The Responsibilities of Freedom
you were not redeemed with corruptible things,
Galatians 5:13
As a nation we celebrate our independence on June 12. Freedom
never comes free and is never without bounds or responsibility. On
the 12th we reflect upon our nation’s freedom, its price, its limits and
bounds, and the responsibility it carries. Every Lord’s Day, Christians
need to reflect on their freedom through Christ, its price, bounds, and
responsibilities.
I. Freedom should be valued
A. We have as a nation been highly blessed by God.
B. We all too often take our freedom for granted. Here we sit today,
praying, singing, fellowshipping, worshipping God together, reading
and studying His Word…with no fear of reprisal, intimidation,
persecution or government interference.
C. But this freedom did not come free. It’s bought with a price.
D. The freedom we enjoy as Filipinos came at a very high price.
Untold thousands have died to procure our liberties. We need to
thank God for those that were willing to sacrifice and paid the price of
our freedom.
E. But one can live in this land and still not be free. For without the
freedom that Christ gives one is in bondage though he be a freeman –
in bondage to sin and its penalty. And though a man be imprisoned
with chains, if Christ be his Lord he is free.
F. John 8:36: "If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."
G. There is no greater freedom in the world than the freedom that
Christ gives. This should be valued above all else for it did not come
cheaply.
H. 1 Peter 1:18-20 “...
like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition
from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb
without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained
before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last
times for you.”
II. Freedom requires restraint
A. True freedom isn't doing anything or everything our hearts desire.
B. "A man's worst difficulties begin when he is able to do as he likes."
- Thomas Huxley, “Address on University Education,” 1902, III, 236.
C. Freedom is not the absence of restraint. Freedom without restraint
is anarchy.
D. Our society requires law and respect for the law, or chaos and
confusion result. Respect for the rule of law and the rights of our
fellow man must be observed in order for freedom and liberty to
prevail. Civil society cannot exist without the law. Without the rule of
law our highways would be treacherous, the airways fraught with
danger, and our food and water could be deadly—just to name a few.
– copied GLCG
E. When Paul said, “Do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful
nature,” he was instructing us that Freedom is not License. To be free
does not mean that you and I have a license to do or say or act any
way we want.
F. Freedom isn’t license. Unfortunately for many people, the idea of
freedom is associated with the license to do whatever you want.
G. 1 Corinthians 6:12 “All things are lawful unto me, but all things are
not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought
under the power of any.”
H. Peter Marshal, when Chaplain of the United States Senate, prayed
before our senators, “Lord Jesus, thou who art the way, the truth, and
the life; hear us as we pray for the truth that shall make all free.
Teach us that liberty is not only to be loved but also to be lived.
Liberty is too precious a thing to be buried in books. It costs too much
to be hoarded. Help us see that our liberty is not the right to do as we
please, but the opportunity to please to do what is right.
I. Christian freedom, unlike the political freedom we celebrate this
week, is not freedom established by and under law. Christian
freedom, in a sense, is freedom FROM the law so that we can do
more than the law requires. -copied
J. Romans 6:1-4, 22 “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin,
that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to
sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were
baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we
are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was
raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also
should walk in newness of life… But now being made free from sin,
and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and
the end everlasting life.”
K. Christian freedom is not freedom FROM as much as it is freedom
FOR living by the spirit. - copied
L. Galatians 5:13 “For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only
use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one
another.”
III. Freedom carries responsibility
A. Far too many of us mistakenly think that freedom carries no
responsibility
B. Someone has said, “Freedom walks hand in hand with
responsibility.” Our freedoms as citizens come with a number of
responsibilities and if we forget or ignore them there are
consequences. Likewise as believers who have been set free by Christ
we have responsibilities that should we never forget or ignore.
C. True freedom comes when we all accept our individual
responsibility to live in a manner pleasing to God - copied
D. Responsibility to be obey God
1. Romans 6:6-7, 18 “…our old man is crucified with him, that the
body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve
sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin… Being then made free from
sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.”
2. Romans 6:16 “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?”
3. 1 John 5:3 “For this is the love of God, that we keep his
commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.”
4. We must choose to obey God in faith. ““We obey God, not out of
duty or fear or compulsion, but because we love him and trust him
that he knows what is best for us. We want to follow Christ out of
gratitude for all he has done for us, and the closer we follow him, the
deeper our friendship becomes … Because we have been forgiven and
set free, we obey out of love.” – copied
5. There are three motives for us to obey God:
a. A powerful motivation for living the Christian life is gratitude to
God for saving us by His grace (Rom. 12:1,2; 2 Cor. 5:14,15; Gal. 2:20).
b. Believers should also be motivated by the knowledge that their
heavenly Father both blesses obedience and disciplines disobedience
in His children (Heb. 12:3-11; Lev. 26:1-45).
c. Finally, every Christian must stand before the Judgment Seat of 2. 1 Corinthians 10:23-24 “All things are lawful for me, but all things
Christ, not to determine his destiny in heaven or hell, but to assess are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.
the quality of his Christian life on earth (2 Cor. 5:10; Rev. 22:12). Let no man seek his own, but every man another's wealth.”
Anticipating either reward or loss of reward at the Judgment Seat
should also motivate believers to perseverance and to faithfulness to 3. True freedom True freedom will always lead to loving and serving
God’s revealed will (I Cor. 3:10-17, 9:24-27; Jas. 5:8,9; 1 John 2:28). – others, rather than indulging the selfish desires of the flesh.
from Grace Evangelical Society Affirmation of Belief.
4. 1 Corinthians 7:22 “…he who is called in the Lord while a slave is
E. Responsibility to be holy the Lord’s freedman. Likewise he who is called while free is Christ’s
slave.”
1. All of us are born with an inherited sinful nature. However, God
commands his people to become holy. Since God commands us to be
holy, it must be possible to live holy if we are for it. This is borne out
in 1 Peter 1:13-16…

2. 1 Peter 1:13-16 “Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober,

and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at
the revelation of Jesus Christ; 14 as obedient children, not conforming
yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; 15 but as He who
called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 because it is
written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”

3. It is said that in the diamond mines of South Africa they often find a
substance that is half charcoal and half diamond. It was intended to
be a diamond, but somewhere nature's chemical processes were
interrupted, and left it partly a cinder and partly a jewel. It stopped
short and will never get into the king's crown. Let us go all the way, so
that when Christ makes up His jewels we will be so completely in His
perfect will that He will be delighted with us. - copied

F. Responsibility to be considerate of and to serve others

1. 1 Corinthians 9:19 “For though I be free from all men, yet have I
made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more.”