I’ll be teaching these eight principles about Christian Liberty to our 7th – 10th graders today.  There are many adult believers who ought to take them to heart as well.  I am thankful for good Bible curriculum from BJU Press.  These principles are taken from Bible Truths:  Lessons from the Early Church, 4th Edition.

1. Love, not simply knowledge, should govern our actions. Often, pride because of our knowledge hinders our ability to act in love. We stop thinking of others when pride enters into our daily experience.
2. Some Christians have weak consciences. A believer with a weak conscience is undecided in his judgments about a particular matter. He regards something sinful even though it is not actually sinful. Those with weak consciences are more likely to violate their consciences. Once they do, they have sinned (Romans 14.23). This means that activities that are neither immoral or illegal might be sinful for a particular believer. Knowledge is often not the problem with a weaker brother; it’s his weak conscience.
3. Food does not make us less or more spiritual. The food you eat won’t cause you to stand closer to God. However love might lead you to forsake certain foods or activities, if you know they harm the conscience of another Christian.
4. A Christian should never cause another believer to stumble. Love is others-focused. No Christian is at liberty to exercise his rights if in doing so he harms another believer.
5. Christians are free to deny themselves. Grace teaches the believer to do just that.
6. Christians should seek to edify one another, not to cause spiritual harm. The church would be a lot better off if believers refused to engage in any activity that did not build up other believers.
7. Christians should use common sense in matters of Christian liberty. It takes discernment. If a Corinthian was invited to dinner, he shouldn’t ask if the meat had been once offered to idols. If the host announced that it had, he shouldn’t eat it.
8. Do all to the glory of God. The goal of every Christian ought to be to live an eternal quality of life. He does so by demonstrating God’s gifted righteousness through Christ for the Father’s glory. God must be all in all for us.