Walking In Liberty Without Wounding Your Brother

What if the strongest thing you can do with your freedom is lay it down for someone else’s good? We walk through Romans with Pastor Carl to explore a countercultural vision of Christian liberty—one that refuses to flaunt rights and instead chooses love that protects tender consciences and builds real community.

We start where everything begins: the cross. Christ bore reproach and died for us while we were still sinners, setting the pattern for self-denial that lifts others. From food and drink to technology and daily habits, we unpack how neutral things become harmful when they distract, divide, or entice a brother back into chains. Paul’s warning about the judgment seat of Christ brings gravity to our choices, while his call to pursue peace, righteousness, and joy in the Holy Spirit gives us a positive map for everyday decisions.

Along the way, we address modern flashpoints like alcohol in a culture marked by addiction, the hidden idolatry of devices, and the subtle pride of “proving” our freedom. Pastor Carl highlights how true strength bears with the weak, enters only when invited, and aims for edification over ego. We also celebrate the gospel’s power to unite Jews and Gentiles—people with deep, different histories—into one body that majors on Christ rather than minors on preferences.

If you’ve ever wondered how to hold convictions without becoming judgmental, or how to enjoy liberty without becoming a stumbling block, this conversation offers clear, Scripture-shaped guidance. Listen, reflect, and consider where love might ask you to yield. If the message resonates, share it with a friend, subscribe for more verse-by-verse teaching, and leave a review to help others find the show.

Come On Up is the radio ministry of The Mountain Cross in Waynesville North Carolina. To learn more about us please visit: TheMountainCross.com.

Chapters

• 26:00 Marker 01

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:05

Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, and we shall walk in his paths.

SPEAKER_00 0:13

Welcome to Come On Up, the radio ministry of the Mountain Cross in Waynesville, North Carolina.

SPEAKER_02 0:20

Jesus could have stood up and said, Oh, you, you, y'all are the ones that need the reproach, not me. But because of his great love for us, even while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. When we had no idea we needed his redemption, he took care of the task of taking on the sin of the world. And so if he could deny himself for our sake, can we not in Christ deny ourselves for the sakes of others?

SPEAKER_00 0:49

While we were still stuck in sin and purposefully sinning against God, Jesus died on the cross for us. Before we ever repented and turned from our sin, before we even knew who Jesus was, he willingly chose to go to the cross in faith that you would repent and be saved. In today's message, Pastor Carl will remind you of that great sacrifice Jesus made while you were essentially hating him. If Jesus can be so selfless to rescue you out of sin, can't you give the same grace to those still stuck in their sin? And now, here's Pastor Carl.

