Quote:
Originally Posted by good samaritan
What do you define as freedom in Christ? Some mistake freedom from sin and freedom to sin. I am not saying this to JB specifically, but to whoever wants to give me a view of Christian liberty.
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You are correct in noting that some people mistake freedom from sin as freedom to sin. I began typing a long explanation of my theories as to why that is, then deleted it. Suffice it to say for right now, I believe you are absolutely right, and really it all comes down to what someone loves.
Do they love Christ or do they love the world. If they love the world their "freedom" will be to indulge in the world, which will eventually ensnare them. In which case did they ever really belong to Christ anyway, or in the oneness pentecostal vernacular-did they ever really have the Holy Ghost?
However if someone truly LOVES Jesus Christ, and they LOVE the Word of God, and their hearts desire is NOT to indulge in the things of the world, but to truly know Him. To glorify Him. To grow in holiness. Then this world won't ensnare them, because it has nothing to offer them. I'd like to think I fall into this group of people, but only God knows my heart.
So this leads me to your question about freedom. As a UC-OP myself for a decade my lifestyle revolved around the holiness code. I threw my TV out. I would not even wear a weeding ring though they were permitted. I wouldn't even wear a watch. Like Paul said "I was a Pharisee of Pharisees". Like Luther said "If ever a monk could be saved by monkery, I was he." I kept standards to a T. I denied myself things that I enjoyed that weren't sinful, yet I was told they were worldly. I can't say I kept the standard perfectly, but there was a stretch of about 6 of those 10 years where I was the poster boy for UC oneness pentecostalism, the champion of standards. The harder the preaching the better. That's why I said I'd amen every word of Steve Epley, because I would amen every word of Lee Westburg preaching about "we need a Phineas to put a spear through the heart of those trinitarian loving dudes!" I was ok with those types of sentiments. But in the back of my mind it didn't sit right, however I justified it, because it was "truth".
Nevertheless, (I digressed) if someone truly loves Christ, and years to know Him more, to draw close to Him, to dwell in His Kingdom of righteousness here and forever. Then this world has nothing for them, and that where freedom comes in . I believe Augustine is credited with the saying "Love God and do what you'd like." That is so true if people could ever get a hold of it. If people truly love God they don't need to be told what to watch on TV, because when they watch something that is ungodly the Holy Ghost will convict them. They will not get pleasure or entertainment from ungodly TV (the same for movies and music--that which entertains us often reveals what we love. If we love Christ we can never long be entertained by those things which are contrary to His Character and commandments).
If someone love God they will know how to cover up their body, without a laundry list of rules. If someone loves Christ they are not likely to go to places where ungodliness abounds (they don't need to be told to avoid them, they do so by choice). And in the instances they do intermingle with the world (which really all of us do. OPs don't go to ballgames and theme parks -least didn't used to, but still go to the grocery store, restaurants, and the mall )--we do it as salt and light. I enjoy going to Texas Rangers ball games. I don't drink. I don't cuss. I don't even boo (I boo'd Josh Hamilton, a local heel, one time and then felt bad about it). I believe I can go to a baseball game and not have committed sin, much less an unforgivable sin (so many times in UC-OP its all of nothing-"If you go to a baseball game, you'll go to hell. If you have a beard, you'll go to hell. If you read the funny papers you'll go to hell).
YET, I still have not answered your question about freedom in Christ. My freedom in Christ comes from realizing that I am saved by His righteousness alone. I can never be righteous enough to meet God's standard of perfect righteousness. If my salvation in any way hinges on my ability to keep standards I am doomed and hopeless. I kept standards for years yet still had imperfect motives, thoughts, and deeds. When we realize that when we stand before God on judgment day God imputes our sin to Christ and has imputed Christ's righteousness to us, that gives great peace. That being so, what can I add to His perfect righteousness by not cutting my hair, not wearing an ear ring, not wearing a pair of shorts, not playing recreational softball, not having a TV in my home? I can add nothing at all to His perfect record, so I have peace and rest in Him.
And that is what some UC-OPs are concerned about. They think that attitude and theology leads to antinomianism and "greasy grace". But it does not, not in those who have truly been born again and have the Spirit dwelling within them. For if the Spirit indeed dwells within us, then our greatest desire is to live a life of holiness. No one who truly is born of the Spirit would ever take Christ's sacrifice on our behalf for granted. No one who has the Spirit dwelling within would count His blood a common thing. It is realizing the sacrifice He made for us, and the penalty that sin demands, that we forever live the rest of our lives in gratitude to Jesus Christ. And as we live in the shadow of that thankfulness for the unspeakable kindness of God toward us, how could we ever truly desire NOT to live a life which glorifies Him?
And so freedom in Christ is rooted in understanding that we have been justified by faith in His blood. God has imputed His righteousness to us. We no longer have to labor, and keep all the rules/standards to be saved. We don't have to fret about whether a dress is too short or a sleeve is too short. Or if this a slide show or a moving picture. Or any of the hundreds of meticulous standards various people have preached over the last 60 years have to be observed to be saved. We're free to love God and live how we'd like. Because if we truly LOVE God (in the Biblical sense-with our ALL our heart, soul, mind, and strength) then our desire will be to please Him, and so as we do what we "want" we are actually doing what He "wants". And so in this way we actually fulfill the Law as the Apostle Paul wrote. Yet without all the mental anguish of "did I do good enough today?" "What if I die in my sleep?" Or "I wore pants today because it was cold, no one saw me, but what if I die in a car accident, I'm guilty of rebellion" all such spiritual burden and oppression is gone.
I am free to live my life. I am free from sin. I am free from standards. And yet in being made free from sin, I willingly submit to Jesus Christ as my Lord, Savior, and Master, and I say "put the awl in my ear, I want to be a bond servant in your house forever".
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