Freedom Now

When you think of the word freedom, what comes to mind? Was it being handed the keys to the car on your sixteenth birthday, finally able to hit the road on your own? Did you think back to moving into your college dorm, watching your parents drive away and realizing you no longer had a bedtime? Or maybe freedom looks like those mornings when you hire a babysitter for a few hours so you can make that grocery run without the distraction of a busy toddler. Whatever you imagined, chances are, what you pictured had something to do with being by yourself. The truth is, however, that the biblical understanding of freedom is fully dependent on relationship.

There is nothing you can do to gain freedom for yourself. Left to ourselves, we would choose sin. Sin separates us from God and brings death to our lives (Isaiah 59:2). We are slaves to sin and dependent on Christ to free us from the punishment we deserve for sinning. The Messiah was sent to earth to proclaim freedom (Luke 4:18). Jesus never set us free so that we could do whatever we wanted to do; Jesus set us free to be in a right relationship with God.

Living in bondage makes for a miserable life. Constantly being burdened with the fear of punishment for your sins or believing that there is something you can do to obtain blessing nullifies the grace that has been poured out over your life. Salvation is a gracious gift and can never be received through works. Believing you have to earn your salvation is submitting to a yoke of slavery. Just as a wooden yoke is placed on animals to control them, having a false understanding of what Christ did on your behalf can scare you into believing your salvation is dependent on behavior modification. Jesus lifts the yoke that sin has placed on our lives and makes our load light (Matthew 11:28–30). Christ has set us free so we can live freely (Galatians 5:1). Following Jesus, living in and by His truth, is much more freeing than the yoke of slavery that sin brings.

Accepting Jesus has died on the cross as payment for our sins lessens sin’s power over us (John 8:36). We are made righteous in the sight of God even though we will never escape sinning or the effects of sin while on this side of glory. As we submit to Christ, sin loses its power. Jesus has set us free so we can be obedient followers of God. The Holy Spirit, which indwells all who have trusted in Christ, guides us away from sinful desires (Galatians 5:17–18). God also gives us instruction in the Scriptures on how to live our lives in ways that are pleasing to Him (2 Timothy 3:16–17).

Again, freedom found in Jesus allows us to have a relationship with God. Though solitude can sometimes make you feel like you are experiencing freedom, true freedom is never experienced outside of a relationship with Him. Alone time can be used to grow in deeper understanding of God and His Word. Being students of the Word strengthens us and makes us more obedient followers who get to experience true freedom (John 8:31–32). Freedom is not the privilege of doing whatever you want; freedom is the ability to do what the Lord has for you. When Jesus returns to earth, we will experience even greater freedom, completely free from the pull to satisfy the flesh with sinful desire.