Friday, July 3, 2020
Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master because you are not under the law, but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! Romans 6:13-15
Freedom. We have the
freedom in this country to do a lot of things. But now, some freedoms have been
taken temporarily because of a Pandemic – for the greater good. Freedom means
sacrifice comes first. There cannot be freedom without sacrifice. Jesus
sacrificed His life for us so we could be free from our sins – forever. Just as
sacrifice comes before freedom, responsibility comes after freedom.
Paul had told the Roman
believers that they were free from the penalty of their sins because of God’s
grace. They were saved – no longer chained to their sins – but justified before
God strictly because of their faith. We are all bound by our sin until we are
set free in Christ. But because we know there is grace, does that mean we can
do whatever we want? Paul told the
believers By no means!
When we are free from
our sin, we become servants of God – bound to Him by His blood sacrifice. We have a responsibility to Him from this
point on. We are free, but we cannot just live as we choose. We have a book of
law to follow and a Savior to serve. True freedom is really the responsibility
to do the right thing.
Liberty
Liberty is freedom which is
constrained by ethical and social law. Liberty is based upon authentic freedom
which gives people the freedom to do what is right and good. Liberty is true and ultimate freedom. This nation was founded on the premise of
liberty. The First Amendment guarantees the right of Americans to speak freely,
to assemble, to petition, to publish, and most importantly, to practice their
religion in peace. The First Amendment does not give someone the power to do
whatever he or she wants – one still must operate within the bounds of a moral
order, even under a society that promotes liberty.
License
License means basically that freedom is a sort of anarchist chaos where
everyone does exactly what he or she wants regardless of the effect on others.
License is inauthentic freedom. More
simply, license is “freedom from.”
It is the freedom from any restraint whatsoever.
License is false freedom. A total
lack of restraint leads to anarchy and chaos in any society. Imagine a city
without traffic lights or stop signs. Absolute chaos would ensue – some of which
we are witnessing today.
A society based upon license is
corrupt and unjust and will not last. Moral
license, the idea that one should be allowed to do and act as he or she
pleases, is promoted in society by a host of virulent influences. Because of
these influences, modern society is based on the delusion that license is true
freedom. Margaret Sanger’s infamous
slogan “No Gods! No Masters!” is a perfect expression of the license that
pervades our culture. Society rejects
God and scorns obedience to any moral or natural law.
But liberty – the true liberty that
a Christian worldview provides – is fundamentally freeing. Kept within the
boundaries of faith by Christ, the Christian is free to be truly happy as he or
she explores the wonders of God’s creation, within the moral bounds which
Christ has set. The Christian who follows God's commands is free - in a way
which those who are bound to their own desires can only dream of.
For you were
called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity
for the flesh, but through love serve one another. Galatians 5:13
