Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. (1 Peter 2:16)
eleutheros: free, i.e. not a slave or not under restraintOriginal Word: ἐλεύθερος, έρα, ερον
Part of Speech: Adjective
Transliteration: eleutheros
Phonetic Spelling: (el-yoo'-ther-os)
Short Definition: free, delivered from obligation
Definition: free, delivered from obligation.
1658 eleútheros (an adjective) – properly, free (liberated), unbound (unshackled); (figuratively) free to realize one's destiny in Christ.
Obligation to what? Perhaps there are two sides to the obligation:
1) Obligation to sin. Formerly we were dead in our trespasses and sins, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, under the very wrath of God. We were slaves to sin. Now, we have been set free. We are no longer slaves. We are no longer under an obligation to obey our sinful tendencies. When tempted to sin, we can say "No; I will not do this thing. I have been set free by Christ. I have been set free indeed."
John 8:32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
2) Obligation to earn salvation. We need not conform to a list of perfection before salvation. God doesn't save us once we've hit a certain stage of righteousness. He saved us while we were still sinners.
We were dead in our trespasses and sins, and he made us alive. We were following the course of this world, and he purchased our citizenship for heaven. We were following the prince of the power of the air, and he overcame the evil one. We were under the wrath of God, and Christ took that wrath upon himself, transferring his own righteousness onto us so that we could be free. We are free. That is the glorious truth.
Romans 6:22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.
Now Peter gets to the punchline: "not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God."
What folly it is to take our freedom and use it as an excuse to go back into bondage! Sometimes we think as believers that we can sin because God's grace is there. We forget that God's grace is meant to lead us to repentance. When we use our freedom as an excuse for sinful behaviour, we are looking at it in the wrong way entirely. Our freedom is meant to set us free. It's as simple and complex as that. We can stand against our sinfulness and forsake our wrongdoing. We can refuse to fall into our former sinful behaviour. We can praise and glorify the Lord as he sanctifies us, growing us more and more toward Christlikeness.
1 Corinthians 7:22 For he who was a slave when he was called by the Lord is the Lord's freedman; similarly, he who was a free man when he was called is Christ's slave.
What does it mean to live as a servant of God? It means living our lives as though they do not belong to us, but to God. It means taking every thought captive to obey Christ. Why is that freedom?
Galatians 5:13 You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.
It is freedom because that is what we were created to do. We were formed and fashioned as praise-givers, as delighters in and glorifiers of God.
James 1:25 But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it--he will be blessed in what he does.
Our highest calling is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. To serve God with everything we have is the greatest freedom, the greatest delight. In serving God we realize our destiny in Christ with unshackled delight.
Obligation to what? Perhaps there are two sides to the obligation:
1) Obligation to sin. Formerly we were dead in our trespasses and sins, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, under the very wrath of God. We were slaves to sin. Now, we have been set free. We are no longer slaves. We are no longer under an obligation to obey our sinful tendencies. When tempted to sin, we can say "No; I will not do this thing. I have been set free by Christ. I have been set free indeed."
John 8:32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
2) Obligation to earn salvation. We need not conform to a list of perfection before salvation. God doesn't save us once we've hit a certain stage of righteousness. He saved us while we were still sinners.
We were dead in our trespasses and sins, and he made us alive. We were following the course of this world, and he purchased our citizenship for heaven. We were following the prince of the power of the air, and he overcame the evil one. We were under the wrath of God, and Christ took that wrath upon himself, transferring his own righteousness onto us so that we could be free. We are free. That is the glorious truth.
Romans 6:22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.
Now Peter gets to the punchline: "not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God."
What folly it is to take our freedom and use it as an excuse to go back into bondage! Sometimes we think as believers that we can sin because God's grace is there. We forget that God's grace is meant to lead us to repentance. When we use our freedom as an excuse for sinful behaviour, we are looking at it in the wrong way entirely. Our freedom is meant to set us free. It's as simple and complex as that. We can stand against our sinfulness and forsake our wrongdoing. We can refuse to fall into our former sinful behaviour. We can praise and glorify the Lord as he sanctifies us, growing us more and more toward Christlikeness.
1 Corinthians 7:22 For he who was a slave when he was called by the Lord is the Lord's freedman; similarly, he who was a free man when he was called is Christ's slave.
What does it mean to live as a servant of God? It means living our lives as though they do not belong to us, but to God. It means taking every thought captive to obey Christ. Why is that freedom?
Galatians 5:13 You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.
It is freedom because that is what we were created to do. We were formed and fashioned as praise-givers, as delighters in and glorifiers of God.
James 1:25 But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it--he will be blessed in what he does.
Our highest calling is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. To serve God with everything we have is the greatest freedom, the greatest delight. In serving God we realize our destiny in Christ with unshackled delight.
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By swallowing evil words unsaid, no one has ever harmed his stomach. ~Winston Churchill
Smart guy.