The Proper Use Of Freedom

Freedom is dangerous in the hands of those who do not want to be responsible. That’s why criminals are confined in prisons with barbed wire, steel bars, and concrete barriers. Or consider someone setting a campfire during a record summer heat wave that spreads into a dry forest, quickly becoming a blazing inferno.

Unchecked freedom can create chaos, i.e., rioting.

Even though Christians are free from observing the Old Testament law of Moses — its curse, penalty, and guilt-producing power — we are still under law today. Under the New Testament law of Christ, fear, anxiety, and guilt are replaced by peace, forgiveness, and liberty. Who could be more free than one who is forgiven of his sins?

But many times, here is where we fall short. We use freedom’s luxury to live selfishly, or we claim ownership of what God has merely entrusted to us. We slip into patterns of self-indulgent living, especially in an affluent society such as ours.

The proper use of freedom is “faith working through love” — to serve one another (Gal. 5:6,13).

When we expend our energies by loving God and helping others, the destructive works of the flesh will be restrained by God (Gal. 5:16-21). Therefore, let us always use our liberty to build up — never to tear down. Like a raging fire, freedom without limits, boundaries, or responsibility, is extremely dangerous.

However, when freedom is a controlled freedom (1 Corinthians 9:27; cf. Romans 8:13; Colossians 3:5-10), it becomes a blessing to all (Romans 6:17-18; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11; 1 Corinthians 7:22; 1 Peter 2:11-16).

—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets

Related Article:

• What Is True Freedom?