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INJ
1 Peter 2:11-20
'Live as Free Men'
Divine Service
Jubilate, The 3rd Sunday in Easter | April 13th, 2008
Dear Saints,
Our friend, Dr Martin Luther, began his very famous treatise On Christian Freedom with these two propositions:
A Christian man is the most free lord of all, and subject to none.
A Christian man is the most dutiful servant of all, and subject to every one.
A free lord and a dutiful servant, that is what we, the baptized are. That's what St Peter is telling us in the epistle reading.
Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. [2:16]
Live as free people; live as servants. Now it looks like these two things are in contradiction to one another. Let's sort it out.
First, the Lord Jesus sets us free. We who are born in slavery to sin and death and the devil, but Jesus takes upon Himself our slavery. He wears our chains, and in His death He breaks our bonds and the cords that bind us. No longer can the law condemn us, no longer can death threaten us, no longer can the devil accuse us, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus our Righteousness. The cross of Jesus is the triumph over sin and death and the devil, all the things that keep us in prison. But Jesus has broken down the prison wall and torn the door off its hinges and slashed though our bonds. We are set free.
“For freedom Christ has set you free.” [Galatians 5:1] “If the Son sets you free you are free indeed.” [John 8:36] This is stunning indeed.
And we are set free not so we go and sin more, but we are set free that we might serve our neighbor. We are set free from our own selfishness and self-interests so that we might live and die for the neighbors that the Lord has given us, our spouse, our family, our brothers and sisters in Christ in this congregation and every one else. In the forgiveness of sins our neighbors come to us as gifts that we might begin to keep His command to love them.
And so we are free slaves, or bound freemen, whichever way you like it. There is no contradiction; by the love of Jesus we are set free to love God and our neighbor.
Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. [2:16]
I've been thinking about this freedom lately because there are two constant attacks on this freedom. Two dangers that the Lord is protecting us from; two ditches on either side of the road that we can trip and fall into; two “isms” that threaten His church and try to steal the Gospel, and they are legalism and antinomianism. I'm sure you've heard of legalism, where the law and our keeping it becomes the central feature of the church's teaching. Antinomianism, on the other hand, means “without the law.”
Legalism steals away the freedom that we have in Christ. Antinomianism steals away the slavery that we have in Christ.
Legalism takes the law and waters it down, so that instead of condemning us the law is keepable and doable, and we can measure ourselves at how well we've kept the law. Antinomianism takes the law and throws it out the window (or at least tries, you can never be rid of the law, but you can call it something else).
Legalism forgets the Gospel. Antinomianism uses the Gospel as an excuse to sin. (And this is the most terrible abuse, and a loss of the Gospel altogether.)
Legalism says, “Don't drink any alcohol.” Antinomianism says, “I'm forgiven. Let's get drunk.”
Do you see it? Legalism says, “I must do such and such..” or “I can't do this and that.” Antinomianism says, “I can do what ever I want.”
And the problem is that they are both wrong. One steals our freedom, the other steals our slavery. Both steal away God's love for us and our love for Him and the neighbor.
But our flesh loves them. Our flesh loves the law, and so we sinners are tempted toward legalism and antinomianism. These two temptations stand before us as individuals, as families and even as a congregation and church body.
We are legalists when we coerce people into our own mold, when we set up a standard of judgment that goes beyond the ten commandments, when a person's keeping of the law determines their status at church.
We are antinomians when we say there is no law, live however you want, when repentance is replaced with tolerance.
Our flesh loves legalism because we can become judges and begin to measure and exalt ourselves over others. Our flesh loves antinomianism because we give ourselves license to live however we want.
It's this last part that the Epistle speaks of, “Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.” [2:11] Our flesh will always take the Gospel as an excuse to sin, and this is especially common with sexual sin, adultery, sex outside of marriage, homosexuality, pornography, or any other breaking of the sixth commandment. This is our flesh waging war against our soul. But the freedom of the Gospel is not the freedom to sin, but rather the freedom to serve our neighbor and live a chaste and decent life in what we think, say and do.
So here we are: tempted on one hand to lose our freedom and on the other hand to abuse it. And the solution? It is not found in striking the right balance between the two. Rather, the Lord Jesus would deliver us with His law and Gospel. He comes to show us our utter sinfulness, our slavery to death, and He grants us repentance, sorrow over our sin. And then comes His answer: His own death on the cross. By His life freely given He set us free, free to love and serve Him and our neighbor.
May our Father in heaven grant us the Spirit that proceeds from Him and His Son, that we might “live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.” [2:16] Amen.
And the peace of God which passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller
Hope Lutheran Church | Aurora, CO