The Proper Use of Freedom

“Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.  Honor everyone.  Love the brotherhood.  Fear God.  Honor the emperor.”

(1 Peter 2:16-17)

As Christians, we tend to err in one of two ways. Some of us fall into legalism. We depend upon the law to attain for us salvation and the blessing of God. And, on the other side of the spectrum, some of us fall into antinomianism. We believe that, because we’re saved by grace, it doesn’t matter what we do. We feel that we can do as we please because God freely forgives us.

Both of these mindsets are a misunderstanding of the gospel. Scripture tells us that the Law does not save us. In fact, it cannot do so. And it also tells us that the Christian life is one of repentance. It’s a life of turning from sin and living for the Lord.

In the above verses, Peter tells us to live as people who are free. And we should do just that.  We should do so because, again, we are not saved by our obedience to the law, but by the grace of God. We have also been freed from the requirements of the ceremonial law.

This truth takes a great weight off of our shoulders. No longer must we be consumed by efforts to earn our salvation. And no longer are we burdened by unrealistic requirements that have nothing to do with our redemption.

However, that being said, we are not to use this freedom as an excuse for our sin. We cannot live as we please, doing as we choose, believing that our sinful actions will be overlooked by God. We must not live in unrepentance, believing that it doesn’t matter.

We must bear in mind that, since we’re now free from this bondage, we are servants of God.  We must not forget that our life belongs to him. And we must not forget that we’ve been called to willingly and gladly honor him in all that we do.

In this spirit, we’re to honor everyone. We’re to love the brotherhood, meaning the people of the church. We’re to fear God. And we’re also to honor those who rule over us.  In all of these ways, we act as servants of God.