Bondage and Liberty

If serving God in His Spirit is bondage, then it must be liberty to follow the lusts of the flesh. If you do not want to follow these lusts, but still maintain a form of godliness with no power, as is so common these days, then you should find a place in some religious assembly—whether free or bound—where people are not particularly concerned about your true, spiritual condition, just as long as the outward form is in order.

For our part, we have renounced the hidden things of shame. We have no intention of handling the word of God deceitfully for personal gain. Everyone is free to do or not do as they please; but be assured that judgment will come afterwards. For us, liberty is to do the will of God, even if it means bondage and death for the flesh. Obedience to the faith leads us into and through all hindrances. We overcome them by the power of God. However, if obedience to the faith is bondage, then unbelief and disobedience must be freedom. The church of God has no use for this freedom, and wherever it is practiced death reigns.

We need to be extremely vigilant because we live in a time that is thoroughly permeated by a form of godliness that has no power.

There is a form of self-denial that only serves to indulge the flesh; however, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. A person can say, “I will give up everything that is unnecessary.” All right then, give it up; but at the same time, don’t forget that something you consider unnecessary, another person might consider necessary and therefore will hold onto it. So do not measure another person according to what you have personally given up. And those who have not given it up must not boast in the fact that they have more liberty than the one who has given it up.

It doesn’t matter at all to God what a person gives up or holds onto according to their human understanding, unless He has made His will known in the matter.

Nevertheless, it is good to dress modestly and use the things of this world in moderation, so that opposers will not have anything evil to say when they see our good conduct.