They promise them freedom, but the freedom that is preached in many churches leads to bondage. This freedom fuels rebellion towards God and disobedience to Jesus Christ (活的道) 和不敬虔. 他们认为自己是自由的, while in reality they are bound and are not led to heaven and eternal life, but to hell and the second death in the eternal lake of fire. Let’s look at what the Bible says and doesn’t say about the meaning of the freedom in Christ.
Why does the freedom in Christ lead many Christians in bondage?
The freedom in Christ that is preached in many churches is not the freedom as God meant the freedom in Christ to be.
The true freedom in Christ leads to a holy life after the Spirit in obedience to God and to righteousness, 感恩, 满意, 和平, 喜悦, 和永生, instead of a sensual life after the flesh in obedience to the devil and bondage of sin and death, 抱怨, 不满,, 担心, 害怕, 焦虑, restlessness, 生气, 和抑郁症.
但是, there are many Christians that walk in the latter
This is mainly because of false preachers and teachers that are sensual and pretend to be ministers of righteousness, while in reality they are servants of corruption.
These ministers love the works of the flesh and live like the world in sin. With their compelling and flattering words, they win people over and cause them to go astray.
They proclaim a doctrine that is not founded on the Word and not according to the words in the Bible, but is founded on themselves and according to the opinion, 哲学, and will of man.
Because of this false doctrine with the associated false promises, false hope, and false liberty, wherewith they delude the people, the people are not led by the truth of God in freedom and righteousness unto eternal life, but they are led through their lies into bondage and sin unto eternal death.
What doesn’t the freedom in Christ mean?
The freedom in Christ does not mean that you can do whatever you want to do without consequences. The freedom in Christ doesn’t mean that you can live in disobedience to God and His will and keep living after the flesh in lasciviousness and uncleanness and keep sinning without consequences.
In a marriage covenant, it is also not allowed for the man or the woman to live a lascivious life and keep following the lust and desire of the flesh that leads to fornication, 不忠, 和 通奸.
Every deed that opposes the will of God and violates the heavenly laws in the universe has consequences. This applies to every covenant, including the New Covenant in Christ Jesus in His blood.
The blood of Jesus is not a permit to keep sinning
The blood of Jesus is not a permit to keep sinning. 耶稣’ blood doesn’t give you the right to be prideful and keep walking in rebellion and disobedience to God and His Word without consequences.
十字 (and the blood of Jesus Christ that was shed) is a place where the perfect sacrifice of God for mankind and reconciliation with God took place, instead of a place where pride, 叛乱, and hostility were fueled.
Jesus was nailed to the cross and carried the pride, 叛乱, 不服从, and trespasses of fallen man in His flesh, whereby the pride, 叛乱, 不服从上帝, and trespasses were nailed to His cross.
十字 means the end of a carnal life in darkness under the rulership of the devil and the beginning of a spiritual life under the rulership of God and Jesus Christ, the High priest of the New Covenant and the King of God’s Kingdom (哦. 以弗所书 2:4-10; 歌罗西书 1:13-14; 1 蒂莫西 6:14-16; 希伯来书 3-10).
既然孩子们有血肉之躯, 他自己也同样参加了同一活动; 借着死，败坏那掌死权的, 那是, 恶魔; 并送他们害怕死亡的人一生都受到束缚 (希伯来书 2:14-15)
算算成本, 在你决定跟随耶稣之前
Jesus knew what a life after the Spirit in obedience to God meant and what consequences this life has for people on earth. 这就是为什么耶稣说, 到 计算成本, before you decide to become His disciple and follow Him.
因为 跟随耶稣 means taking up your cross (日常的) and crucifying the will of the flesh and mortifying the deeds of the body. It means to walk after the Spirit in submission to God in obedience to His Word.
耶稣说, “That whosoever doesn’t bear his cross and come after Him can’t be His disciple.” (哦. 马修 10:38; 16:24-25; 标记 8:34-35; 卢克 14:27).
As long as people proclaim to be free in Christ, but use this freedom for an occasion to the flesh (罪恶的本性) and willfully keep sinning, they are not made free in Christ.
Their eyes are not opened. They are not turned from darkness to light and from the power of satan unto God (使徒行传 26:18).
Their sinful works testify that they are still a slave of sin and unrighteousness (哦. 罗马书 1:17-32; 6; 加拉太书 5:13;1 约翰 3:7-10.
耶稣说, “That whosoever commits sin is the servant of sin.” (约翰 8:34).
