Liberty

What is liberty? Is it the freedom to do whatever we want? I suggest that it can’t be. We live in community with others, doing whatever we want will often interfere with the freedom of others to do what they want. In that case our liberty takes away from the liberty of others, so it is not true liberty.

My definition of liberty is the freedom to do the right thing, or to live in righteousness. Unfortunately, our selfishness and self-centeredness often keep us from doing the thing that we know is right. We may know what is right and want to do this right thing, but we cannot do it because our selfish desires overwhelm us.

So where is true liberty to be found. The apostle Paul describes this inner turmoil and the cure in Romans 7:22-25. It says, “For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.” And Romans 12:2 says, Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” So the only way to consistently do the right thing is to know the right thing. We do that by allowing God to transform us by giving us renewed minds.