Freedom is not License
I came into this world physically alive but spiritually dead, I learned to live my life independent of God. Essentially, that is what constitutes the flesh. I had neither the presence of God in my life nor the knowledge of God's ways, so I learned to cope and defend myself as I was being conformed to this world. This learned independence is what makes the flesh hostile toward God. That is why the flesh and the Spirit are in opposition to one another.
Being children of God, the presence of the Holy Spirit restrains us so we will not do the things that we please. If there were no moral restraints and no boundaries to govern our behavior, we would drive ourselves into moral decadence. Imagine the air traffic controller saying to the pilot, "You have my permission to land any time and any place you want". . .
God wants us free, but freedom is not license. I believe we are free by the grace of God to live a responsible life. In the early part of the twentieth century, a rigid fundamentalism had left our churches frozen in legalism. In the '50's it began to thaw, and the Jesus People movement of the 60's and 70's melted into license for many. The pendulum had swung from the justice of God to the mercy of God. . .There's always a price to pay for license. True freedom doesn't lie in the exercise of choices, but in the consequences of the choices made. You may reserve the right to tell a lie, but you'll be in bondage to it because you'll have to remember the nature of the lie and to whom you told it. You may choose to rob a bank, but you will always be looking over your shoulder, fearing you may by caught. That's bondage.
- From Walking with Christ in the Details of Life by Patrick Morley; part of The Inspirational Study Bible: New Century Version by Max Lucado
But clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ and forget about satisfying your sinful self.
-Romans 13:14
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If you love the world, the love of the Father is not in you. These are the ways of the world: wanting to please our sinful selves, wanting the sinful things we see, and being too proud of what we have. None of these come from the Father, but all of them come from the world. -1 John 2:15-16
Being children of God, the presence of the Holy Spirit restrains us so we will not do the things that we please. If there were no moral restraints and no boundaries to govern our behavior, we would drive ourselves into moral decadence. Imagine the air traffic controller saying to the pilot, "You have my permission to land any time and any place you want". . .
God wants us free, but freedom is not license. I believe we are free by the grace of God to live a responsible life. In the early part of the twentieth century, a rigid fundamentalism had left our churches frozen in legalism. In the '50's it began to thaw, and the Jesus People movement of the 60's and 70's melted into license for many. The pendulum had swung from the justice of God to the mercy of God. . .There's always a price to pay for license. True freedom doesn't lie in the exercise of choices, but in the consequences of the choices made. You may reserve the right to tell a lie, but you'll be in bondage to it because you'll have to remember the nature of the lie and to whom you told it. You may choose to rob a bank, but you will always be looking over your shoulder, fearing you may by caught. That's bondage.
- From Walking with Christ in the Details of Life by Patrick Morley; part of The Inspirational Study Bible: New Century Version by Max Lucado
But clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ and forget about satisfying your sinful self.
-Romans 13:14
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If you love the world, the love of the Father is not in you. These are the ways of the world: wanting to please our sinful selves, wanting the sinful things we see, and being too proud of what we have. None of these come from the Father, but all of them come from the world. -1 John 2:15-16
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