What is the Difference Between Liberty and Sinful License?
The issues of worldliness and legalism force us to make a distinction between the ideal of Christian liberty and the illegitimate concept of license. Believers have liberty (Galatians 5:1, John 8:32). They are free from condemnation (Romans 8:1-2), free to do what is good (Titus 2:14; 3:8), and free to serve and obey Christ unhindered (Hebrews 12:1-2). However, Christians should not confuse this liberty with a license to disobey God (2 Peter 2:19). We are not free to use our liberty in Christ as a way to indulge our lusts. God’s grace is not to be construed as loophole to sin (Romans 6:1). Within the context of the Christian life, the issue of liberty and license has to do with how we define moral guidelines for our lives.
Christian liberty is the joyous realization that the believer is forgiven by the blood of Christ and is accepted by God on the basis of faith, not on the basis of religious or moral performance. The believer is free from the law, free from the penalty of sin and with growing maturity in Christ, increasingly free from the power of sin (2 Peter 1:4-8).
We know the Bible calls believers to be different, set apart from the ungodly standards of the world. Surely there are pleasures and diversions, which Christians can enjoy, but their focus is on pursuing a vital relationship with Jesus and an obedient sensitivity to His word (Colossians 3:16-17). This emphasis pleases God (Colossians 1:10; 1 Thessalonians 4:1; Romans 8:8) and makes Christian moral principles a secondary byproduct of our walk with Christ and an achievable objective given the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:3-4).
License, on the other hand, is a perversion of Christian liberty. License looks for an excuse to break God’s law and get away with it. License actually tightens the grip that sin has on the person (John 8:34; Romans 6:16). The idea that the Gospel of Jesus Christ gives us permission to sin against God’s revealed will is a complete delusion and a grave misapplication of the concept of grace (Romans 3:8).
Christian liberty is the ability to do what God wills, what is right. License is the excuse for self-will. As an illustration, consider the freedom of a disciplined and talented musician effortlessly playing a magnificent piano concerto. She is free to play any kind of music that she and others enjoy. In contrast, musical license is the antics of a spoiled, tone-deaf child who bangs on the keyboard without rhythm, chords or notes, making noise not music. The concert pianist is free to play music, while the tone-deaf child is not. He makes a noise that no one wants to hear.
In the same manner, true liberty is the power to obey God, to play His tune. License, in contrast, is a bondage to “noise-making,” a disposition toward self-rule and self-centered behavior.
