Why the title "unveiled liberty"?
"Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses' face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory. Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit."
"True liberty is not the power to live as we please, but to live as we ought."If we were to live as we pleased our veiled hearts would never see the glory of God, never know the truth, and never truly live. But would only stumble blindly in the dark when the miday sun is shinning upon us. Instead we have been liberated to now fully se the glorious reality that was hidden from our faces and God made us to magnify that glorious reality of himself - the way telescopes magnify stars. He created us to put his goodness and truth and beauty and wisdom and justice on display (Isaiah 43:6-7). The greatest display of God's glory comes from deep delight in all that he is. This means that God gets the praise and we get the pleasure. God created us so that he is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him. Henry Scougal is so correct when he says, "Our natural affections are not wholly to be extirpated and destroyed, but only to be moderated and over-ruled by a superior and more excellent principle."
"Our natural affections are not wholly to be extirpated and destroyed, but only to be moderated and over-ruled by a superior and more excellent principle."The desire for pleasure in the heart of man is not a perverted pursuit but rather a blind guide. Lust, greed, coveteousness, or want, all lead us to a joy that is lacking what we truly should treasure, the joyful treasure of God in Christ, but we have pursued other means to attain want. None of us has trusted and treasured God the way we should (Romans 3:23). We have not been satisfied with his greatness and walked in his ways. We have sought our satisfaction in other things, and treated them as more valuable than God, which is the essence of idolatry (Romans 1:21-23) If God made us for his glory, it is clear that we should live for his glory. Our duty comes from his design. So our first obligation is to show God's value by being satisfied with all that he is for us, but since sin came into the world we have all been deeply resistant to having God as our all-satisfying treasure (Ephesians 2:3). This is an appalling offense to the greatness of God (Jeremiah 2:12-13), which belittles his glory by preferring the hand hewed pots of self, which hold no water, to the fountain of living water that roars at our backs. Thus God is just in shutting us out from the enjoyment of his glory forever. "They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction and exclusion from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might" (2 Thessalonians 1:9). The good news is that Christ died for sinners like us. And he rose physically from the dead to validate the saving power of his death and to lift the immuvable veil of eternal life and joy. This means God can acquit guilty sinners and still be just (Romans 3:25-26). "For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring us to God" (1 Peter 3:18). Coming home to God is where all deep and lasting satisfaction is found. That is repentance, to turn from the deceitful promises of sin. And to be satisfied with all that God promises to be for us in Christ is faith. This is when we find is that there is no necessary conflict between our happiness and God's holiness, and that is unveiled liberty.
Do you desire the kind of gladness that comes from being satisfied with all that God is for you in Jesus? If so, then God is at work in your life. His message is clear that he has chosen his bride and he has enabled her, by the gift of his free grace, to be justly liberated, so that by faith in Christ she can now fully enjoy him forever unto the praise of his glory (Eph. 5:25-27, Hosea 2:19-20, Rev. 19:7-8, Is. 62:1-5). Simply turn from the deceitful promise of sin. Call upon Jesus to save you from the guilt and punishment and bondage. "All who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved" (Romans 10:13). Start banking your hope on all that God is for you in Jesus. Break the power of sin's promises by faith in the superior satisfaction of God's promises. Begin reading the Bible to find his precious and very great promises, which can set you free (2 Peter 1:3-4). Find a Bible-believing church and begin to worship and grow together with other people who treasure Christ above all things (Philippians 3:7). And enjoy the unveiled libery of being satisfied with all that God is for you in Jesus, as you magnify him as your great Treasure.
