Freedom

In America we are quite proud of our freedoms. We hold firmly to our freedoms of speech, faith, even gun ownership. We understand that our country affords us freedoms other country’s do not, yet we too often take our freedoms for granted.

Teenagers long for the day they can be free of their parents. Workers long for the day they can be free of working. We love having free time, yet often fill our vacations full of activity, offering very little free time. We love options, being able to choose. We do not like anyone taking control of us. We want to do our own thing. Freedom is highly lauded, and not just in America, even if we see it as our unique heritage.

What is freedom? We all seem to want it, but what is “it”? Webster defines freedom as “the power, right or state of acting, thinking or speaking without restraint, coercion or imprisonment.” The definition also includes autonomy, independence, and the ability to fulfill potential. So many things can constrain us – pain can imprison us as much as literal bars. We can get locked into a bad job or relationship. Our desire for freedom can arise in multiple situations. We can feel trapped, enslaved, even in our most free country.

Many people see Christianity as a way of losing one’s freedom. Why would I put myself under the control of a God, or a group of people? Why would I willingly add a bunch of dos and don’ts to my life? I am free and certainly don’t want the bondage of a religion. I want to do what I want to do, make my own way and try not to be beholden to anyone. I’m basically a good person on my own and don’t need religion to improve me.

Many religions, and a lot of what people see in Christianity, do come off this way. A whole list of things we must do to please the religion or God. A whole way of living life that opens the doors to the afterlife, but means that living this life is anything but free. Those outside see the religious struggle to meet those requirements. Failure seems built in. Why would I want to entrap myself into a situation like that? I am free and have no desire to give up my freedom to some religion that doesn’t appear to work after all.

There are even some people who believe that Jesus really did come and die for them, that He probably is the only way to eternal life, but those same people would rather be free then shackle themselves to God. After all, isn’t God against all of the fun stuff in life? I’d rather freely choose hell then have to live under a bunch of rules and regulations.

So let’s talk about those perceived regulations. The Bible teaches that God gave Israel His Law for living life as He intended. Israel had said to God, “anything you ask of us we will do.” Ok then. God gave them the 10 commandments and a whole lot of other more detailed things they needed to do to please Him (and, to be honest, have a healthier and safer life, physically as well as spiritually).  I’ve talked about this before – living God’s standard is impossible. Even if you just take the 10 commandments – they just can’t humanly be done. We may not commit murder, but we’ve all been envious and probably have disobeyed our parents once or twice.

Why give them something they couldn’t accomplish? That seems cruel. But what God really wanted was for the Israelites to recognize what they couldn’t do, and seek His help. Instead of “whatever you want us to do, we will do” the more honest response would have been, “pretty sure we won’t be able to do what you ask on our own. We are a mess. What can we do? Help us live like you desire.” 

A list of dos and don’ts lead us into a system of tasks that must be accomplished to “earn” salvation. Jewish lawgivers kept adding to God’s original Law, making it even more complicated, and impossible. Jesus said in John 8:31-36 that His truth would set the people free. The people proudly shot back, “we are no one’s slave, so we don’t need you to free us from anything.”  Interesting words considering they were under Roman rule at the time. But Jesus said, “everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

What Jesus pointed out is that none of us are truly free. Our very nature makes sure of that. A major teaching in the Bible is that all have sinned and fall short of God’s standard. Romans 3:23 And sin controls us. Paul speaks of that in Romans 6 & 7.

How does Jesus set us free? By taking our sin on the cross and obliterating its power over us.  Prior to this (and prior to having Jesus in our life) we could do nothing but sin. We are born with a sin nature that we nurture along. Our nature is so ingrained in us, we don’t even see how it has imprisoned us. We don’t see how not free we are. We can’t see how debilitating our nature is. We can see the brokenness in our world around us, but really don’t want to see this brokenness begins inside each of us.

The Law in the Old Testament required action on our behalf, asking us to meet a standard that was impossible to meet. Today we are still, often unintentionally, trying to meet this standard. We want to be a good person, so we do what we believe to be good things and hope those actions add up to some positive points in our favor. The Bible refers to this as a works system, a bunch of activities (dos and don’ts) we put into action to please ourselves, others and hopefully even God. Problem is we can’t sustain this for very long. We get tired, jealous, angry, lonely, and suddenly we are not acting so very nice anymore. The author Timothy Keller* calls this “the crushing weight of self-salvation.”

The New Testament is full of passages explaining our imprisonment to our sin nature and how accepting Jesus’ gift gives us freedom, just as Jesus said. When we place our trust in Jesus, His Spirit can empower us for the first time to successfully choose not to sin.  However, there is also the fact that we do trade bondage to sin for bondage to God. The misconception comes in believing that bondage to God means doing a whole new list of things (like the Israelites being given the 10 commandments). But listen to what these passages say about our new freedom and bondage.

Romans 6:18-23 In Jesus we become free from sin and become slaves to righteousness (God’s goodness). When we were slaves to sin we were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap from that? But now you are set free from sin and have become slaves to God. The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life. Working earns a wage. In this case, working for one’s salvation or one’s personal goodness earns the wage of death. But accepting God’s free gift of Jesus gives eternal life.  There is a difference between a wage and a gift.

Romans 8:2-3 We are set free from trying to live the Law on our own. When we become a Christian, what the Law was powerless to do because of our sin nature, God’s Holy Spirit in us works through us so we can fulfill the requirements of the Law. We can’t do it on our own, we are powerless, but with God’s power, we can do what God asks. Remember the Fruit of the Spirit? Have you tried to be kind or patient and failed miserably? Try allowing the Spirit to bear His fruit in you and see what happens.  

Romans 8:21 We are delivered from the bondage of decay and brought into the freedom and glory as Children of God.

Galatians 5:1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free

Galatians 4:8-10 We were formally slaves to our nature. Now we know God and are known by God. We are free from that old life. Why go back? Good question. Why does it appear that so many believers are trying to live by their own ability, using their own strength to live up to God’s standard? Why is this the picture so many have of Christianity, a failed works system? Most likely it’s because we very much want to be in control of our own life; even when we’ve accepted God’s gift, we still act like we are earning wages towards salvation.

Galatians 3:13 Jesus redeemed us from the curse of the Law (our inability to ever live up to it) by becoming the curse for us. We are redeemed to receive by faith the promise of the Spirit. Our life in Jesus includes the Holy Spirit. His power gives us the ability to actually live the life we’d like to live. But it comes at the cost of our being in control. That is the struggle. When we take back the controls (and we do constantly) we place ourselves back under the slavery of sin. When we give the control back to the Spirit, we can do the good that we really wish to do.

The myth tells us we are truly free, when in fact we are not. If we really examine our lives we can see the variety of chains that hold us. But we are challenged by Jesus’ claim that the truth of who He is can set us free. Christianity is not about earning our salvation through our behavior. Christianity is a relationship with God. Our basic job is keeping connected to the Vine, stepping back from controlling our own life and letting God’s Spirit control it for us. It’s a moment by moment responsibility.

What would His freedom mean in our life? If nothing else, being rid of the “crushing weight of self-salvation” seems worth it.

 

*Timothy Keller, Hope In Times of Fear, The Resurrection and the Meaning of Easter.