The word I hear from many Christians when they are into any sin or engaging in some ungodly act is “we are under grace”; “I am not under any bondage” “we are no more under the law”. Many ministers and Christians have been and are still misconstruing the interpretation of liberty and grace. In today’s churches, liberty and grace has been turn to “doing what you like” or “freedom of right” “freedom to sin and then repent”. This is a wrong assumption and is misleading.
The liberty we received through grace is meant for a purpose; to free us from the bondage of sin and its consequences. However, “doing what you like” or “freedom of right” without restraints will lead to entangling oneself again into a deeper sin.
Why is it only in the church that we proclaim liberty without restraint; even the governments of this world that claimed to have freedom in many ways, still, they are bounded by some rules and regulations. It is only when it comes to the matter of things of God that we don’t want to be controlled. This is more evident in the many sins which abound in the church in this modern day.
The word grace stands for the unmerited favor that we received when we have given our lives to Christ. This grace frees us from sin and its power; forgives and erase the penalty of any judgment that we deserved as a sinner. This grace bestowed unto us is given out of love that our heavenly Father has for us; thus, He sent the grace in the form of Man, Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God. Jesus came and had destroyed on the cross the works of the devil which lures us into sin . Now that he had freed us, we will remain freed as long as we remain in Him – He is our city of refuge. This is our freedom. The grace produces the freedom; the grace becomes our umbrella; protecting us from rain and heat of sin as long as we remain under the umbrella.
What grace and liberty stands for
- Separates believer unto God through Christ
- Sets a believer free in order to serve God continually
- Believer walks by means of the Holy Spirit
- Liberty through grace empowers a believer to live a quality life in the Lord
- Holy Spirit helps the believer to avoid the deeds of the flesh and its dominance (Gal. 5:16-19)
- Holy Spirit helps the believer’s life in demonstration of the fruit of the spirit (Gal. 22-23).
The gains of the grace and Christian liberty will be discussed fuller as we continue in this message.
On the one hand, Christianity is not a cage but a city of refuge under the canopy of our Lord Jesus Christ. There, your freedom from the devil and everlasting destruction is guaranteed. The church which is the Lord’s is a city of refuge as long as the church is under the Headship of our Lord Jesus Christ, our everlasting high priest who oversees His church. He admits everybody no matter his/her deplorable state. Who ever comes unto Him; He will by no means cast away. Those who want to know more about the word of God are welcome in the church: likewise sinners who want to be saved are welcome.
Unfortunately, many churches today are under the headship of human head “my church”; no wonder, satan is able to maneuver its way into such; manipulating and misleading believers. Ministers in most of the churches are guilty of teaching this error, speaking in deceitfulness and being motivated by greed and self glory.
On the other hand, Christianity is not a dumping ground; the fact that all are called and as many as will come will not be cast away does not mean the church will retain those who refuse to change. The church is a place of learning, a place of growth and a place of reform. If a sinner refuses to reform, pollution of that church is inevitable.
Our coming to the church or confessing Jesus Christ as Lord (justification) is not the end of salvation. However, it is the beginning of our faith journey: how can you remain saved if you don’t live by faith? Coming to Christ means you are set apart from your old sinful nature to a new life in Christ.
Too many erroneous messages are being preached in the churches today; making the church a dumping ground, declaring it to accommodate all forms of sins and sinners, not for the sake of reform, but to increase the crowd whereby increasing the size of the purse of the man-head of the church. What do we hear from these Ministers, “do not judge”, “no legalism” and you are not under the Law”: to sum up these three phrases, it implies “you are free to do what you like in the church”. They used these phrases to keep unrepentant old and new converts in the church.
The church is open for the entire population of the world to enter for salvation reason; as many as come to Jesus is accepted. They are accepted not in order to continue in their sinfulness but to be reformed and win them to Christ. If it is not for reformation, then the church will be infected and polluted.
Jesus Christ came into the world to save the lost; to save the lost is to reroute them to the way of the Lord. The lost may not change instantaneously, however, the ultimate goal is for them to change; not for them to advocate and encourage their sinfulness in the church.