You've Got to Serve Somebody

Last Sunday while I was preaching I was talking about how that while we say we are "Free" in Christ, that does not mean we are free to do whatever we please.  The fact is that being free in Christ means we are free from the curse of sin which separated us from a holy God. But that freedom from sin does not mean we can run wild and free. Rather it means we are now bond servants to Christ, slave to righteousness. Paul wrote in Romans 6:15-18, "What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness."

Grace does not mean we are free to sin. Rather it sets us free from sin and reinstates us to place of right relationship with God where we now have the right and ability to pursue righteousness... which we could not do when we were slaves to sin. 

Bob Dylan wrote a song... I chose Willie Nelson to sing it... You Gotta Serve Somebody. There is no "freedom" which allows you do live as you please. One way or another, you are serving someone. You get to choose if that someone is the Devil or the Lord.