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What the Bible says about Liberty in Law
(From Forerunner Commentary)

Matthew 12:1-8

Jesus truly knew God's law and that other concerns (mercy, in this case; verse 7) may sometimes override the strict letter-of-the-law approach the Pharisees used. The Pharisees no doubt thought Jesus a flaming liberal, but to Jesus, He was simply working within the liberty God's law allows (see Psalm 119:45; John 8:31-32; II Corinthians 3:17; James 1:25; I Peter 2:16).

David F. Maas
Righteousness from Inside-Out

1 Corinthians 5:2

The Corinthian congregation had serious problems with sexual sins, but instead of feeling terrible, people were "glorying" in it. They did not comprehend the slavery imposed by profligate lifestyles: broken marriages, ruined health, and alienation from God and man. They did not realize true liberty is in keeping the law.

Staff
Holy Days: Unleavened Bread

2 Corinthians 3:15-17

A carnal man cannot understand the law (Romans 8:7), for a veil keeps the meaning hidden. The converted man, however, has God's Spirit, the essence of the mind of God. An effect of God's Spirit is that where it is present, there is liberty (verse 17). It is not coincidental that the fruit of the Spirit includes self-control (Galatians 5:23). Where the Holy Spirit is working, the people will be self-governing, and the leaders will be self-governing. Because everybody keeps a tight rein on himself and is being led by God's Spirit, there is no need for heavy-handedness—for strict external enforcement—nor for people to live in fear of the leaders. The leaders will be serving, the people will be working and growing, and liberty will flourish.

Liberty exists where God's Spirit is at work because the people have the time and the space to grow and develop character. They will not act out of fear or because they feel that they have to. Everyone must practice forbearance and patience, as we allow God's other children the time and space to grow and develop character, just as they forbear with us as we grow and mature spiritually.

The controls, however, are internal rather than external. They will not be developed instantly because growth takes time. Proper judgment and discernment take a lifetime of personal experience with God to develop. Yet, when they are developed, they become permanent. They become eternal, which is what God is after.

It may seem like a risky proposition, and our Western nations are evidence that self-government without true internal controls cannot work. When people do not govern themselves, the human solution is a Nanny State. When the Nanny State falls apart—which it will—it typically ushers in either a Police State or occupation by a foreign power, which will impose order on those who will not govern themselves or provide for themselves when it is within their power.

But it need not be so for the church of God. If we have the Holy Spirit, we have the means to control ourselves and thus be free. This does not mean that external control will never be imposed upon us. The lives of Jesus and the apostles demonstrate that they were subject to governing authorities who exercised lordship over them. Yet, heavy-handed external control is not necessary when the Holy Spirit is working in the leadership and the people. That is what matters in God's purpose in bringing many sons to the same glory and liberty that He has.

David C. Grabbe
The Nanny Church (Part Two)

James 1:25

What is the law of liberty? Specifically, it is the Ten Commandments, but we can consider it broadly as the law of God. Israel had the benefit of the law of liberty, though they did not use it rightly.

John W. Ritenbaugh
The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part Twenty-Three)

1 Peter 2:16

We are to submit because we are servants of God! We are all servants of God, so our submission is out of respect for God. Are we aware that our liberty appears in this context? Our freedom, our liberty, is to consciously choose to submit. People in the world do not have that liberty. If they submit, they do so out of fear of the power of the authorities. We are free to submit out of deep respect and an abiding love for God. They lack that freedom.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Submitting (Part 2)


 




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