Free...to SIN?
Page 2

May I be so bold as to suggest it sometimes appears today that some of God's children believe they have been liberated, set free...to do as they please.  After it has been fully explained to us that we are no longer slaves to The Law--we have been liberated from that which could not save us--we receive this admonition:

For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty;
only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh,
but by love serve one another.
Galatians 5:13

Shall we tote our blood-bought ticket to heaven in our hip pocket and see just how much we can get away with and still have eternal life?  What is this liberty we've been granted?  Is it the liberty to do as we please, make our own rules, abide in our "own personal preferences"?  From what have we been set free?  Are we no longer servants?

Being then made free from sin,
ye became the servants of righteousness.
Romans 6:18

For when ye were the servants of sin,
ye were free from righteousness.
Romans 6:20

The Bible says we're free from sin, not free to sin.  And it says we're now the servants of righteousness.  Are we seeking to be free from righteousness?  God forbid!  How do we know what righteousness looks like?  Well, by knowing and following the commandments of God--not by following the desires of our own hearts or abiding in and enjoying our "own personal preferences".  Remember, if God said it, that settles it, whether we believe it or not.

But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.

(Jeremiah 7:23)

And for those who get nervous about quotations from the Old Testament...

As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, [so] walk ye in him.  (Colossians 2:6)

Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak [this] to your shame.  (I  Corinthians 15:34)

Blessed [are] they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.  (Matthew 5:6)

That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

(Ephesians 4:22-24)

By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.  (I John 5:2)

What does the Bible say about...?  What does the Bible say about...?  If the Bible says something about..., then it must be important enough to God that He gave us instructions in that area.  If it's important to God, it ought to be important to His children...unless we prefer to walk in our own ways, according to our fleshly desires, our own "personal preferences".

I have, myself, read in the Bible or heard a teaching which my flesh simply didn't like.  Oh, the hoops we will jump through sometimes in order to avoid submitting to something which doesn't appeal to our flesh.  "I think it means...."  "It was just a custom."  "That doesn't apply today."  "I have liberty now--I don't have to obey that command."  Another favorite way of circumventing Scriptural commands is to find and isolate another passage which standing alone would appear to negate the command.

It's a different story if a messenger is saying a believer will go to hell for eternity if they don't walk perfectly in the ways of the Lord.  Remember, The Law showed us that we're sinners in need of a Saviour.  Why, though, would we not want to know and walk in the ways of our Lord?  Why would we choose to call Him Saviour and not serve Him also as Lord?  Disciples of Jesus Christ should desire to please Him in all things--not desire to accept His sacrifice, then live according to the flesh.

What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?  Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.  (James 2:14, 18)

Most of us are familiar with the passage known as "The Great Commission", Jesus' instruction to the eleven disciples:

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.  (Matthew 28:19,20)

Jesus told them to teach believers to observe all the things He had commanded.  Never should we follow the teachings and traditions of men if or when they contradict the doctrine of God.  Never should a person be told they're going to hell because they're failing to walk righteously in all their ways.  As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one. (Romans 3:10)  But never should we slander, judge, or condemn someone for saying what God says.  If God didn't say it...IGNORE IT.  If God said it, should we not heed it?

The ticket's in my pocket, now I'm free to do according to my own pleasures and preferences.  No, He loves me and He gave me eternal life through Jesus--I want to love Him, serve Him, be pleasing to Him in all my ways, receive all His blessings, and be a vessel fit for His use.

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.  (II Corinthians 5:17)

Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.  But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.  For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.  But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth [therein], he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.  (James 1:21-25)

Pharisee!  P h a r i s e e !   Let us prayerfully consider what motivates us to accuse others of legalism and condemn them.  A pharisee is teaching the commandments and traditions of men and saying their listeners will go to hell if they don't walk perfectly in those ways or in the ways of God.  A pharisee tells his listeners that membership in his church or denomination and adherence to its unScriptural tenets are mandatory for salvation, and all others are going to hell.  That person should be corrected.  That person is wrong and doesn't know God, according to Scripture.  That person should be lovingly guided to an understanding of and relationship with the One True God.  Again, there are religions today which do this very thing and are sending people down the path which leads to destruction.

It's not a pharisee who will say what God says.  It's not a pharisee who desires to be a servant to righteousness.  A pharisee wants his own power, his own glory, his own control, and considers himself above correction.  That's what the Bible depicts as a "pharisee"--a religious leader who demands of others that they live according to the letter of the law and ordinances and in compliance with manmade traditions and rules or they'll be lost for eternity.

Don't be tricked into believing we are FREE TO SIN.  We are freed from sin when we walk in the Spirit, not the flesh.  If we do not desire to know the ways of God and walk in them...we need to pray, "Lord, create in me a clean heart."

Just how much sinning can we do and still go to heaven?

What a peculiar question for a child of God to ask.

Lord, create in me a clean heart.

Blessed [is] the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.  But his delight [is] in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.  The ungodly [are] not so: but [are] like the chaff which the wind driveth away.  Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.  (Psalm 1:1-6)

I believe that God desires His children to live righteously--God has said so.  I believe a "pharisee", a "legalist", a "hypocrite", is one who meets the criteria set forth in Scripture regarding those people--God has said so.  I believe Jesus has set us free from sin, not set us free to sin--God has said so.  I believe we are servants to righteousness--God has said so.  I believe in the last days people will not endure sound doctrine--God has said so.

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;  And they shall turn away [their] ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.  (II Timothy 4:3,4)

This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.  For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,  Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;  Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.  For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,  Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

(II Timothy 3:1-7)

See Lacey's page of encouragement for those who shrink from Scriptures they feel threaten their liberty: II Peter 2

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