“As free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God.”
As free
Submission to civil law does not cancel our Christian liberty (
John 8:32,36 ;Galatians 5:1,18 ). The Christian should obey civil law from their freedom, not from fear.
yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice
Some Christians use their Christian liberty for license. The word “cloak” means a covering, a means of hiding. Sometimes we make people think that what we are presenting is something other than what it really is. We do not then know the true nature of the idea. This is a means of hiding or covering up the true nature. In this case, liberty is a pretext or cloak for sin. God does not want us to use our liberty as a cover for sin.We can twist any doctrine into some excuse for evil. There is no doctrine easier to distort than the doctrine of Christian liberty (
Galatians 5:13 ;2 Peter 2:19 ;Jude 4 ).
but as bondservants of God
The word “bondservant” means slave. Note the contrast to the first statement — “As free.” True freedom, ironically, in Christianity comes when Christians live as slaves of God! The context is referring to political freedom. The Christian citizen is free because he is the slave of God. Submission to civil government is an act of a free person who understands the purpose of civil government.
Note pagan thinkers about this issue:
Seneca: “No one is free who is a slave to his body.”Cicero: “We are the servants of the law that we may be able to be free.”
Plutarch: “Every bad man is a slave.”
Obedience to God’s principles liberates us from slavery to self. God’s Word conditions Christian freedom by Christian responsibility. We are free because we are the slave of God. True Christian freedom is not a freedom to do anything we want, rather what we ought. As Christians, we are not free to pursue our base passions.
Principle:
Slavery to God is the most complete human freedom.
Application:
Freedom without obligation is anarchy. Freedom is the right to choose between alternatives. The reason we dread liberty is because it means responsibility. The greatest liberty for the Christian is fellowship with God and living under His standards. He designed His standards for the welfare of the believer.
God liberates the Christian from sin and Satan (
Jonn 8:36 ). This does not liberate us from civil duty or obedience to the Word of God. It is easy to rationalize our liberty in Christ and say it frees us from responsibility to the state. Christian liberty, however is not license.Do you pay your taxes? Is your tax report accurate? If not, it is a “cloak for vice.” The word “vice” in the Greek is evil.
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