Why can't I?

Why can't I?

Just a summary of what I took away from Pastor Teo's preaching at YF.

Why can't I do this or why can't I do that(Dye hair, pierce ears, drink...)? Its not based on rules or a whole book of laws. (律法主义)。There would be no end to the adding of rules, the debating of them and also the agreement of to what extend the rule covers. eg. how short/long should my hair be? How light should the shade of my dyed hair color be? How many ear holes can I drill? Is one allowable..is 2 allowable...

Since why I can't do this/that is not based on rules? What should it be based on? Very clearcut, its:

1. Its based on PRINCIPLES being revealed to us in the bible. Please note that capital letters. Its the principle being brought out in God's Word.

eg. Why can't I be scantily dressed?
From the bible, we know that those in the nude or almost in the nude are always being shamed. Like Noah when he was drunk, Adam/Eve when they realized that they are naked after eating the fruit, the minor prophets when God wanted to make a point that Israel would be shamed similarly because she as a nation had rebelled against God.
From the above, the principle is of cause that a state of scantily dressing represents shame.

Another example. From His Word, we know that we as children of God should not follow the world. From this principle, we do not follow the world in its latest fashion. Also, we know that we are no longer slaves to sin but slaves to righteousness. Being slaves to righteousness, we just CAN'T lead a life of that of a slave of sin.

2. Love for God, love for others and love for self.
We love God. We love His temple and do not mess up the church, spray graffiti all over. Similarly we know that our body is also a holy temple belonging to Him. We can't just mutilate/tattoo our selves because that is simply not God's intention.

Jesus commanded us to love others as we love ourselves. Loving ourselves means taking care of our body, ensuring that we are healthy. If we pierce our tongues for example, there is a risk of infection even to the point of being a mute. We are not really loving ourselves if we expose ourselves to such risk.

3. Wisdom

Why can't I drink?

Well we do not go to the extreme of saying that if you drink, you are a dead devil/sinner. Its simply because the words of the wise man in proverbs mentions that we should not indulge in drunkenness. And the easiest way of avoiding drunkenness is to avoid drinking.
Again we emphasize the point that we do not go by a follow the thick book of rules approach in a 'legalistic' way of deciding if this can or tthat cannot. We do not just condemn someone who drinks a little. By just that the surest way of avoiding drunkenness is to avoid drinking.
And the consequences of being drunk might just occur once, eg. being involved in an accident and the results are non-recallable, resulting in life time regret for that one mistake.

4. Submission

Finally, why can't I? Its simply to submit to God. God does not give us 101 reasons why we can or cannot do something. He wants us to have faith in His Will and submit to it. To submit to His principles as revealed in the His Word, the bible. To submit and love God. To submit to His wisdom.

Thanks be to God for His Word revealed to us.