Just because we are free to do something in the Christian life does not mean we should. There are limits to Christian freedom, but how do we know what those limits are? Paul is quite clear in 1 Corinthians: anything not deemed sinful by the Word of God is permissible. He says, “All things are lawful.” The freedom in this statement is profound. Many people speak of Christianity as a list of restrictions, but the “Thou shalt nots” appear regularly in Scripture because they are so few compared to the list of things we can do. Compiling a list of the things the believer is free to do would fill 100 Bibles. Christianity is a religion of freedom, but simply because all things are lawful does not mean all things are expedient.
Whether or not a Christian should abstain from something permissible is always a personal matter. When it comes to Christian liberty, the problem arises when a Christian decides he should refrain from something that is permitted and then begins to apply that restriction to every other child of God. The answer to someone doing that is, “All things are lawful.” But how can we decide whether we should abstain from something Scripture does not forbid? Paul gave us three criteria that we can use to help us determine if we should limit our freedom.
1. Does it hinder me from progressing with Christ?
Here is how Paul puts it. “All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful” (1 Corinthians 6:12a). Another translation says, “but not all things are expedient.” The words “helpful” and “expedient” speak to making progress, specifically in your walk with the Lord. Maybe there is something lawful, but when you do it, it becomes like a weight that slows you down as you run the race. In that case, throw off every weight which so easily entangles you. For example, perhaps you and your Christian friends like to go to a restaurant on Saturday night and eat a certain kind of food. The problem is, every time you eat it, you feel sluggish and cloudy-headed the next day, Sunday. Because you eat that food, you have trouble worshipping and listening to the word. In that case, it is probably better that you abstain. I cannot help but think of Jonathan Edward’s resolution, which says, “Resolved, to inquire every night before I go to bed, whether I have acted in the best way I possibly could, with respect to eating and drinking.”
2. Will it bring me under its power?
The second thing Paul mentions is that some permissible things may bring you under its influence. He says, “All things are lawful for me, but I will not be dominated by anything” (1 Corinthians 6:12b). There are some things some people can do that have no further lure for them than the momentary benefit it provides, while someone else might be so taken by it that it begins to control them. Alcohol comes to mind here. Some people can have a glass of wine with no further impact on them than enjoying a bowl of cereal, whereas others get a taste of the wine, and instead of it serving them, they desire to serve it. We are only to be subject to Christ. Money is another example. We are free to use it in many ways, but we must be careful it does not use us. We cannot serve two masters, and the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.
3. Does doing it build up those around me?
The final thing we should ask is if it will build up. Paul says, “All things are lawful, but not all things build up” (1 Corinthians 10:23b). Unlike the first limitation we covered, this is not asking whether or not it will build us up. Instead, it focuses on those around us. We know this because of the following verse, which says, “Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor” (1 Corinthians 10:24). If there is something we are permitted to do, but it will spiritually harm our neighbor if we do it, we should abstain.
When considering our Christian freedom, we should ask these three questions. If we decide we should not do something permissible, it applies only to us, and we should allow other Christians to make their own decision based on their circumstances. As G. Campbell Morgan once said, “Something is expedient for you that is not expedient for me; something is expedient for me that is not expedient for you. Every man stands alone in the great cosmic order, and every man must find his own relationship to lawful things.”
-D. Eaton
The Fight of Faith 