然而, due to false doctrines that are created by the opinions and philosophies of carnal people, who refuse to put away sin and crucify the flesh and take on the responsibility of a life by faith after the Spirit in submission to God and obedience to the Word, but enjoy their sins and love their lives in darkness and everything that the world has to offer, the image is created that man will always remain a slave of sin and will never be perfect.
This is a lie!
The flesh refuses to follow Jesus
People keep walking in disobedience to God, as long as their sinful flesh is alive and they lack the reality of God the Father, 耶稣基督儿子, 和圣灵, and the fear and love for the Lord in their lives.
爱父母过于爱我的人不配属于我: 比我更爱儿子或女儿的人不值得我. And he that taketh not his cross and follows after Me, 不配我. 找到生命的人将失去它: 为了我而失去生命的他会找到它 (马修 10:37-39)
What do carnal people believe what the freedom in Christ means?
Carnal people believe that if you believe in Jesus and that He is the Son of God and confess this and execute its rituals, you are saved forever.
It doesn’t matter how you live and what you do, because you are saved by faith and not by works. You can live your life the way you lived before your conversion, because the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross and His blood provide eternal forgiveness for your sinful life.
那是神的恩典, because you don’t live under the law anymore and don’t have to keep all kinds of rules and commandments, but you live under the grace of God in the liberty of Christ.
But the people that believe and say this are not spiritual but carnal and have no knowledge of God’s truth, whereby their minds are darkened. From their carnal darkened mind, they preach lies that advocate for the preservation of the works of the sinful flesh.
Because of this faith statement, many Christians walk as enemies of the cross in uncleanness, 淫乱, and idolatry and do all those things, 这是上帝所憎恶的.
When do you live under the law and when do you live under grace?
The Bible says that as long as sin reigns in your life, you live under the law and don’t live under grace. Because if you live under grace, then sin doesn’t have dominion over you (哦. 罗马书 6:14; 1 蒂莫西 1:8-11).
The Bible doesn’t say that you remain a sinner after your conversion and regeneration in Christ. The Bible doesn’t say that you may walk after the flesh and keep sinning and inherit eternal life, 但是那个 你将死 (哦. 罗马书 6; 8:12-14, 2 哥林多前书 5:21; 加拉太书 2:16-21; 提图斯 3:7)
The Bible also says, that you can’t use your liberty in Christ for an occasion of the sinful nature of the flesh and for a cloke of maliciousness. Just like you ought to obey the laws on earth (unless they oppose God’s Word and demand you to do something that opposes God’s will) you also have to obey the heavenly laws (加拉太书 5:13; 1 彼得 2:16; 2 彼得 2:10).
What does the freedom in Christ mean according to the Bible?
The Bible says that you are born in the flesh as a slave (a servant) 魔鬼的, 罪, 和死亡. Everyone is born in a fallen state under the rulership of the devil in darkness and is a slave of sin and death.
所以, everyone is a sinner until the moment that people hear the gospel of Jesus Christ and believe the truth of God and are convicted of their sins and sinful state and 悔改 and no longer believe and walk in the lies of the world but believe and walk in the truth of God’s Word (哦. 罗马书 6, 8; 2 哥林多前书 5:21; 加拉太书 2:16-21; 歌罗西书 1:5-29; 提图斯 3:7).
Through this faith, people repent from their heart (of their old life as slave of sin) and through the 水中的洗礼 identify themselves with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and receive the baptism with the Holy Spirit.
从那一刻起, people are delivered from the power of the devil, 罪, 和死亡. They are healed from their fallen state and made perfect.
They’re translated from the power of darkness into the Kingdom of God’s beloved Son Jesus Christ (哦. 使徒行传 26:18; 加拉太书 3:13-14; 歌罗西书 1:13-18; 2:9-15; 4:12; 1 帖撒罗尼迦人 1:10; 希伯来书 2:22-29).
The new man doesn’t belong to the devil anymore and is no longer a son of the devil that lives from a fallen state doing to the will of the father and the works of the sinful flesh.
But by faith and the 重生, the new man belongs to Jesus Christ and God the Father and has received the down payment of the Holy Spirit in fulness, whereby the new man shall walk from his healed state (位置) in obedience to the Word according to the will of the Father, doing the works of the Spirit, and in the power of the Holy Spirit mortifying the works of the body and bearing the fruit of the Spirit (哦. 使徒行传 2:37-38; 罗马书 8:1-17; 加拉太书 5:22-26; 以弗所书 4).
The spiritual translation from darkness to light and from death unto life
A spiritual translation from darkness to light and from death unto life and a spiritual transformation from the old creation to the new creation have taken place, that become visible in the natural life and the new walk of life.
