Does God care about your lifestyle, or does He look on the heart? Randy Jaeggli holds that putting these two questions in opposition creates a false dichotomy. Every believer has full positional righteousness in Christ, and nothing he does can make God accept him any more than that. But God also intends to transform Christian's lives by the gospel. Only when Christians train their consciences by biblical truth does this transformation happen.

Branding as legalists those who attempt to set biblical standards for conduct does nothing to solve the problem. Prohibiting things not specifically prohibited in Scripture does not equal seeking God's favor through your own merit. Paul was the great proponent of freedom in Christ. But he shunned any action that would cause anyone spiritual injury, and he commanded others to follow his example.

True Christian liberty, Jaeggli proposes, is not a license to live as you please but the freedom to live as you should. The exercise of that liberty will both edify fellow believers and draw unbelievers tot he gospel.