Christian Liberty, 2 Cor 3:17

As a result of our salvation in Jesus Christ, through the Spirit of God in us, we have liberty.  With our Christian liberty: 

We are free from the bondage of corruption – Rom 8:21 – death cannot hold us [1 Cor 15:50-55].  Rom 8:2 we will live forever.  Our bodies will die if Jesus doesn’t return in our lifetimes.  However, our spirits and souls go on living forever.  Then, when Jesus returns, our bodies will rise from their graves and he will fashion or bodies to be like his glorious body.  We will live forever and be free from corruption.

We are free from the bondage of sin – Jn 8:32-36; Rom 6:7 – with Jesus Christ you finally have to power to be free from sin.  The law told you “thou shalt not” but the law was powerless to free you.  Jesus died for your sins and frees you from those sins.  He does not necessarily deliver you from your sins, though.  In many cases, you must appropriate his grace in dealing with sin.  Though you are free from sin, you are not free to sin.  As you see in Rom 6:18, 22, we became the servants of righteousness.  In Rom 6:20, when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.  We are not held by any sin, we freely choose to serve God or to serve sin.  You can’t serve them both but you will serve one or the other.

We are free from the bondage of the law – Gal 5:1 – we don’t have to do the law to have righteousness since righteousness was imputed to us when we were saved [Rom 4:4-8].  But with our righteousness we are not above the law [Gal 5:14, Rom 13:1, 6-10, 1 Pet 2:13-16].  In 1 Pet 2:13-16, maliciousness is the intention to commit an unlawful act.  We are free to obey God’s law when his law supersedes the law of man as in Acts 5:28-29.

We have practical limits to our liberty.  We are limited:

  • When our liberty is a stumblingblock to others; Rom 14:14-21; 1 Cor 8:9-13
  • When our liberty is an occasion to the flesh, Gal 5:13, 19-21. Thus Gal 5:16-17
  • When our liberty is a false liberty promised by those in corruption, 2 Pet 2:19

The ultimate limit to our liberty is the judgment seat of Christ, Rom 14:10-12; Jas 1:25

Conclusion: if you are not saved, you will never be free from your sins and from death until you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.  So, get saved today.  If you are saved, you are free from the bondage of death, sin and the law.  But be careful that you don’t abuse your liberty.  You will give account at the judgment seat of Christ.