How to Interpret the Bible (part 20) - Expediency: Principles for General Commands 2
Introduction. After having time to consider last week’s article, how can we now sum up the principles of expediency? First and most important, these principles are limited to being lawful. If God has given a specific command, there can be no expediency! When God gave exact methods, our wisdom is always wrong. When Nadab and Abihu using their wisdom brought fire that was not commanded, God destroyed them. When Moses used his wisdom to strike the rock he was told to speak to, he was barred from the Promised Land. All additions to God’s specified laws are always unlawful (2Jn. 9). To be expedient it must first be lawful: “All things are lawful; but not all things are expedient. All things are lawful; but not all things edify” (1Cor. 10:23). Only after working on the seventh day (Sabbath) became lawful could we discuss whether it was expedient or not to work.
After it is determined that God has said nothing specific about the subject, expediency brings harmony and unity to opinions and convictions that differ. Expediency removes the right to condemn or show contempt toward those who do not share our “human” convictions. Some Jews still held convictions that eating meat was wrong. Others had faith to eat all things. Neither group could bind their convictions on others. “For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him.” (Rom. 14:2-3).
So while we stand firm on any doctrine or practice where God has made His will known, expediency forces us to compromise in all areas where God has not revealed His will. All the prejudices, convictions or strong emotions we hold toward anything based solely on culture or family tradition must be removed.
Though truth can never be compromised, everything else can! As the gospel went into every nation and disciples began to mingle, tensions were created that could only be traced to human opinion. People raised in different cultures had strong prejudices against one another that would hinder evangelism and the unity and edification of the church. When Gentiles entered the church on equal footing with the Jews, each must set aside their personal convictions and prejudices to lovingly preach the gospel and to receive one another as brethren.
In a similar way the self-righteous must set aside their contempt of the sinner (Lk. 18:10-13). Since all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, no sin of immorality, idolatry or false doctrine is worse than any other. Even the incestuous fornicator in Corinth was to be forgiven and restored. No servant of God can hold another in derision or disdain so that they will not preach to them. Israel had to overcome its prejudice of the Gentiles because Jesus’ death was to “reconcile them both in one body unto God through the cross, having slain the enmity thereby” (Eph. 2:16). Yet it was a very slow process. The principles of expediency slowly eased and removed all these tensions, prejudices and powerful convictions.
But we must continually remind ourselves that truth can never be compromised for the sake of either unity, brotherly love or friendship! Once we know God’s will, we can’t compromise it, even if it makes enemies within families (Mt. 10:34-39). If it is God’s will, all other considerations are immaterial, even if it causes us to be persecuted and even if it divides the church.
But many of the things that have divided a church or created controversy have nothing to do with God’s will. They are only matters of human judgment that could have been set aside for the sake of love and unity. How do we tell the difference? By understanding and living the principles of expediency revealed in Romans 14 and in 1 Corinthians 8-10.
Paul’s own example (1Cor. 9:19-23) is very helpful to see the guidelines of expediency. He began with the scope of his discussion. “For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more.” If he was free, then he was not speaking of the obligations of God’s commands, but the freedom of the unspecified commands.
This statement contains the heart of expediency. Everything that is lawful can be engaged in or set aside depending on the circumstances and feelings of others. When Paul was among Jews “I became as a Jew, that I might gain Jews.” What does this mean? It means he would circumcise Timothy (Acts 16:1-3) and pay for those with vows (21:23-25) while among Israel to remove any prejudice that would hinder his influence or lead others to reject his preaching.
Yet though he knew he was not bound by these things, when “false brethren secretly brought in” sought to “bring us into bondage,” “we did not yield submission even for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.” (Gal. 2:1-5) This also illustrates the parameters and boundaries of expediency. If the opinion of another seeks to bring us into bondage, then we stand firm and refuse to compromise. When a general command is bound as a specific one we stand against it, but if it remains a general command, we can become all things to all men.
Thus Paul was willing to make any change necessary regardless of his previously held convictions in order to convert as many as possible. So when he was in the midst of those “under the law, as under the law, not being myself under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law.” So as Paul preached to Israel, he changed his conduct and preaching to minimize any prejudice. He would keep the Sabbath, eat only the food that the Law prescribed and walk orderly.
Yet when Paul left those under Law and lived among the Gentiles who were “without law,” he preached and acted “as without law.” He no longer kept the Sabbath or any part of the Law that had been done away. He did not force them to be circumcised or in any way take on Jewish customs and culture. He did not need to create more tension than the Gospel itself demanded. He was “not being without law to God, but under law to Christ.” Clearly everything Christ demanded he continued to do among the Gentiles, he was not advocating hypocrisy. He was not advocating immorality or ungodliness in order to fit in. But everything that was lawful to give up, in order to minimize differences, was done “that I might gain them that are without law.”
If Paul was with “the weak I became weak, that I might gain the weak.” He felt no need to look down upon or condemn sinners. He converted the drunkard, homosexual, idolater and extortioner (1Cor. 6:9-11). Though Paul himself may have had strong feelings about the vile nature of certain sins, he was forced to remove them. In minimizing the stigma of the sin and maximizing the humanity and the value of the sinner’s soul Paul was able to do much good.
No matter who Paul was with, he could set aside his own ways of doing things or viewing things in order to “become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some.” This is the true role of expediency. As he went into all the world operating under the principles of expediency, these were his guidelines and now they are ours!
