1 Peter 2:16 KJV
[16] “as free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.”
Christian liberty does not mean we are free to do what we want. It means that we are free to do what God wants. It does not mean we are free to sin but rather free to say no to sin. Christian liberty means that we are free to live for Jesus. Christian liberty never made anyone in the Bible more godless or worldly, but Christian liberty sets a believer free to be more holy and less like this world.
There are those today who like to abuse this liberty by saying there are no rules or regulations in how we ought to live and that it is all about our relationship with God. They teach that God loves us so much that he doesn’t want to make us miserable by regulating our lives or placing demands on us. They constantly attack believers who try to practice holiness, calling us legalistic in our teaching and preaching. They misuse and abuse Scripture by saying that we are as the Pharisees were because we preach against sin and call it by name.
Let me first say that if Christian liberty meant going back to living and looking like we did before we got saved, then that’s no liberty at all. Dear reader, we know that living that kind of life was nothing but bondage. I see a lot of so-called “Christians” acting and living like they did before they were set free. It doesn’t take a theologian to figure out that they are abusing their so-called “Christian liberty” to justify their worldly living.
Secondly, I would like to point out that our parents taught us that relationships all have rules and regulations. Our parents loved us too much to let us do whatever we wanted. Their love for us motivated them to give us rules to live by. I may not have always appreciated it at the moment, but I never thought they did it because they hated me.
I agree that rules without a relationship will cause rebellion. However, this does not mean liberty frees me to do what I want. God desires to make us more like Him. He set us free from sin to live for Him and to accomplish His will in our lives. What a great life it is serving the Lord. We are no longer slaves to sin. We must not misuse our liberties in this world. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we can live within the boundaries God has given us and enjoy the fact that we can say no to sin, no to the flesh, no to the world, and no to the Devil. I challenge us to use our liberties to honor God in this sinful society. Let the world see Jesus in the way that we live.