Welcome!
Date: Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Today: When Liberty vs License
Passage: Gal 5:13 NKJV
13 For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
The line between liberty and license is a thin one; it is very easy to use spiritual freedom as a license to sin
That is why Paul is reminding Galatians to be careful, not to cross the limits
Today, many Christian leaders are confused about the difference between the two. When license replaces liberty, the Church/people embrace sin
Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. (2 Cor 3:17, NKJV)
Liberty is the word used in KJV, which I think is a better word than freedom, in the context we are thinking
When we talk about the grace of God, don’t forget truth (John 1:14)
When we talk only about grace, we may be going too much on the “liberty” side
When we talk only about truth and no grace, we may become too legalistic
A balance is what we need; grace and truth must go together
A fire truck may have the liberty to go past the red lights but they are not to misuse that freedom to bump into other vehicles/people
Within the freedom they have, there are rules to keep
The people who do security screening at the airports also have a certain amount of liberty but not the license to do anything they want
If someone told you to go and get something quickly from somewhere, it doesn’t mean you can by-pass the signals; it is your responsibility to obey the rules of the road
In many Christian events, we see things/programs that are not necessarily beneficial for the people; some of them make you feel like getting up and go!
Sometimes you will see advertisements that do not fit a spiritual publication
I remember an incident that happened in a Christian student’s camp in India about 25 years back
It was talent hour and the students were conducting their programs
One of the programs didn’t look O.K, and the program was stopped while being performed, by the senior leader. It did lead to some interruptions/screams
Thereafter, it was decided that such programs be presented first to the leaders and get approved, before presenting it on the stage
There need to be guidelines for what is presentable/ profitable spiritually, when it comes to presentations where spiritual people are gathered
Basically, it is a matter of some spiritual common sense, to know what makes sense to God and the people that are gathered
In marriage also, there should be liberty, not license
God trusts his own; He has given us liberty; He allows us to judge between the right and wrong. What satan does is slavery. He make people slaves/addicted to things. God does not do that
In the garden of Eden, God gave the liberty to Adam and Eve; but they crossed the limits. Once you cross the limits, you need God’s help to be restored
Liberty has lot of benefits. It gives people the freedom to do lot of good things. But License to do the evil will end you up in the wrong place
It is our relationship to God alone that can keep us from sin
When it comes to our children, they need their liberty, but not license
As far as possible, it is important to know what they do on the internet, face book and so on
The right thing is to talk to them and make them aware of the good and bad
It is important to monitor; but it is more important that we spend enough time with our family. Putting too much pressure may work negetively
God bless us through these days of “Thanksgiving”, Christmas and New Year; lot of opportunity to show our love and compassion to others!
God’s Peace
BG
Prayer: Lord, thank you for speaking to me. Help me to clearly understand the difference between liberty and license and to do that which pleases you and to stay away from that which displeases you. Thank you Lord. Amen.