the scriptures are clear that Christ Jesus came to give us life. not just life, but abundant life. the truth is freeing- the truth sets us free. so, our life and freedom is contingent upon the truth of Christ. no believer doubts this. the problem, though, is with what it actually means.
the christian-living section of many bookstores offer up titles that serve non-religious christianity, or a geo-centric "me-ology" where we are the central figure of the gospel- after all, He came with me in mind. "because of the freedom we have in Christ," they write, "and His grace covers our sin when we make mistakes, we can live like the world, without it being sinful, because it has already been washed away." there are many truly freeing titles worth reading but there are just as many, if not more, that throw true christianity out the window with the bath water. the reasoning is that as long as it doesn't cause anyone else to stumble, then you should go for it! after all, you're only living life to the fullest!
that is, unless you have to be convinced that it is ok... our consciences are given for a reason. God had a purpose for putting a voice of reason within us. the Holy Spirit will often use our consciences to speak to us when we are faced with a moral decision. if we have to rationalize a decision to do something immoral then we are doing little more than making rational-lies.
God doesn't exist for our pleasure. we exist for His pleasure. He doesn't need us to remind Him that He is God. He knows it; He will never forget it. what are we then? we are His creation and we are supposed to be reflections of Him. with this knowledge, what are we reflecting if we drink alcohol? what are we reflecting if we smoke? or if we surf the internet for pornography? or steal office supplies? or lie? or covet? or lust? who and what are we reflecting?
our freedom didn't just come for free. our freedom wasn't just paid for with some great cost to someone that we just inherited. our freedom wasn't merely the cost of one man's life. it wasn't the price of a good man's life. our freedom wasn't simply purchased by the death of a holy man; it was paid for by the death of a holy God who became a man to pay the penalty for sin for once and for all for those who choose to believe.
if a tree is known by it's fruit and Jesus is the vine and we are the branches, is our fruit desirable? is our fruit accessible? and, most importantly, is our fruit edible? if our fruit is none of these, then either the branch needs to be pruned off, or we are a part of the weed that is wrapped around the vine... is Christ worth it? is God worth the effort to remove ourselves from the grasp of selfish pursuits?
once we realize that the Gospel is not centered around us and our needs, wants, desires, and lusts, we will begin to see the larger picture. to grasp the idea that how we act impacts how people hear what we have to say. their attenuation is based off of our lifestyles. for many, we may be the closest they ever come to seeing Jesus, and if they see more of us than they do of Him, then we are offering them no hope. we tell them that by saying certain things and acting a certain way one day a week, then they will be putting on invisible fire suits to play in the raging forest fire for the rest of the week. the emporer will pay an incredible price, but he will have nothing but his undergarments to show for it. he will be exposed for all the world to see.
our freedom isn't the liberty to do whatever we desire. our freedom is the liberty to live outside the shackles of sin. we may still stumble and fall, but as long as we're willing to get up again, He is right there to help us; to wipe away our tears and kiss away our pain.
for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...
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