19 Bible Verses about Religious Freedom
Most Relevant Verses
For you brothers were called [by God] to enjoy your freedom; but do not use this freedom as an excuse for living a sinful life; instead, use it to render loving service to each other.
Christ bought us back from the curse [caused by our not obeying all the requirements] of the law of Moses; He became a curse for us [by dying on the cross], for it is written [Deut. 21:23], "Every one who hangs on a tree [i.e., a cross] is cursed [i.e., cut off from God]."
Christ set us free [from condemnation under the law of Moses], so we could stay free! Remain where you are then, and do not get tangled up again in the enslaving harness [of the law of Moses].
Now the Lord [i.e., Christ] is the Holy Spirit, and there is freedom [from the bondage of sin and fear] wherever the Spirit of the Lord is.
For the law of Moses was [only] a foreshadow of the good things that [were] to come [i.e., in the Messianic age], not the exact image of those things. It can never, by the same sacrifices, continually offered year after year, make [morally] perfect those who draw near [to God in worship].
One person has enough faith that allows him to eat anything [i.e., without it bothering his conscience that the food, such as animal meat, was used in an idolatrous worship ceremony]. But the weak person can eat only vegetables [conscientiously].
Were you a slave when you were called? It should not matter to you [i.e., if you still are]. But if, indeed, you can become a free person, then use that freedom instead [i.e., for serving God].
But pay attention [to this], so that somehow this liberty of yours [i.e., to eat whatever you want to] does not become an occasion over which weak people could fall [away from God].
For sin must not be your master [i.e., it must not have power over you], for you are not governed by law, but by God's unearned favor.
"Everything is permissible [to do];" but not everything is profitable [See note at 6:12]. "Everything is permissible [to do];" but not everything builds [people] up.
that is, for the sake of the other person's conscience, not your own. For why should my freedom [to eat what I want] be judged [as wrong] by another person's conscience? [Note: The questions in this and the following verse may mean, "it is not worth eating questionable things, if doing so would bring criticism from a weak brother"].
For [certain] false brothers, who were secretly brought in to observe us practicing our liberty in Christ Jesus [i.e., by not having Titus circumcised], attempted to place us [back] under the bondage [of Mosaic law keeping].
The commander answered, "It cost me a large sum of money to obtain this [right of] citizenship." Paul replied, "But I am a Roman citizen by birth."
For the person who was a slave when called by the Lord is [now] the Lord's freed person. In the same way, the person who was free when he was called [by the Lord] is [now] Christ's slave.
But now, since you have been freed from [the practice of] sin and have become slaves to God, the benefits you receive are a holy life [here] and never ending life in the future.
But you should welcome [into your fellowship] the person whose faith is weak, and not argue [with him] over questionable matters.
One person regards a certain day more important than another; the next person regards every day alike. Each person should be fully convinced in his own mind [i.e., concerning their relative importance].
They certainly have an appearance of wisdom, [displaying] self-prescribed worship and [false] humility and asceticism, but they lack any value in curbing the desires of the physical passions.
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