SPEAKER_02 1:28

We put so much effort into, we have the freedom to eat this pork, and praise God, go at it. As long as you receive it with thanksgiving and ask for God's blessing on it, more power to you. But there are other things that we eat that we know that aren't good for us, and some of them it affects us differently than others. And so we know personally these things that we eat will affect us, and we want to be good stewards of our bodies. It's the temple of the Holy Spirit. So we're careful not to partake of those things, but we don't pass judgment on those that do, or we shouldn't, right? This is what Paul's trying to get at. We do it to the glory of God. For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. If indeed we are Christians, if indeed we are believers in Jesus Christ and have been changed, we become new creations. We are now servants of God. We used to be slaves to sin, and now we are bond servants to Jesus Christ. And as we grow in the Lord and realize that his grace working in and through us, it's our desire to glorify him in all that we do. And so none of us lives because of our own lives anymore. And none of us dies to himself. Paul in another place says, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. My life is all about Jesus in the here and now and forever. But if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. Is it your primary heart, your primary goal to glorify God with your life? To know God, to walk with God, to be loved by God and to love Him in return, and then serve the brethren to love one another in Christ. For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that he might be both Lord of the dead and the living. Jesus is our Savior. And if we die, we've gained Christ. And as we live, we're living for Christ, in Christ. May He be the Lord of our lives and all that we do, and may not our flesh get in the way of our relationships with one another. But why do you judge your brother? Why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. He's bringing in the master again. I'm responsible before the Lord, not before others that come and nitpick about me. And those that I nitpick to, trying to help. The Lord does so much better job. Let's point to Jesus. Let's point each other to Jesus because we will stand before the Lord as it is written. As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. This is a verse that sounds like another verse that every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. This is a different verse that says, We will confess to God what we have done. As he says in verse 12, so each of us shall give account of himself to God. We will be giving an account for our lives. And the Lord will burn away the staff and the what is it, the straw and the wheat and the chaff is going to be burned away, and the precious metals and stones that are the works of Jesus in and through our lives, those things will remain. Therefore, let us not judge any uh one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or to cause to fall in our brother's way. Paul is saying, you're trying to help by saying these things to your brothers and your sisters, and you're flaunting your freedom, your liberties, but you're not helping them along in their grace, in the freedom, in the liberties that God has given us. In fact, you're causing them to stumble and to doubt their faith, and maybe even walk away from the Lord. We don't want people to walk away from the Lord. We want people to stand strong in his grace and his mercy and show it to one another. Verse 14, I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself, but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. We have personal convictions about stuff that have been a stumbling block in our in our walk in the Lord, and so we avoid these things. If I'm forced to do something that I feel is wrong, that's going to be a stumbling block for me. Cell phones. One of the worst evils today, right? Yet one of the greatest tools we've been ever given. Do we destroy them all? I think it's almost impossible at this point for us to do without technology. I couldn't do my work without technology. We couldn't have what we're doing without technology. But it's what we do with it. It's the heart that we put into it. Does it become an idol? Does it become a distraction for us? Then it becomes sin. But the phone itself is not good or bad. It's not clean or unclean, right? Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you're no longer walking in love. And this is where we get mixed up. We think we're walking in powerful faith. When we walk in our liberties, I have the freedom to eat this pork sandwich. And I don't care what you think because, well, you're you've got smaller faith than I do, and I'm going to show you what a man of God does. He says, Thank you, Jesus, and he takes a bite of the thing. Instead of putting yourself into your brother's shoes and understanding there's a background here. At the Church of Rome, it was Jews and Gentiles that have come to faith in Jesus Christ. And the Jews have a deep, deep love for the word and for the dietary restrictions that they've been given, which in fact most of the time are healthy restrictions, but it's not a matter of salvation, is it? And if we force our way upon our brothers, because it is our way, we're not forcing the liberty of Christ, we're forcing what we perceive to be our liberties on them, and we cause them to stumble. And we have to give an account for that. Why did you make your brothers stumble instead of encouraging them in the Lord? And instead of denying yourself a little bit. I choose not to partake of this because I know what it's going to do for my brother. I want to lift up my brother. I want to strengthen my brother. My brother is more important than me at this moment. May the Lord give us that perspective. May the Lord give us that heart. