TRUE LIBERTY IS ONLY OBTAINED BY OBEDIENCE TO GOD'S LAW THROUGH THE FAITH OF JESUS CHRIST

Many professed Christians today think that liberty through the gospel of Jesus Christ is liberty from keeping God's holy law. They are happy to accept that Christ paid the penalty for their sin, but wrongly believe that Christ has set them free from having to keep God's commandments and are now at liberty to continue living in sin and worldliness. And many, without even realising it, continue to be slaves to sin, which will end in death, not life. Read Romans 6:18-23 very carefully!

Romans 6:18-23 ...'Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.'

Do you see what God is saying through Paul? Jesus has given us liberty and freedom from sin to become servants of righteousness and holiness. What FRUIT should we have now in our lives? Continued worldliness and sin? No! No! That will end in death. Our fruit through the liberty in Christ should be unto HOLINESS and RIGHTEOUSNESS, which will end in eternal life.

Let us apply this false theory of freedom in Christ to continue living in sin and worldliness to a real world scenario. Which of the following two people truly have liberty and is free?

Person 1 is a law abiding citizen and enjoys the freedom to go about their business each day.

Person 2 is a thief and murderer and is on the run from the authorities, because if caught, they will go to prison.

Which of the above two people have true freedom and liberty? Obviously it is the law abiding citizen, person 1. This is because person 1 keeps the law of the land and therefore that law is not "against" that person (Galatians 5:23) and they are free. But person 2 is a continual breaker of the law of the land, therefore they do not enjoy the freedom and liberty, as prison or some form of punishment awaits them. The same applies to professed Christians. The fact that the Son of God had to die because of our transgression of God's law, shows that God's law cannot be changed or done away with. Because if God's law could be simply changed or done away with, then Jesus would never have needed to die. God's law and the laws of the land (in general) are there for a reason - to give us peace, freedom and liberty.

Psalm 119:44-45 ...'So shall I keep thy law continually for ever and ever. And I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts.'

Why could David say he would 'walk at liberty'? Because he sought after the commandments of God, keeping them before him to guide him. This is the REASON David could say he would have freedom and liberty, through obedience to God's law, just like person 1 above. Person 1 only enjoyed the freedom and liberty that person 2 could not enjoy because they kept the laws of the land. In the same way, professed Christians can only enjoy true peace, freedom and liberty by keeping the commandments of God through the faith of Jesus Christ. And only through Christ, I might add, as we surrender our lives completely to Him.

Psalm 119:165 ...'Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.'

Isaiah 51:7 ...'Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings.'

Many professed Christians speak of God's moral law summed up in the ten commandments, as a burden. But how could these moral precepts be a burden and yet David could speak of them in such a beautiful, loving manner? No, the burden that the Jews placed themselves under was trying to keep God's law themselves, without faith in Christ (Romans 9:31-32, Romans 10:3). And yet it is repentance of our sins against God's law that is an important part of the gospel message, just as the apostle Paul and Peter confirmed:

Acts 20:20-21 ...'And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house, testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.'

Acts 3:19 ...'Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.'

Is this not a vital part of the gospel message above, given by Paul and Peter? Yes. And what is repentance? Is it not being sorry for our sins and turning away from them? And what is sin? Is it not "transgression of the law" of God? (1 John 3:4). So what should we be seeking to do if we are to repent and turn away from sinning against God's law? We should be seeking to keep God's commandments, just as we are told God's final remnant people are doing (Revelation 14:12). THEN we can enjoy true liberty, as James confirmed:

James 1:25 ...'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 confirmed in James 2:12 that we will be judged by the perfect law of liberty, which verses 10-11 confirm is God's moral law contained in the ten commandments. Person 2 above was judged by the law of the land and will go to prison, because they did not continue in the law and abide by it. Whereas person 1 was judged by the law of the land as a keeper of it and therefore enjoyed liberty, freedom and peace. Thus the same applies to God's professed people. We will be judged by God's holy law and will only be free if we are found to be doers of it through Christ.