但感谢上帝, 你们是罪的奴仆 (evil nature), 但你们从心底里服从了交付给你们的教义形式. 然后就脱离了罪孽 (罪恶的本性), ye became servants of righteousness
罗马书 6:17-18
The new walk of life
The believers shall seek those things, 上面有哪些, and renew their minds with the words of God, 哪些是事实. They shall spend time in the Bible and in prayer, because that’s what their new heart longs for.
They are cleansed and legally redeemed from sin by the blood of Jesus and have become servants of Christ. 因此, they shall no longer serve sin through the sinful flesh, but serve righteousness through the quickened spirit (罗马书 3-8; 1 哥林多前书 10:16; 以弗所书 2:13-22; 希伯来书 9:14-15; 1 彼得 1:18-2:25).
顺便一提, this is not only a matter of ‘having to’ but ‘wanting to’. The new man doesn’t want to live the way he (或者她) lived before, and doesn’t want to keep sinning.
If this happens, you can conclude that a person is not born again by faith. Because if you are born again and have received God’s nature through the abiding of the Holy Spirit and 全心全意地爱神, then you don’t want to do this anymore.
那我就这么说, 顺着圣灵而行, 不可放纵肉体的情欲. 因为肉体的情欲与圣灵相悖, 圣灵对抗肉体: 这些是彼此相反的: 所以你们不能做你们想做的事. 但是，如果你们成为圣灵的领导, 你们不遵守法律
加拉太书 5:16-18
God didn’t call you to uncleanness but unto holiness
作为新创作, you hate sin and don’t want to yield your members as servants at the disposal of uncleanness and lawlessness, resulting in lawlessness (罪孽). But you want to yield your members as servants at the disposal of righteousness, resulting in holiness (罗马书 6:19).
Because God didn’t call you to uncleanness but unto holiness (1 帖撒罗尼迦人 4:7).
You’ll listen to Jesus and do what He says and 遵守他的诫命 (神的诫命), which always strive with the will and lusts and desires of the flesh. (约翰 14:15-21; 15:5-12; 加拉太书 5; 1 约翰 2:3-6).
But through the truth of God’s Word and the abiding of the Holy Spirit, you have received authority and power to resist all the temptations and attacks of the devil and his army that try to make you ineffective in the spiritual warfare (哦. 罗马书 8:12-17; 以弗所书 6:10-20; 詹姆士 4:7).
What does the freedom in Christ and walking in Him means?
The freedom in Christ means that you no longer live in the bondage of the devil, 罪, and death from a fallen state in darkness. You no longer walk after the (有罪的) flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise the government of God. You are delivered thereof!
It’s just like the seed of Israel that lived in bondage (奴隶制) of Pharaoh in Egypt under the law of Egypt and were delivered from their slavery and the pagan culture, 法律, and idolatry of Egypt by God through the hand of Moses.
The Israelites were all delivered and made the transition through the water, from their old lives as slaves in Egypt to their new lives as free people with God.
God led His chosen people through the wilderness to the promised land.
But although God redeemed them all, not all of them arrived in the promised land.
The freedom they had received from God resulted for many in pride, 叛乱, 不服从上帝, 不满, 不信, 淙淙, 抱怨, 偶像崇拜, 和淫乱.
Instead of submitting unto God and obeying His Word and keeping His commandments, as they promised to do, and pleasing God, their freedom ensured that they rebelled and did everything they wanted to do.
The freedom that God had given them led for the redeemed generation to dissatisfaction and death in the wilderness, instead of gratefulness and life in the promised land. Joshua and Caleb were the only ones from the redeemed generation that were saved through their faith in God and entered the promised land.
The new creation is a servant of Christ and of righteousness
新作品是罪人, but is bought with the blood of Jesus and justified and belongs to God and has become a servant of Christ and of righteousness (哦. 罗马书 6:16-23; 1 哥林多前书 7:22-23 希伯来书 2:11-15; 9:14-15).
The new creation is delivered from sin and death and shall no longer walk in rebellion in disobedience to God in sin. But through the abiding of the Holy Spirit, the new man shall walk by faith in the law of liberty in submission and obedience to God and bear the fruit unto holiness and the end everlasting life.
但现在已经脱离了罪孽, 并成为神的仆人, 你们已经结出圣洁的果子, 和永生的终结. 因为罪的工价就是死亡; 但神的恩赐是通过我们的主耶稣基督获得永生
罗马书 6:22-23
‘成为地球之盐’
