True Freedom

“Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God.”  1 Peter 2:16

We who live in what the song writer called the “sweet land of liberty” have a great responsibility to preserve that freedom which our forefathers obtained for us at great cost over two centuries ago. At the same time, we must not turn liberty into license. It would surely hurt those brave and godly men if they could see how we now use “freedom of choice” to justify murdering multitudes of innocent children before they are born, and how we use “freedom of speech” to warrant fouling the eyes and ears of children with widespread pornography and to promote all kinds of immoral behavior in our society in general. No nation can remain free very long after such practices become widely accepted by its citizens. We need to pray for revival!

The same warning applies to the abuse of our spiritual freedom in Christ. As the Apostle Paul said and repeated: “All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable” (1 Cor. 6:12). Also, in 1 Cor. 10:23, he added that “but not all things edify.”

As Peter says in our text, even though we are “free” and have real “liberty,” we are nevertheless “bondslaves of God.” Our liberty in Christ is not freedom to sin whenever we so choose, but rather freedom from our former bondage to sin. “Having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness” (Rom. 6:18).

Although our nation is rapidly becoming anti-Christian in belief and practice, we Christians can still best serve our nation and our Savior by practicing and proclaiming Christ’s wonderful saving gospel of free salvation from sin and regeneration unto righteousness.