Christ: The Minister of Sin?

"I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:20)

Christian liberty has long been a topic of great debate even reaching back as far as the first century church. The new testament authors spent a lot of time dealing with this topic of "liberty" and "freedom" in Christ. It was a radical concept that one could really be "free" from any religious obligations and simply be saved by grace through faith. It was so radical that it led many people to conclude that they could live anyway they wanted. Some even believed that salvation in Christ was a blank check to dive even deeper into sin. Their logic goes something like this:

God is glorified by shedding grace on sinners,

Therefore, I will sin even more than before and...

God will be even more glorified by forgiving all my sin!

They actually thought they were causing God to receive greater glory because they were receiving greater grace. But this idea is simply ridiculous.

Freedom in Christ is not a license to sin so that we will receive deeper and greater grace. Paul addresses this idea in his epistle to the Galatian believers:

"But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid." (v. 2:17)

In fact, he teaches us what life in Christ really is in v. 2:20. If we live in Christ Jesus, then we have died to the law in Christ Jesus - We are crucified with him; and yet we live. Even though we have died we are yet still alive in the flesh. But the radical teaching we receive is this: We are not living to follow the desires of our flesh. The flesh is no longer the driving force in our life, but rather, we are living by faith in the Son of God. So it is faith which animates us; it is the motives of the gospel of grace in Jesus Christ which animate us and cause us to live worthy lives of obedience before God and men.

So Christian, please do not confuse your liberty and freedom with a license to do whatever your flesh desires. You have not been saved to become the servants of wickedness, but rather, that righteousness may be accomplished in you. 

This does not mean that you "try harder" and "do better" to be more righteous. It means that if you are alive in Christ, the Trinity will work within you to accomplish works of righteousness. Then that good which you do will be the authentic produce (fruit) of the Spirit of God.