Freedom
At one point in His ministry, Jesus was asked to read scripture to those gathered on the Sabbath day at the synagogue (their place of worship). Here is what He read, from the book of Isaiah:
Luke 4:18-19 [NKJV] 18 "The Spirit of the LORD [is] upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to [the] poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to [the] captives And recovery of sight to [the] blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; 19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD."
Notice that Jesus came to both “proclaim liberty” – that is freedom – and to “set at liberty those who are oppressed”. So, He came not just to tell us about freedom and also to set us free.
Today, so close to America’s Independence Day Celebration, I want to cover three points we need to understand about the kind of freedom Jesus offered and what it means to be truly free.
What is the primary ways in which He sets us free?
John 8:31-35 [NKJV] 31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." 33 They answered Him, "We are Abraham's descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How [can] You say, 'You will be made free'?" 34 Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. 35 "And a slave does not abide in the house forever, [but] a son abides forever.
What is the primary way He sets us free? By teaching us the truth of scripture, of God’s plan, of our future in Him and of our responsibilities today.
What are we free from?
John 8:31-35 also answers the question “what are we freed from?”. We are freed from sin. Jesus set us free from sin by becoming the ultimate sacrifice for sin. He, as the Perfect Lamb of God, died in our stead. And in His singularly perfect sacrifice He paid for all the sin the world has yet or will ever commit.
What are we freed to?
Bible tells us that we aren’t just freed from the chains of our bondage to sin, we are asked to then recognize that freedom from sin is meant to make us into the servants or slaves of God. We aren’t freed to do what we want. We are freed to do what God wants. We aren’t free from bondage. We are freed to change masters.
Romans 6:16, 18, 22 [NLT] 16 Don't you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living. ... 18 Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living. ... 22 But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life.
My final thought for you today, sweet sisters, as we think and talk about freedom is found in Galatians 5:1 [NIV] It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
I welcome your thoughts, comments and questions. You can reach me via email at Nancy@DynamicChristianMinistries.org