{"id":61540,"date":"2005-06-25T08:34:00","date_gmt":"2005-06-25T13:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=61540"},"modified":"2023-06-25T08:37:12","modified_gmt":"2023-06-25T13:37:12","slug":"notes-on-the-law-of-liberty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/notes-on-the-law-of-liberty\/","title":{"rendered":"Notes on the Law of Liberty"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<h2>What is the Law of Liberty?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The law of liberty is something that a person can look intently at, to listen to, and to put into practice &#8211; James 1:22-25<\/li>\n<li>The law of liberty is something that we are judged by and can be transgressed. It includes laws such as not showing partiality, loving your neighbor as yourself, not committing adultery, and not committing murder &#8211; James 2:8-13<\/li>\n<li>The law of liberty is truth because truth makes us free. But that freedom only comes by living in the words of Christ. The words of Christ will judge us in the end &#8211; John 8:31-32; 12:48<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Liberty from Sin<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Those led by the Spirit are saved and are not in slavery &#8211; Romans 8:14-17; Galatians 5:17-18\n<ul>\n<li>The Spirit teaches us the wisdom of God, which the apostles passed on to us through the New Testament. By those words, we know the mind of Christ. &#8211; I Corinthians 2:10-16<\/li>\n<li>When we read those words, we gain an understanding of the mystery of Christ &#8211; Ephesians 3:4<\/li>\n<li>Hence saving faith comes from listening to the words of Christ &#8211; Romans 10:17<\/li>\n<li>The word leads to faith, which in turn leads to confession, which leads to salvation &#8211; Romans 10:8-10<\/li>\n<li>By dying to sin through baptism, we are freed from the slavery of sin &#8211; Romans 6:1-7<\/li>\n<li>When we are baptized we receive the gift of the Spirit &#8211; Acts 2:38-39<\/li>\n<li>The Spirit then becomes the guarantee of our redemption (our purchased freedom) &#8211; Ephesians 1:13-14<\/li>\n<li>Where God&#8217;s Spirit exists, there is liberty &#8211; II Corinthians 3:17<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Liberty, but Not Complete Independence<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Obedience to God&#8217;s teaching gives us freedom from sin, but it also makes us slaves of God &#8211; Romans 6:16-18\n<ul>\n<li>Our salvation results from our enslavement to God &#8211; Romans 6:22<\/li>\n<li>This is why Paul referred to himself as a bond-servant of God &#8211; Romans 1:1<\/li>\n<li>We must use our freedom, not as an allowance to sin, but to bind us in slavery to God. Such binding includes submitting to earthly governments. &#8211; Galatians 5:13; I Peter 2:13-16<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Our freedom does not imply we are not under any law\n<ul>\n<li>Sin is not counted when there is no law &#8211; Romans 5:13<\/li>\n<li>Sin is the transgression of law or going beyond the bounds of law &#8211; I John 3:4<\/li>\n<li>Everyone sins &#8211; Romans 3:23; I John 1:8-10; 2:1<\/li>\n<li>Therefore, all are under law, Christian and non-Christian alike.<\/li>\n<li>Those who practice righteousness are born of God &#8211; I John 2:29; 3:7; 3:24<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Liberty from the Law of Moses<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Christ also freed us from the bondage of the law of Moses &#8211; Galatians 3:10-14\n<ul>\n<li>This is because the law of Moses convicted men of sin and Christ freed us from sin when we have faith and are baptized into Christ &#8211; Romans 3:19-20; Galatians 3:22-27<\/li>\n<li>Sin, through the law of Moses, held us in bondage to sin &#8211; Galatians 4:3<\/li>\n<li>We cannot follow the law of Moses in practices such as circumcision by binding ourselves under that law and thereby losing the freedom we gained through Christ &#8211; Galatians 4:23-24, 30-31; 5:1-4<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Is Love the Only Law of Liberty?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Some claim that the law of liberty is only the concept of love; love is the foundation of the law of Christ, but it was also the foundation of the law of Moses &#8211; Matthew 7:12; 22:35-40; Romans 13:8-10; Galatians 5:14; I John 4:16<\/li>\n<li>Love for Christ is demonstrated through obedience to his teachings. A person cannot love Christ without obeying his commandments. &#8211; John 14:15; 15:14; I John 2:4-7; 5:23<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is the Law of Liberty? The law of liberty is something that a person can look intently at, to listen to, and to put into practice &#8211; James 1:22-25 The law of liberty is something that we are judged by and can be transgressed. It includes laws such as not showing partiality, loving your&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[201],"tags":[219,790,177,1552],"class_list":["post-61540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-notes","tag-bible","tag-freedom","tag-law","tag-liberty"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":38588,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/truth-and-law\/","url_meta":{"origin":61540,"position":0},"title":"Truth and Law","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 13, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry W. Benton Today there is lawlessness going on at elevated proportions. Even churches that have claimed to be \"of Christ\" have been divided by a spirit of lawlessness. Some misuse \"we are not under law but under grace\" (Romans 6:15) to give the undiscerning a scripture on which\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":48923,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-does-james-say-we-will-be-judged-by-the-law-of-liberty\/","url_meta":{"origin":61540,"position":1},"title":"Why does James say we will be judged by the law of liberty?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 23, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I'm having some difficulties understanding James 2:8-13. When he talks about the royal law in verses 8-11, it clearly refers to some of the ten commandments. But I get confused in verse 12 \"So speak and so act, as those who are to be judged by the law of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":56318,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/freedom-through-gods-law\/","url_meta":{"origin":61540,"position":2},"title":"Freedom Through God&#8217;s Law","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 26, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"by Charles N. Spence, Jr. God had always wanted His people to be free. However, most people today have a radically different idea of freedom than God's. Many in the world today look at freedom as the uninhibited right to do what they want to do. We can see this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":67907,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/has-that-which-is-perfect-always-been-the-bible\/","url_meta":{"origin":61540,"position":3},"title":"Has &#8220;that which is perfect&#8221; always been the Bible?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 3, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I have a question regarding whether \"that which is perfect\" has always been the New Testament. Before the question, let's consider some verses of Scripture, Jas 1:25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":70107,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-the-new-testament-a-law\/","url_meta":{"origin":61540,"position":4},"title":"Is the New Testament a Law?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 3, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jonathan Perz The Bible is undeniably divided into two key sections-the Old Testament and the New Testament. This division is described in the Bible in various ways, some literally and some figuratively. One such contrast is seen when the Bible refers to the Old Testament as the \"Law of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":60321,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/there-is-freedom\/","url_meta":{"origin":61540,"position":5},"title":"There Is Freedom","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 15, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by Kent Heaton Freedom is a precious stone shared by a few and made precious by only those who understand its worth. Living in a land of freedom does not make us free. The heart is only free when one realizes the cost of liberty. Being free recognizes the darkness\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/LibertyBell.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61540"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61540\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}