Men were freed from slavery, in black ink on white paper, when President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Act. But not until Christ and His truth are brought into the life are men really free. If we extend freedom to mean license at any point, we are in danger of opening the door to a whole swarm of sins. We depart from the truth that makes its free. Freedom is not the unrestricted right of doing as we please regardless of the welfare of other people.
Freedom is never the right to exploit others for our own advantage and pleasure.
Such so-called freedom, rather than developing a righteous character, degrades it. God never enslaves us by our obedience to the truth. Out of the midst of transgression and perversity in our world, it is impossible for the natural man to talk of real freedom. One must be a Christian to do that. Freedom in Christ outshines all the wars for freedom ever fought in our world.