through. For instance, most Jews believed that the God of the Old Testament was for them and them alone. Many of the Apostles stayed in Jerusalem for that very reason but Paul was called to be an Apostle to the Gentiles, to take the good news of salvation in Jesus to people whom the Jews referred to as dogs.

So Peter is happy to dine with the Gentiles until some other legalistic old school Jews show up at which point he does the politically correct thing, retreating only to eat with Jews again. Well at this point Paul pretty much has a pink fit, Galatians chapter 2 verses 11 to 13:

But when Cephas (that's Peter's other name) came to Antioch I opposed him to his face because he stood self condemned. For until certain people came from James he used to eat with the Gentiles but after they came he drew back and kept himself separate for fear of the circumcision faction and the other Jews joined him in this hypocrisy so even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.

To the extent that you believe in Jesus you are free in Christ to live out your faith. Sure in this age of political correctness, this age of pluralism you will be derided for it, you'll be laughed at for it, you'll even be persecuted for it but let Peter's mistake be a lesson to us all - let's not be hypocrites, let's not compromise our freedom in Christ to appease the sinners of this world.

Sure, the issues of today are different but the principle remains the same. People will disagree with you because you believe in Jesus, they just will, there's nothing new in any of that. Live out your faith in Jesus anyhow. Don't let the fear of what others will think or say or do rob you of the freedom that you have in Christ, don't let your life compromise the truth of the Gospel of grace.

Isn't it funny how our old ways keep coming back to haunt us. Peter spent three and a half years with Jesus, he saw the miracles, he heard the sermons, he experienced the radically different way that the Son of God would approach things.

Jesus wasn't afraid of upsetting the religious leaders, Jesus wasn't afraid of offending people yet still Peter falls back into his old ways, no wonder Paul took him on, it's a good thing and as I said it's a sobering lesson to you and me about the power of the old ways to rob us of the freedoms that Jesus came to give us. Jesus said that if He sets us free then we are free indeed. Don't throw that freedom away so easily.

Alright so today we've looked at the old ways, the old rules as they were back then in the 1st century. Circumcision well you'd have to agree it's not such an issue anymore really, at least I hope it isn't in your life and then there's the people we associate with, well that's still an issue today isn't it?

One of the things I try to do as much as I can is eat meals with people who aren't believers, to associate with people who don't go to Church, to spend time out there in the world sometimes at the expense of time, involved in Church activities. In fact really, I feel called to be a minister outside the four walls of a Church rather than inside.

Hey Church is great but just as God called Paul to take the Gospel to the Gentiles, I guess in the same way He's called me to take the Gospel outside the Church. And you wouldn't believe the criticism I cop for that sometimes. I wonder what it is in your life. What religious norms, what rules are people trying to get you to submit to? What criticism are people hurling in your direction? It's amazing how quickly and how easily people want to turn the Gospel of grace and freedom into a bunch of religious rules.

Now God's Word is replete with wisdom about how to live. God tells us the things that are wrong, the things we shouldn't do, actually there aren't that many of them surprisingly enough but don't get suckered in, as the Apostle Paul writes: For freedom you have been set free. And that freedom was purchased at such a huge price.