Conclusion. The principles of expediency demand love, tolerance and acceptance. They demand we assess all of our convictions and weed out any prejudice or conviction that God has not revealed in Scripture. Once we understand that it is not truth that has created this conviction, and that there are not laws in Scripture to justify our attitude, we must place it in the blanks of the verse below:
To fully understand this concept, consider Peter’s prejudice and conviction that should have been removed after he became a Christian.
After it is determined that God has said nothing specific about the subject, expediency brings harmony and unity to opinions and convictions that differ. Expediency removes the right to condemn or show contempt toward those who do not share our “human” convictions. Some Jews still held convictions that eating meat was wrong. Others had faith to eat all things. Neither group could bind their convictions on others. “For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him.” (Rom. 14:2-3).
So while we stand firm on any doctrine or practice where God has made His will known, expediency forces us to compromise in all areas where God has not revealed His will. All the prejudices, convictions or strong emotions we hold toward anything based solely on culture or family tradition must be removed.
Though truth can never be compromised, everything else can! As the gospel went into every nation and disciples began to mingle, tensions were created that could only be traced to human opinion. People raised in different cultures had strong prejudices against one another that would hinder evangelism and the unity and edification of the church. When Gentiles entered the church on equal footing with the Jews, each must set aside their personal convictions and prejudices to lovingly preach the gospel and to receive one another as brethren.
In a similar way the self-righteous must set aside their contempt of the sinner (Lk. 18:10-13). Since all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, no sin of immorality, idolatry or false doctrine is worse than any other. Even the incestuous fornicator in Corinth was to be forgiven and restored. No servant of God can hold another in derision or disdain so that they will not preach to them. Israel had to overcome its prejudice of the Gentiles because Jesus’ death was to “reconcile them both in one body unto God through the cross, having slain the enmity thereby” (Eph. 2:16). Yet it was a very slow process. The principles of expediency slowly eased and removed all these tensions, prejudices and powerful convictions.
But we must continually remind ourselves that truth can never be compromised for the sake of either unity, brotherly love or friendship! Once we know God’s will, we can’t compromise it, even if it makes enemies within families (Mt. 10:34-39). If it is God’s will, all other considerations are immaterial, even if it causes us to be persecuted and even if it divides the church.
But many of the things that have divided a church or created controversy have nothing to do with God’s will. They are only matters of human judgment that could have been set aside for the sake of love and unity. How do we tell the difference? By understanding and living the principles of expediency revealed in Romans 14 and in 1 Corinthians 8-10.
Paul’s own example (1Cor. 9:19-23) is very helpful to see the guidelines of expediency. He began with the scope of his discussion. “For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more.” If he was free, then he was not speaking of the obligations of God’s commands, but the freedom of the unspecified commands.
This statement contains the heart of expediency. Everything that is lawful can be engaged in or set aside depending on the circumstances and feelings of others. When Paul was among Jews “I became as a Jew, that I might gain Jews.” What does this mean? It means he would circumcise Timothy (Acts 16:1-3) and pay for those with vows (21:23-25) while among Israel to remove any prejudice that would hinder his influence or lead others to reject his preaching.
Yet though he knew he was not bound by these things, when “false brethren secretly brought in” sought to “bring us into bondage,” “we did not yield submission even for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.” (Gal. 2:1-5) This also illustrates the parameters and boundaries of expediency. If the opinion of another seeks to bring us into bondage, then we stand firm and refuse to compromise. When a general command is bound as a specific one we stand against it, but if it remains a general command, we can become all things to all men.
Thus Paul was willing to make any change necessary regardless of his previously held convictions in order to convert as many as possible. So when he was in the midst of those “under the law, as under the law, not being myself under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law.” So as Paul preached to Israel, he changed his conduct and preaching to minimize any prejudice. He would keep the Sabbath, eat only the food that the Law prescribed and walk orderly.
Yet when Paul left those under Law and lived among the Gentiles who were “without law,” he preached and acted “as without law.” He no longer kept the Sabbath or any part of the Law that had been done away. He did not force them to be circumcised or in any way take on Jewish customs and culture. He did not need to create more tension than the Gospel itself demanded. He was “not being without law to God, but under law to Christ.” Clearly everything Christ demanded he continued to do among the Gentiles, he was not advocating hypocrisy. He was not advocating immorality or ungodliness in order to fit in. But everything that was lawful to give up, in order to minimize differences, was done “that I might gain them that are without law.”
If Paul was with “the weak I became weak, that I might gain the weak.” He felt no need to look down upon or condemn sinners. He converted the drunkard, homosexual, idolater and extortioner (1Cor. 6:9-11). Though Paul himself may have had strong feelings about the vile nature of certain sins, he was forced to remove them. In minimizing the stigma of the sin and maximizing the humanity and the value of the sinner’s soul Paul was able to do much good.
No matter who Paul was with, he could set aside his own ways of doing things or viewing things in order to “become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some.” This is the true role of expediency. As he went into all the world operating under the principles of expediency, these were his guidelines and now they are ours!
Conclusion. The principles of expediency demand love, tolerance and acceptance. They demand we assess all of our convictions and weed out any prejudice or conviction that God has not revealed in Scripture. Once we understand that it is not truth that has created this conviction, and that there are not laws in Scripture to justify our attitude, we must place it in the blanks of the verse below:
- “Let not him that (does ______) set at nought him that (does not _____) and let not him that (does not_____) judge him that (does______)”
To fully understand this concept, consider Peter’s prejudice and conviction that should have been removed after he became a Christian.
- "Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; 12 for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision. 13 And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before them all, "If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews?" (Gal. 2:11-15).