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died. Ouch! Look back at the cross. What did he do for you? He took your sin away as far as the east is from the west. He took your brothers away as well. You are free indeed. But not free to cause your brother to stumble. Is taking that food so important to you, you're willing to trip out your brother, whom the Lord died for. I can't imagine the things that were going through Paul's mind when he was writing this. Because these things that we're talking about enter into some gray areas. Because we do want to encourage our brothers. And when when they come together and say, if we're talking about food, brother, I need help with my food. Because I'm, I just, I know I shouldn't be eating this stuff, but I just love this stuff. But and I know I'm free to eat it, but I know I would benefit if I if I ate a better diet. Would you come alongside me and help me in having victory over this and finding a way that will work for me and my body to glorify God? And you say, Yeah, brother, I'm gonna come with you. When you're invited in, we come in and start talking about stuff. But if you're not invited in and you start saying stuff, you're causing troubles and you're bringing people away from a relationship with you and bringing people away from a relationship with the Lord. May it not be said among us. Therefore, do not let your good be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not about eating or drinking, but about righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. We live in a fallen world, our bodies are disintegrating, and yet the Lord has given us life, he has given us his righteousness. Have you pondered on that lately? We were wretched sinners, and he gave us his righteousness, and with that, he gives us his peace. We are right with God because of Christ on the cross, and we can rest in that. And that brings a joy in our lives that's unspeakable. It's not a happy, happy, but it's a joy, it's a deep peace, knowing that we are right with the Lord. And whatever comes my way, I can stand and say thank you, Jesus. And it's because it's real, the Holy Spirit is with us, convicting us, conforming us, encouraging us, building one another up. We're all from different backgrounds, but we got Jesus in common. Let's encourage each other in the Lord. That's what the kingdom of God is about. It's not about nitpicking. Verse 18. For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men. Serves God in what things? In the righteousness, in the peace and the joy. How do you serve God in the righteousness in the peace and the joy? You believe the gospel and you walk in it. The Lord has given us this gift. Let's take a hold of it and run with it. Therefore, let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which we may edify one another. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are pure, but it is evil for the man who eats with offense, repeating it another way. Yes, in Christ you have great liberties. But don't use those liberties to trip up your brother. There's a trend in the church today that many more people find the freedom in drinking beer and alcohol. You know, the Lord has given us the fruit of the vine, so let's partake of it with joy. And yes, I can see that. And it says, don't be drunk, you know. So there's there's an you know you go so far and you and you celebrate the goodness of God. And I can see that, and I see the liberties in the word. But we live in a nation that alcoholism has taken hold of so many people and ruined so many lives. If you have a brother that has tendencies with alcoholism and has overcome it for years, but then you start drinking in front of him and saying how great it is, it doesn't take but one drink to mess him up for the rest of his life. Let's have compassion. In Calvary Chapel churches, um, we don't tell you that you can or cannot drink, but we do say the leadership has chosen not to partake of any alcoholic beverage. The closest thing that I come to is kumbacho? What do you huh? I can't even say it. Kumbuka. No, I don't know what it is. It's it's some fermented thing that's good for your digestive system. And some of them actually taste good these days. Most of them don't. But just so you know, you know, this pastor and and the leadership of our church do not partake of alcoholic beverages simply for the sake of we don't want to trip anybody up. It's okay. And I don't particularly like the taste of alcohol anyway, so it's easy for me to say I won't do that. But are there other things that I don't do that I could do, but I don't do for the sake of others? Yes. And that should be our heart toward one another. I'm not going to do this because I have a right to do this, and even in the Lord, we we stand sometimes, I've got freedom, I got the joy, and I'm walking in faith, and you're causing other people to trip up. Be careful how we use the freedoms and the liberties that the Lord has given us. It is good neither to eat meat or to drink wine, nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak. Which brings us to chapter 15. We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak and not to please ourselves. Again, in his grace, Paul is saying, Now I'm talking to y'all who are strong in your faith. With a little smirk in his mouth here. Because the truth is, if I'm having to write these things to you, you're not all that strong in your faith, are you? Again, we all have plenty of room to grow in our faith. The Lord in his righteousness, his goodness, his wisdom, and his knowledge is eternal. We're going to be growing in him forever, even past this life. When we're in heaven forever and ever and billions and trillions of years, we'll still be learning and growing and being conformed to his image. It's glorious, it's amazing. Let's not think we've arrived. And don't put others down because they have weird reasons of doing things. Do they love the Lord? Are they living for him? Well, praise God. Encourage them in it, and say, our God is good, isn't he? Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification. For even Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, the reproaches of those who have reproached you fell on me. He's quoting from Psalm 69. It was David read writing this, but it's also messianic in a way. David serving the Lord, because of the Lord, had the reproaches of man come upon him. Our Lord, when he came and became one of us. You saw how he related with the Sadducees and the Pharisees, the religious leaders, the representatives of God, they hated him. They reproached him. They sent him to the cross. And Jesus could have stood up and said, Oh, you, you, y'all are the ones that need the reproach, not me. But because of his great love for us, even while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. When we had no idea we needed his redemption, he took care of the task of taking on the sin of the world. And so if he could deny himself for our sake, can we not in Christ deny ourselves for the sakes of others, for the sake of others? For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that through patience and comforts of the Spirit we might have hope. The things that the Jews bring into the body of Christ, the whole history of the word. We at Calvary Chapel Churches, we teach through the whole word of God, Old Testament and New Testament. We don't just pick and choose New Testament verses. The Old Testament leads to the New Testament. It's all the story of God's grace. And it's been given to us that we might have hope. And now, giving a great blessing, now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus, that you might be one mind and of one mouth to glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Old Testament God, the New Testament God, He's the same God. And we worship Him together. We focus on Him together. We pray to Him together. We listen to Him together. We glorify Him together. This is what the Lord has given us to do as the church. And as we do that, we grow in the comfort of God and the patience of God, not only toward us, because I think part of the problem is we don't realize how we stand with the Lord. We still have guilt, we still have shame that the enemy many times brings to us to get us off track, to trip us off. But when we realize that the Lord has accepted us because of the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross, we're free in Him. And we have that peace. We have that comfort. We sense the patience of the Lord as He does this beautiful work of conforming us to His image. As we grow in realization of who we are in Christ, it affects how we treat our brothers and sisters in the Lord. Verse 7. Therefore, receive one another, just as Christ also received us to the glory of God. Who are you to reject someone who has called on the name of Jesus Christ? Now, of course, Paul talks about wolves and false teachers and different things like this, and this is where you know you use discernment. But he's talking about people that have come to faith in Jesus Christ, that have had their lives changed. Who are we to reject them? Because the Lord has accepted me. And as Paul says, Paul would say, I'm the chief of sinners. Oh, wretched man that I am, who's going to save me from this body of death? Have you felt the same way? I know what my heart thinks and does and has done. I know, left to my own devices, how evil a person I really am. But God has changed me and He's brought me near. And if He's brought me near, He's brought others near as well. Receive one another. Now I say that Jesus Christ has become a servant to the circumcision for the truth of God, to conform the promises made to the fathers, and that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy, as it is written, for this reason I will confess to you among the Gentiles, and sing your name. Again, he's talking to this church, which is the melding between the Old Testament Jewish nation who has come to faith in their Messiah, and their lives have been fulfilled. They're fulfilled Jews. They're completed Jews. That's the word I'm looking for. They're completed Jews. And because they have come to faith, Paul has been called to go out to the Gentiles and declare declare the good news to the Gentiles because Jesus didn't just die for the Jewish nation. He died for the whole world through the Jewish nation. And now he's bringing it all together. And it's all because Jesus laid down his life. He didn't demand the things that he could have demanded. Instead, he humbled himself and he became a servant so that we could be reconciled to him, Jews and Gentiles together, and praise his name for his goodness. He goes on and quotes more from the Old Testament. Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people. Let's not nitpick about little things. Let's rejoice in the Lord together and the salvation that he's brought us. Jews and Gentiles together. Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles. Laud him all you peoples. And again, Isaiah says, There shall be a root of Jesse, and he who shall rise to reign over the Gentiles, in him the Gentiles shall hope.

SPEAKER_00 24:07

That's Pastor Carl of the Mountain Cross. He's simply going through the book of Romans, verse by verse, chapter by chapter. There's just something about having the full counsel of God's Word, and that's our aim, to read and go through the full counsel of what God wants to teach us. Imagine the Apostle Paul writing this letter and sharing the good news, the gospel, to the nations beyond. He was giving a thorough explanation of the fact that before Jesus, we were trapped in a state of sin that was oppressive and limiting. Even following the laws of the Old Testament wasn't going to do us any good, as far as needing to be rescued. But through Jesus' mercy and grace, every single person has the opportunity to be brought into the fold, the family of God. Isn't that an incredible thing to think about? We are adopted by God and brought into his family. If you're not sure what some of this means, or if you'd like to learn more about being adopted by God, you can go to themountaincross.com where you can get a clearer understanding of what it all means for you personally. We have a tab at the top called How to Know God. Click on that and go from there. Once more, that website is themountaincross.com. We're so glad you've taken the time to listen to what Pastor Carl had to share in today's study of Romans. There's so much more to grow in as we study the Word. So come on up to the mountain with us again tomorrow as we seek to learn more from the Lord through his word. Come on up is sponsored by the Mountain Cross, a Calvary Chapel fellowship.