GOSPEL LIBERTY by W. N. G.

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Mar 31, 1898

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 24, No. 13.

GOSPEL LIBERTY.

By W. N. G.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ promises liberty. “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” John 8:36. By disobedience man fell into bondage,—into a bondage that has always subjected him to persecution upon his making any earnest attempt to serve God. Having overcome the human race once, Satan claims their undivided allegiance forever. Nor has the subjugated victim any power within himself to free himself. On account of his helpless condition, God provided a way for his liberation from the thraldom of sin and Satan. “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” 1 Tim. 1:15.

Then the liberty which the sacrifice of Christ vouchsafes to the believer is the liberty to serve God. To serve any master means to obey him. “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” Rom. 6:16. But God’s Word always gives us illustration as well as precept; so we have the subject under consideration illustrated in history.

The people of Israel were once subjected to Egyptian bondage. For many years their servitude was very rigorous, and their treatment cruel in the extreme. But, in His own good time, the Lord took in hand the matter of their deliverance. He appeared to Moses (a type of Christ), whose life He had spared in infancy for the purpose, and sent him as the deliverer of His people. “And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of My people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows.” Ex. 3:7.

Moses went, as directed by the Lord, to demand of Pharaoh: “Let My people go, that they may hold a feast unto Me in the wilderness.” “Let My people go, that they may serve Me.” Ex. 5:1; 8:1. And here we see the real hardship of their bondage,—they were hindered from serving God. Pharaoh replied to the demand, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go.” Ex. 5:2. Then the king commanded that their labor should be increased—in effect they were punished for desiring to serve God.

But the Lord brought them out of their condition of slavery, and overthrew the power of their enemy. And we learn the meaning of their liberty by what immediately followed their deliverance. First, they were reminded of the Sabbath day, which their long and cruel bondage under idolatrous masters had well-nigh obliterated from the minds of the masses. See Exodus 16. Soon afterward they came to Sinai, and here the Lord repeated the whole of His moral law to them. Chapter 20:1–17. The meaning, then, of their liberty was liberty to keep the commandments of God. This meant not only a knowledge of His law, but the opportunity and the power to keep it. The obligation to obey carries with it the power to obey, if there be the honest desire, and the humble trust in Him who alone can give the power.

The earnest desire of the Lord that they should enjoy this liberty to the full is thus expressed: “O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear Me, and keep all My commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children forever!” Deut. 5:29.

The deliverance from Egyptian bondage was a type of the great salvation from sin and death. The antitype has the same significance as the type—liberty and power to obey the commandments of God, and to enjoy the fruits of obedience forever. Christ was the real leader in the deliverance from Egypt (1 Cor. 10:1–4), altho Moses was the visible executive and type of the real Deliverer (Deut. 18:18; John 1:9).

Then the meaning of Gospel liberty is deliverance from the power of sin through faith in Jesus Christ. As “sin is the transgression of the law,” a deliverance from the power of sin can only be manifested in obedience to the law. Christ has set the example, and He alone can give the power. “As by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of One shall many be made righteous.” Rom. 5:19.

Christ kept His Father’s commandments (John 15:10), and by that means abode in His love. His counsel to His disciples is, “Follow Me;” and again, “Ye believe in God, believe also in Me.” The result of so doing is thus stated by the apostle Paul: “Therefore being justified [forgiven of past transgression of the law] by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” The same principle was set forth to the typical Israel, as we learn from Deut. 4:5–13.

The apostle Paul, having shown to the Galatian brethren the principle of deliverance from the bondage which comes of transgressing the law and being under its condemnation, urges upon them this important injunction, which is pertinent for all time: “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” Gal. 5:1. Now, how could a justified person, one whose sin (transgression of the law) has been forgiven, become “entangled again with the yoke of bondage”? There is only one way, and that is by again transgressing the law, which is arrant apostasy. “How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” Rom. 6:2. “Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh [to set us free from sin], arm yourselves likewise with the same mind; for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revelings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries.” 1 Peter 4:1–3.

How, then, shall we stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free?—By abiding in Christ, who is not only the Author but the Finisher of our faith. How did He stand fast?—By His obedience, as before shown. His own words through inspiration were, “I delight to do Thy will, O My God; yea, Thy law is within My heart.” Ps. 40:8. It is God’s universal principle that liberty is the reward of obedience, and the highest ideal of liberty is freedom from sin, and power to continue therein. W. N. G.