As the Lord Jesus began His earthly ministry, He read in the synagogue from the book of the prophet Isaiah where it told of His mission to set at LIBERTY" the children of men (Luke 4:17-19). Later on in His ministry, He proclaimed: "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free … If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed" (John 8:32,36). He who is the Truth is indeed the Liberator. The freedom He refers to is the freedom from sin, its guilt and power (Rom. 6:18,22), and from Satan and the fear of death (Heb. 2:14).

The believer is set free from all condemnation by being put by God "in Christ" (Romans 8:1) the moment he believes. In verses 2 and 3 the apostle continues, "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law [of Moses] could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin [or, by a sin-offering] condemned sin in the flesh." Oh, what a tremendous price Christ paid for our liberty!

The death of Christ on the cross forever broke the chains of bondage to sin, death and Satan. And His resurrection life is the liberating power that forever sets believers free to be Christ's willing bondslaves. "The love of Christ constraineth us … that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him who died for them, and rose again" (2 Cor. 5:14,15). Life in Christ is the power of liberty to live unto Him who set us free, and to serve Him and others in holiness of life.

This Christian liberty, however, is not a license to do one's own will, which would be sin. Though it sets us free from sin, it is not freedom to sin. In Galatians 5:13 we read that we are "called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh." The liberty which we have is "in Christ Jesus" (Gal. 2:4), and this excludes any possible thought that there is freedom to sin. This liberty is the liberty of the Spirit who indwells us to lead us in the path of obedience to the Word of God. Liberty controlled by the Holy Spirit is true Christian liberty. "Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh" (Gal. 5:16). The positive result will be the beautiful nine-fold "fruit of the Spirit" listed in verses 22 and 23. The life of Christ is thus reproduced in the believer by the Holy spirit controlling our liberty. See also Galatians 2:20.

In summary I quote the following:

"True freedom is found only in obedience to proper restraint. A river finds liberty to flow, only between banks; without these it would only spread out into a slimy, stagnant pool. Planets, uncontrolled by law, would only bring wreck to themselves and to the universe … The restraints which regulate our liberty also insure and protect it. It is not control, but the right kind of control, and a cheerful obedience which makes the free man." (A.T.P.)