1 Peter 2:16, “Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. The King James Bible translates 1 Peter 2: 15-16 as, “For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: As free, and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.”
Grace that comes from God to the repentant sinner is not a license to continue to sin, therefore, it is not to be used as fire insurance to save people from the gates of hell even though they choose to stay enslaved to sin. The flesh, this world’s view and the devil convince people that they have freedom to live as they like. Jesus pointed out this way of thinking was not true. The truth is that unrepentant sinners are in bondage – but in Christ repentant sinners are set free to choose to whom they want to be enslaved.
Through Romans 6:16-23 the Lord wants you to: Remember Something. Christians can only “Proclaim Freedom in Christ” when they live like they remember their decision to accept the ultimate price paid for their sin and that they have invited Jesus to be both Savior and Lord of their lives. Romans 12:1-2 says, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–His good, pleasing and perfect will.” Those who live in a nation with a motto, “In God We Trust” take notice of Christians who live sacrificially for the Lord because these illuminated Christians are able to find God’s will for them and live it out. Those who live in America notice the huge difference between those who are truly born again and those who have only a form of godliness while denying the power of God.
Do Something. Serve the Lord with the same enthusiasm and fervor that you served sin. When I was without Christ I could work for my dad pitching hay bales, go to my work at the State Hospital and stay out late into the night drinking and tasting the false sweetness of sin. Jesus said the most important commandment is to, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:30) By way of application the Holy Spirit moved the Apostle Paul to write, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” (1 Corinthians 9:24-27)
Proclaiming Freedom in Christ is achieved by living by the whole counsel of God’s Word enjoyed through a relationship with Jesus Christ.
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