Freedom to...What?   Today's Three-minute Bible Study Print, Study and Apply Title: Freedom to...What? ------------- Date: 12/08/1998 Key terms: "flesh" "freedom" "love" "slavery" Welcome to eXXit, the web site designed to help you stand strong in the face of sexual temptation. Passage: Galatians 5:13* 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. Questions 1. Our world has seen over and over again the ugliness of slavery contrasted with the beauty of freedom. One scene that is etched in many of our minds is the television shot of German young people standing on top of the Berlin Wall when it was in process of being torn down. That Wall symbolized the contrast between freedom and slavery as well as any physical barrier ever could. a. What new potentials for good existed for East Berliners on the day that the wall came down?   b. What new potentials for evil existed for East Berliners on the day that the wall came down?   2. In Galatians 5:13, Paul says that freedom brings new possibilities for the Christian. What are two of those possibilities, according to this verse?   3. What is the expected purpose for which Christians are to use their God-given freedom?   Practical Help Freedom is a powerful force. Freedom can be used to benefit those around us, or it can be used to destroy. Christians are free. How will we use our freedom? We are free from the Law's condemnation, free from having to try to measure up to be good enough to reach God, free from an endless list of do's and don'ts. But that doesn't mean that we have been set free to do only those things that fit our personal agenda. Just as Jesus was free (and He was freer than any of us will ever be) and used His freedom to lay down His life for others, so Christians are to use their freedom to serve and to love. Are you "free" to use your freedom in Christ to do what you want, even if that action hurts others? Are you "free" to seek satisfaction of sexual urges by logging on to pornographic web sites, even though that will bring pain to those you love? The Bible says that would be a misuse of your freedom. Instead, you have been freed by your faith in Christ to serve lovingly those around you, just as Jesus did. Loving service is life-giving and energizing. Feeding the lusts of the flesh produces death! eXXit homepage Index of three-minute studies Copyright 1998 by eXXit *"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, © Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission."