License to sin arises when liberty is abused as a sanction for acting without restraint or indulging selfish desires. Such license is an abuse of the freedom Christ provides and leads to licentiousness marked by undisciplined conduct and disregard for what is right. Those who claim their freedom permits them to follow their own way fall back into bondage to sin rather than serving others through love. Christian liberty rejects any notion that grace allows continued sin or removes responsibility to obey God. License to do whatever pleases produces chaos that ultimately yields to tyranny. The proper use of liberty instead fulfills the law of love toward God and neighbor while remaining under the law of Christ.

Some false teachings claim that it is impossible for humans to live righteously. These teachings assert that Jesus Christ lived a righteous life in the place of others and that God imputes His righteousness to believers. The result of this argument is that one need not live righteously. Such teachings actually condone sin. They imply that one remains free to continue deliberately sinning while God pretends that the person is righteous through a transfer of the righteousness of Jesus Christ. The text identifies those who promote this view as the ungodly men warned against in the epistle of Jude. These teachers turn grace into license. This false position stands in direct opposition to the requirement that one must walk in the light as a continuous way of life by obeying the commandments of God.

The carnal mind translates more time into license to carry on. For this reason God warns His people about settling on their lees, about complacency, about feeling secure in the world, because even though He gives time to repent His generosity has a drugging effect on the sense of urgency and zeal. After all changes can always be made when the end is a little closer. While He allows His people time to repent He also sets limits intervening to keep hearts from becoming fully set in the wrong way. In Romans 2:4-11 Paul speaks of God's goodness forbearance and longsuffering with an eye toward repentance. It is the word goodness in verse 4 that must be considered. In Greek it is chrestotes which some versions translate as kindness or benevolence. Though chrestotes describes a less active facet of God's goodness it in no way indicates indulgence or enabling. One definition that illustrates what Paul means is that chrestotes is what is suitable or fitting to a need. It is not simply God's generosity that leads to repentance but instead He leads to repentance through supplying what is suitable or fitting for needs and it must be kept in mind that He is most concerned about spiritual needs. When He sees that a different perspective an upgrade in character or a better appreciation of the seriousness of sin is needed He shows the same kindness in providing a trying circumstance to help produce the change He desires. It would not be kind or good for Him to allow continuation on a destructive path so in His goodness He does what He deems necessary to lead to repentance if submission occurs.