True Liberty, False Liberty

True Liberty, False Liberty

Through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, and through the exceedingly great and precious promises, we have been given all things that pertain to life and godliness. 2 Peter 1:3. That is why the false spirit of liberty uses its knowledge in order to pervert the knowledge of God into lies, thereby leading those souls for whom Christ died into eternal ruin. Everyone who entertains a secret fear of the cross is bound to deviate in the direction of false liberty.

In the same way that Christ gives revelations in His light and wisdom, this false light also gives revelations that lead to hidden deviations. And because people would much rather have an easier way than the “way of the cross,” doctrines like the one that says “the body of sin is taken away through the baptism of the Spirit” find a welcome entrance. And then, quite suddenly, a person no longer has to suffer in the flesh. All exhortations become superfluous. Since Jesus went the way of the cross, we do not have to. Obviously, a teaching like this leads to eternal ruin, and Satan himself is behind it in the form of an angel of light. Only dishonest people allow themselves to be deceived by this false light that makes the cleansing power of the blood completely unnecessary. What is the blood supposed to cleanse away if sin in the flesh has been removed??? Then a person would be like Christ after the resurrection. But is this the case with the people who promote this false teaching? Oh, no! Despite the teaching that the body of sin has been removed, you still find all kinds of manifest sins—sins that have to be classed as works of the flesh. Gal. 5:19. That a person, even after seeing these things with his own eyes, can still cling to such stupidity—a doctrine that has been condemned by God, by every upright soul, and even by the Scriptures themselves—is more than people who love the truth can allow to pass uncontested.

The true light of God tells us that there is nothing good to be found in our flesh, that we have a self-will to deny, a flesh to crucify, and a body of sin that is to be destroyed. Rom. 6:6.

Usually, when you mention even a single word to an assembly about following Christ, all of those who have been led astray by the false light and spirit cry out: “Preach Christ!!!” By saying “preach Christ,” they mean that Christ has already gone the way so that we do not have to. Yet Paul went the way, and he exhorts: “For you yourselves know how you ought to follow us, for we were not disorderly among you.” 2 Thess. 3:7.

But who among this host of people who teach that the body of sin has been taken away would dare to say:

Follow me, as I follow Christ!? 1 Cor. 4:16; 1 Thess. 1:6; 2 Thess. 3:9.

Such bold words can only be uttered by upright souls who personally walk on the way of the cross and who are an example to the flock. These are the only true shepherds, and all the sheep that belong to Christ have an open ear to hear their voices. All the hypocrites and liars run after the voices of the false shepherds who proclaim, “Peace! Peace! Peace! The body of sin has been removed! Peace, peace.”

However, I think that there will be something other than “Peace! Peace!” on the day Christ is revealed. When so much turmoil can arise on a day when one of His disciples lifts up his voice, just think how much more anguish there will be on the day when the Master lets His voice be heard by all those who did not receive a love of the truth, that they might be saved.

Satan is a prince of darkness and the light of God is not in him. So when he works with his false light, it provides relief for the flesh which should have been crucified and should have suffered death. The flesh always says, “Spare yourself.” Blessed is everyone who has the mind to say: “Get behind me, Satan; for you are not mindful of the things of God, but only of that which belongs to man.”

Christ manifest in the flesh brought sufferings in the flesh for Him personally, and it brings sufferings in the flesh wherever He is manifested. But when false light is manifest in the flesh, it brings relief and liberty for the flesh, and this kind of liberty is truly a false liberty.

The liberty by which Christ makes us free demands our body. Christ had a body, and it was sacrificed. Wherever Christ is manifested in the flesh, He always has a body to sacrifice, a will that is to be put to death, and a flesh to crucify. This is where the “liberty of the Spirit” blossoms. Rom. 12:1; Rom. 6:12, 13, and 19. Everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. For if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. In other words, it is only those who manage to present their bodies in the ministry of righteousness who are truly free. Everyone who gets his body actively involved in his service for God is righteous, just as He is righteous. Such a person is truly free from the condemnation of the law, and God’s good pleasure rests over him.

All other liberty is false liberty, and it gives Satan a body with which to work.

True liberty gives the Spirit of Christ, which dwells in us, a body with which He can work.