Liberty vs. License

October 21

Liberty Versus License by Dr. D. James Kennedy

Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.—2 Corinthians 3:17 Are you ever confused about what’s right and wrong in our world today? You’re not alone. Part of the problem is a confusion between liberty (which we could define as the freedom to do right) and license (which we could define as the freedom to do wrong). Our salvation is not a license to sin. It is a deliverance from sin. When Jesus first began His public ministry, what did He say?  Repent!  Though we have saving faith in Christ, we must still turn from sin and to God. The apostle John writes, “Do not love the world or the things in the world” (1 John 2:15), for loving the world is antithetical to loving the Father.  Neither God nor the founders of this country intended for anyone to abuse liberty as license. However, today many openly confuse liberty with license to do whatever their desires lead them to do! Sin has become flagrant in our society. Many people today look upon Christianity as an impediment to their “freedom,” that is, their freedom to sin. But these people have transformed liberty into license, and in the worst form of licentiousness, they don’t want anybody speaking against their actions or in any way restraining them.  Ironically, claiming freedom to do whatever they want, these people are actually in bondage to their sinful natures, for whoever sins is a slave to sin. But Christ came to free us from sin and from the penalty of sin. Let’s walk, then, in that liberty today by yielding ourselves to Him afresh. He is the best friend of American liberty who is most sincere and active in promoting the pure and un-defiled religion of Jesus. —John Witherspoon