John 8:32 ...'And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.'

Psalm 119:142 ...'Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth.'

Psalm 119:151 ...'Thou art near, O Lord; and all thy commandments are truth.'

John 17:17 ...'Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.'

We can only enjoy true liberty by seeking after and being doers of God's truth, of which God's holy moral law as confirmed above is truth. And that includes 'ALL' of God's ten commandments, not just 9. As James confirmed in James 2, if we do away with just one of God's commandments (like the 7th day Sabbath), then we are guilty of breaking them all, because God is not seeking for us to just be doers of 'some' of His commands, but ALL of his commands. Many professed Christians reject the 4th commandment and in doing so are rejecting ALL of God's commandments, for if we reject even one of God's commandments as not truth, then we are saying that God's Word is not truth, and thus we can never be free by rejecting the truth.

Now we cannot speak of keeping God's law without the faith of Jesus Christ, as it is only by the faith of Jesus that we can be keepers of the law of Jehovah. And this is where the Jews stumbled as Paul confirmed in Romans 9. The Jews sought to keep the law themselves, apart from faith in Christ, seeking to be justified by their own works of the law. And if anyone seeks this today, they will fail and will never be free, as the law itself cannot help us keep the law. It can only show us the right way. But because we are of carnal, fallen flesh, we can never keep God's holy law ourselves and thus the law will judge us as sinners and slay us. This is why the Spirit of life in Christ is so vital to this message. Take a look at what the apostle Paul said:

Romans 8:1-7 ...'There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.'

There is so much truth in the above passage. First of all, what did Paul say was the reason that the carnal mind is against God? Because it is not subject to the law of God. So in saying this, Paul is confirming that the law of God still stands. But the problem lies with our fallen flesh which cannot be in subject to God's law in of itself. We could try and keep God's law ourselves, but because of our fallen flesh we would never be able to keep the law perfectly and thus we would still never be able to experience true liberty, peace and freedom. Only through Christ can this be achieved.

Through the perfect life that Jesus wrought out in human flesh, He is able to give us that life through the Spirit.

The wrong way to keep the commandments is to seek to keep them ourselves, apart from Christ. This will always result in death, as we can never keep the commandments of God ourselves in this fallen flesh. This is the 'law of sin and death' that Paul speaks of above. The right way is to repent of our sins, seeking to be doers of God's commandments through faith in Jesus, looking to Him to cleanse us of all sin and do the work in us through His Spirit. This will bring us life and is the 'Spirit of life in Christ Jesus' which Paul speaks of above.

Jude 1:24 ...'Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.'

Ezekiel 36:26-27 ...'A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and CAUSE YOU TO WALK in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.'

Jeremiah 31:33 ...'But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.'

This is the promise of God, IF WE BELIEVE - to change us, to put a new spirit in us and write His LAW in our hearts and CAUSE US to walk in His ways and KEEP His commandments. This is why the remnant of God shown in Revelation 14:12 are 'keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.' They BELIEVE in God's Word. They accept ALL of God's commandments, including the 4th commandment as TRUTH. They have accepted Jesus into their hearts, walking in the Spirit and are allowing Christ to live out His life in them (Galatians 2:20).

Ask yourself a question. If you are 'walking in the Spirit' of Christ, will Christ perform anything in your life that is contrary to the law of God? No, because that would be sin and death. Christ sacrificed His own life because of our sin against God's commandments. Is He now going to live in us and cause us to do that which brings about sin and death? No, never! The apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 3:17 that "where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty." Why is there liberty where the Spirit of the Lord is? Because the Spirit of the Lord causes us (if we believe and are willing) to walk in God's ways and keep His commandments. And as we learned above, those who walk according to the commandments of Jehovah have liberty and are free indeed. Praise God!

For important studies connected with this article, please see the following:

CHRIST AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS

WAS THE LAW ABOLISHED IN 2 CORINTHIANS 3?

SUNDAY CHURCHES MISSING KEY POINT REGARDING THE 7TH DAY SABBATH