One of the greatest blessings that comes from being a Christian is that God saves us simply because He is good and offers us salvation as a gift that does not require any conditions to receive except our willingness to take it. Isn’t that wonderful? Doesn’t that prove God is a loving God? God does not only provide us salvation through His Son Jesus Christ, He gives us the awesome privilege to become His children. In fact, by becoming His children, we have the right to inherit His promises.
While this is a marvelous truth, sadly both Paul and Peter warned that believers could take advantage of this liberty to do evil and cast aspersions on the name of Christ. During the times of the apostles some reasoned that since salvation was not contingent on works, this meant they could take Christ’s free gift and then go ahead and live the old life with all of the temporary pleasures that sin brings. After all, since they cannot lose it, the reasoning went why not get the best of both worlds.
The bible declares there is nothing new under the sun. Just as that teaching existed during the ministry of Paul and Peter, it is still around today. While this idea of living like the devil after trusting Christ is bad enough, what is tragic is there are those who are in leadership positions in Christian circles who not only teach this but advocate for it as well. They teach that we have no need to be in what they call bondage by living a holy life, but instead celebrate the liberty we have in Christ to such an extent that practically anything goes.
As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. (1 Peter 2:16) The main problem is those who live like this are using that same liberty that God graciously gave us as a “cloke of maliciousness.” In other words a person is taking advantage of God’s gift. Sadly, this attitude has resulted in uncounted multitudes going to hell.
After all, if a Christian’s lifestyle is no different than that of a lost man, it makes it difficult to convince them of their need for a Savior. It’s worthwhile that we ponder on these two Scriptures below which is unmistakably clear about not using the gift of salvation in order to indulge into sin.
You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love (Galatians 5:13).
Dear friends, if we deliberately continue sinning after we have received knowledge of the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice that will cover these sins (Hebrews 10:26).
Moreover, you cannot live this kind of lifestyle and get away with it because of the consequential nature of sin. The good news is God is faithful and just He does not leave you on your own or as an orphan after saving you from sin. He sends the Holy Spirit who is the helper to indwell you in order to empower you supernaturally to live a holy life. Keep that in mind, if you have been saved by accepting Christ as your savior you are no longer a slave to sin.
Meaning that you are to live a completely liberated life since there is power in the death, in the blood, and in the name of Jesus to help you overcome sin. Most importantly, God saves you with a clear purpose so that you can serve Him while here on earth, do His will, and one-day get to be with Him forever in heaven.
When one considers the costs that come from using your liberty for ill means, it is not worth the price you must pay. Sin is something that is very deceptive, sin will never get tired of you. The more you keep on sinning, the more you want to sin, which will result in more enslavement. Why not making a decision to live a life pleasing to God rather than pleasing to yourself? Why not taking full advantage of what God has already provided you through His Son Jesus Christ by His Spirit to live a life free from the power of sin?