1) Today’s question is based on Mt. 12:10. Was this healing “lawful”?
2) Much of life involves the “lawfulness” of certain activities.
3) Our world often speaks of what is “legal and illegal,” “criminal and non-criminal,” “moral and immoral.”
4) We find these same concepts in the spiritual realm.
a) Virtually every single thing we can come up with is either “lawful” or “not lawful.”
b) A lawful item is either an “obligation” or it is an “option.”
5) If something is not lawful, it falls into the category of being “unlawful.”
a) What are some “lawful” (permissible) things that man is obligated to do?
b) Some of man’s lawful obligations are associated with family.
6) Wives are told to be in “subjection” to their husbands (Eph. 5:22); this is lawful as well as a duty.
7) The church also a family; it is to “subject itself” unto Christ (Eph. 5:24); this is another lawful act.
8) Paul spoke about husbands in Eph. 5:25 and this is where we start reading – READ verse 25.
9) Husbands are authorized to love their wives and this is not an optional matter – it is an obligation.
10) Another lawful act that is a duty is found in Eph. 5:31 – READ
11) Another lawful obligation is found in Eph. 6:1 – READ
12) Lawful obligations are not only in the area of family, they extend to worship.
a) It was on the “first day of the week” that Christians met (1 Cor. 16:2).
b) In 1 Cor. 4:17 Paul said he taught the same thing in “every church.”
c) Since Paul taught the Corinthians to meet every Sunday, this was what he taught everywhere else.
d) It is also in the Corinthian letter that we read about five acts of worship.
e) These actions all tell us these items are lawful for Christian worship.
f) Our example of these things show they are not only lawful, they are weekly obligations.
13) Other lawful obligations found in the Bible include the steps to become a Christian.
14) We know it is lawful to teach people to have “faith” because this is a condition given in Heb. 11:6.
15) We know it is lawful to tell people they are obligated to repent because of verses like Acts 17:30.
16) Confession is lawful and obligatory because of verses like 1 Tim. 6:12 and Acts 8:36-38.
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18) Teaching people to seek first the kingdom is lawful and a duty because of verses like Mt. 6:33.
SOME THINGS ARE LAWFUL AND OBLIGATIONS, BUT OTHER MATTERS ARE LAWFUL MATTERS THAT ARE OPTIONAL. THIS POINT MAY ALSO BE DEMONSTRATED IN MANY WAYS. FOR INSTANCE:
1) A lawful matter that involves personal choice is fasting.
a) Jesus fasted (Mt. 4:2) and some first century Christians fasted (Acts 13:2-3).
b) Fasting is lawful, but it is not an obligation.
2) After a morning service we eat together. This activity is lawful.
3) Going back to the Corinthians letter, we read about something like a church potluck.
a) Listen to 1 Cor. 11:21-22 – READ The abuse led to the instructions in verse 33 – READ
b) If the Corinthians would “wait for one another,” they could still eat together.
c) If they thought they were too hungry to wait for others, they need to eat before they came – verse 34 – READ
4) It is lawful for Christians to eat together on the day they assemble but this is not an obligation.
5) When we have a potluck, we hope all or the majority will stay.
HAVING COVERED THE BASICS OF WHAT IS LAWFUL, LET’S THINK ABOUT THINGS THAT ARE NOT LAWFUL.
1) Towards the end of the Galatian letter Paul spoke about the “works of the flesh.”
2) He listed things like “fornication, idolatry, sorcery, and drunkenness” in Gal. 5:19-21.
3) These kinds of activities are never right. Mt. 4:10 says “only God” is to be served and worshipped.
4) This passage tells us it is never lawful to worship the devil or anyone or anything else.
5) Another item that is always wrong is denying Jesus. Mt. 10:33.
6) Many things are always wrong, but some things are only wrong in certain circumstances.
7) The Scriptures tell us to obey civil authority; this is a lawful that is right.
8) Herod (civil authority) told the Wise-men to return to him when they had found the Lord.
9) On the one hand God says “obey civil authority” but here in Lk. 2 He said, “Don’t do it.”
10) In some cases things that would normally be wrong are actually right.
11) The 4 principles in this lesson can be applied to virtually every circumstance in our lives.
Commentary for the Sermon on the Mount
