Sermon highlights from Boundaries Week 2. Sermon by Mike Adkins; notes compiled by Dan O’Toole.
Big Idea:
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God’s People Don’t Just Think of Their Own Freedoms, But How These Freedoms Will Impact Others.
Week 2 Main Scripture:
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1 Corinthians 10:23-31
What is a Boundary?
A Boundary is a Line We Draw That Determines What We Keep In Our Life or What We Keep Out.
What do you need to keep inside your life that is helpful and healthy for you to become the person God wants you to be?
What things do you need to keep out of your life that could add pain, sorrow, and hardship?
God puts boundaries in our lives because he loves us, not because he doesn’t want us to be free. These limits are meant to make us more free while protecting us from unnecessary harm.
Grace is the Unmerited Favor of Jesus on Our Lives.
Because of Christ’s sacrifice, we are no longer under the Mosaic law. We don’t have to follow the law perfectly to earn his love or our salvation. But we are also not free to continue sinning.
Instead, because of Christ’s love and grace, we have the freedom to learn more about who he is and what pleases him, which leads to living out the law as a loving response. Following the law is no longer transactional. It is now relational.
Stones of Remembrance
Some of the boundaries that God has drawn in your life are meant to remind you that God is the deliverer and he is faithful. So, when you look ahead at the uncertainty of the future, you can know with certainty that God is with you.
Not only is God a deliverer who promises to rescue his people from sin and slavery, but he also promises to give them a home, a promised land, where he heals, restores, and renews.
What Happens When We Don’t Believe Boundaries Are Necessary?
When we don’t exercise boundaries in our lives, we will experience more unnecessary drama and suffering and continue to fall into our old traps.
Another problem we fall into is replacing one addiction or idol with another while still thinking we are free. It’s no good to trade Egypt for another form of enslavement.
What Does it Mean for Us to Limit Our Freedom for the Sake of Someone Else?
How we treat others determines the effectiveness of our testimony of Christ’s impact on our lives.
In Philippians 2:3-4, Paul challenges Christians to do nothing out of selfish ambition but rather value others above ourselves. This flips the “me first” perspective of the world upside-down. We should seek to bless people around us, not use them to get what we want.
1 Timothy 5:8 is another example of freedom without limits to the detriment of others in circumstances where you have the resources and ability to provide for your relatives but choose not to. You’re misusing your freedom if you know what’s right and choose to do what’s wrong.
Proverbs 13:22 demonstrates how to constructively use your freedom by storing up an inheritance for generations after you.
Romans 12:9-10 instructs us that love must be sincere. We devote ourselves to one another and honor one another above ourselves. In our sincere love, we establish boundaries against what is evil, and we cling to what is good.
How to Know a Decision Is Correct
A Decision Is Correct If We Act According to Our Convictions and Build Others Up.
We have the freedom to do anything, but not everything is beneficial or constructive for ourselves and others. Before making a decision, it’s important to ask two questions:
- Are My Decisions Beneficial to People Around Me?
- Are My Decisions Building Others Up?
The Problem is that We Don’t Draw Boundaries in the Right Places, Which Leads to Many Arguments.
Why are so many Christians so angry today? We confuse convictions (indisputable, non-negotiable matters from scripture) with preferences (disputable matters or opinions).
We have to be cautious that our preferences don’t rise to the level of convictions. When everything becomes a conviction, this leads to legalism.
We have to be cautious that our convictions don’t fall to the level of our convictions. When your convictions become preferences, this leads to compromise.
We Are Not Called as Christians to Go “Sin Hunting.”
In 1 Corinthians 10:25, Paul encourages us to live a life that doesn’t approach situations with the intent to raise questions of conscience. We don’t have to go looking for controversy every time we go out into the world.
Self-righteousness and pride lead to seeking out all the wrong in others. If we’re going to go “sin hunting,” we might as well start by looking at our own lives first. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We were just as deserving of God’s wrath and vengeance as any other wicked person. But God sent Jesus to save those who believe in him and who repent of their wickedness.
Why are we expecting lost people to act like Christians when they don’t have the Holy Spirit at all?
We must deal with people whose consciences are weak because God dealt with us in our weaker consciences.
Looking to learn more about boundaries? Go deeper here.
