So goes the pithy Augustinian quote: love God and do whatever you please. Or, love God and do whatever you want. It’s a quote I really like for a couple of reasons.

Before I get into those reasons, it’s worth hearing the full quote. It is from a sermon Augustine preached from 1 John 4. The full quote runs like this: ‘Love God and do whatever you please: for the soul trained in love to God will do nothing to offend the One who is Beloved.’ Augustine’s point was that if we are focused on loving God we aren’t going to do anything that might offend him. Love for God leads us to live for God.

So why do I like the short pithy version: love God and do what you want? Because I think it encapsulates two theological truths very simply. The first – which was Augustine’s primary intended point – is that the heart that loves God will want to do what God wants. That is to say, we will do whatever we want and – if our hearts have been changed by the Holy Spirit – what we want will align increasingly closely with what God wants. If we love God, we can do whatever we want because our changed hearts will be aiming at what he wants.

The second reason I like the short pithy quote is that it centres on another compelling gospel truth: freedom. So often religion is framed in terms of rules and regulations. Do this, do that and maybe God will be pleased with you. But biblical Christianity doesn’t say that at all. Jesus says, I have done this and I have done that and so God is now pleased with you. As one with whom God is now pleased, as one who has been adopted into God’s family because God wanted to adopt you, go and be what you now are: a child of God.

Augustine’s quote captures something of that neatly. If you love God, you really can do what you want. You really can live however you please. Paul wasn’t mucking around when he kept telling the Corinthians they had great freedom in Christ. Jesus wasn’t lying when he said ‘if the Son sets you free, you really will be free’ (John 8:36). But if you love God, you will very much want to use your freedom to live in ways that bring honour to him. You are free, you can do whatever you want, but you will want to do what honours Jesus.

And so, it is worth remembering that you can love God and do what you want!