October 25, 2009 TWO ASPECTS OF CHRISTIAN LIBERTY by Cornelius R. Stam Printer Friendly Version "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free... If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed" (John 8:32,36). The true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ enjoys glorious liberty, and our Lord Himself said that there are no strings attached... "Ye shall be free indeed," free even from the most oppressive of all slave masters: sin. While the Law never saved one man from sin, the Lord Jesus, by His death on Calvary did, for we read that "Christ died for our sins." Therefore the Apostle wrote by divine inspiration: "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). His letters thunder severe rebukes against believers who "desire to be under the law." To the Colossian Christians he wrote: "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days; which are a shadow of things to come; but the body [substance] is of Christ" (Col. 2:16,17). But true liberty is used for good, otherwise it only reverts to bondage again, for whatever overcomes a man becomes his master (II Pet. 2:19), and doing evil can only harm ourselves and others. Thus the Apostle says further: "But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak" (I Cor. 8:9). "For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another" (Gal. 5:13). "...Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth" (Rom. 14:22). To the Reader: Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface: "It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles." We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.