The Individualistic Freedom Of Christian Life

It is one thing to realize that one is Biblically permitted to engage in a particular act without fearing one has lept into sin, but it is even more liberating to systematically embrace the fact that there is no sin where God has not prohibited people from acting on their desires.  The true extent of a Christian's personal freedom to explore their individual lifestyle preferences far exceeds what many would expect after listening to most prominent self-identified Christians speak on the matter.  Only two requirements actually impose themselves on how individuals should live.

There are no contraints whatsoever on how someone should conduct themselves as long as they do not try to fight or escape reason or commit any kind of sin.  While some may view even these qualifications as unwanted confinements, as if logic could ever be escaped or overturned in the first place, there is actually an enormous amount of freedom that Christians (and all other people) have to live their lives as they please.  The commands of Mosaic Law and Jesus leave a vast amount of behavioral territory in amoral waters, meaning that there is simply no reason to fear a desire to do that which the Bible does not condemn.

If someone wants to spend a great deal of free time sexually pleasuring himself or herself for its own sake or for the sake of introspection, they are Biblically free to do so.  Likewise, if someone wishes to spend much of their time consuming entertainment media for the sake of emotional or intellectual pleasure, they are free to do so.  The same is true of any other pastime or activity that the Bible does not oppose.  Where God's revealed laws do not denounce an act or desire, there is no sin at all (Deuteronomy 4:2, 1 John 3:4).  Legalistic minds ignore this in favor of irrational, extra-Biblical demands that ironically themselves contradict the command of Deuteronomy 4:2.

Christian life is therefore not the anti-pleasure crusade that so many mistake it for, whether out of sheer stupidity or sincere but avoidable confusion.  What the Bible actually defines as sin, both in terms of its epistemological and metaphysical nature and in terms of the specific deeds that defy God's moral nature, is often at odds with cultural and traditional understandings of Christian morality.  No matter how many people are shocked or offended, every individual person can behave exactly as they wish as long as they do not sin.  As important as the matter is, it is as simple as that!

These truths can have a deeply relieving, empowering, and rejuvenating impact on the relatively small number of Christians who discover them.  For those who have been conditioned by the prominent legalistic teachings in the church, they are a potential key to a life full of more sincere service to God and personal satisfaction.  For those who may have never dealt with many forms of legalism but still realized these truths on their own, they are an affirmation of the true nature of Biblical ethics.  The Biblical God does not oppose people for fulfilling their subjective whims where those whims do not conflict with reason and morality, no matter how unique or shocking they are.