What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?
Rom 6:1-2
Freedom in Christ is a glorious thing! There is no other freedom like it. Too many Americans today boast in being free when they are actually in bondage. Christ revealed the same fact to the Jews in Jn 8:31-32: “Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, ‘If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.'” Did you notice that they believed Him?!! These were willing to follow Christ until He spoke these words, and, in their pride, they refused His teaching and responded, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?” What kind of bondage were they in? They were under the worst slavery mankind has ever seen. They were slaves of sin! You will never meet a more cruel master. There have been wicked masters of men that have murdered those who served them, but this master will destroy both the body AND the soul! There’s only one hope of escape: “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” (Jn 8:34-36) True freedom is only in the Lord Jesus.
Rom 8:2 says that in Christ we have been made “free from the law of sin and death.” Some today would teach that this verse means we can do whatever we want. After all, doesn’t the first verse of the same chapter say, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus”? Can we ever be condemned if we are in Christ? Absolutely not! If Jesus died for my sin, my debt has been paid in full! His blood is sufficient to cleanse me from all my sin–past, present, and future. But, we need to make sure we read the rest of Rom 8:1 which characterizes those who are in Christ as being individuals “who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” If you are a new creation in Christ Jesus (2 Cor 5:17), you no longer desire the things you once did. You have an appetite for God now (Jn 6:53), an appetite for righteousness (Mt 5:6), and you no longer desire the things you once did. Simply put, “If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” (1 Jn 2:15)
In 2 Pet 2, we find that false teachers will come in among the church (v. 1) , and they will draw men who have cleaned up their act for a time away into sin (v. 18). What tactic will they use to accomplish this deception? V. 19 says these false teachers will declare freedom to their followers, but the reality is that “while they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption”. It’s the same lie the serpent used in the garden. He promised Eve freedom if she would disobey God, but in reality, she was brought into bondage. Be careful, dear soul. There are preachers right now excusing their sin and boasting in the liberty they claim to have in Christ when the truth is that they are consumed by the things of the world, namely, “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life”. (1 Jn 2:16) Truly, if Christ has made us free, we possess the only real liberty that there is, but that liberty never gives way to lawlessness. Remember Gal 5:13: “For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”
Jamie