--As we noted yesterday, the concept of Christian liberty has been a part of our faith from the very beginning, when the Church leaders had to reconcile the holiness requirements of Judaism with the new influx of Gentiles into the faith.
--Some of the Jewish converts wanted Christians to live according to all these laws, arguing that God doesn’t change the rules in the middle of the game. And this is understandable because those practices had become the key identifying trademarks of Jewish identity. Giving such things up is not easy at all.
--But Gentile converts neither knew these practices nor saw the point of them, arguing not only that God was clearly declaring their irrelevance in accepting them with the Holy Spirit and arguing that faith in Christ rather than obedience to the law is the core of the Gospel.
--So the big question arose over how both Jewish and Gentile Christians ought to live their lives together and the pronouncement of the New Testament authors and the early Church Council at Jerusalem was simple.
--The only requirement of Christians was to obey those moral rules which come from the fundamental principles of God’s Nature and Character, such as financial generosity and sexual monogamy. These might generally be called the “rules of love.”
--In contrast Christians do not need to obey any of the ceremonial, sacrificial, or dietary restrictions or the holy days in the Old Testament because they were uniquely for the Jews to identify them as God’s people. These might generally be called the “rules of holiness.”
--Nevertheless, since Jews and Gentiles must get along, both sides must be generous to each other, Jews working to not be offended at what Gentiles do in freedom, and Gentiles not provoking Jews by flaunting their liberty in front of them.
--Thus love became the guiding principle, not particular regulations. And this freedom to live in love is what we call Christian liberty.
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