Becoming Servant Of Truth

BECOMING SERVANT OF TRUTH

Romans 6:17-18 (KJV): But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have

obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made

free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

Since Indonesia's independence was declared on August 17, 1945, that means we

have acquired freedom without any oppression from the Japanese or the Dutch. That

freedom was obtained by the people. That is why we should uphold our independence.

Look at a bird in a cage, it seems very comfortable with enough food and water.

Every morning the owner bathes it, plays with it. But if the owner was careless and

opened the door of its cage, then it will escape, fly away and never return. Why does it

flee and disappear? Does it want freedom? Does it want independence? Independence …

Freedom!

Such independence is not mere slogan; the meaning of independence is not said

by the lips alone. Independence must be felt by that person. Once a person experiences

and feels unlimited freedom, then he is very dangerous. He will live freely without any

rules. But he who experiences true freedom will still stay in line, within the Truth of God.

He will live free from bondage of sin, but he will become a servant of Truth.

What bounds you in life? Maybe you say you want to be free, but free from what?

Does freedom mean to be free from everything? Oh no, it doesn't!

I try to make an acronym out of the word F-R-E-E. What I mean by free is not

without limits. It is to be free yet to be in order.

How is this possible?

1. FILTER

2. RULE

3. ENGAGEMENT

4. EXPENSIVE

1. To be free, you need FILTER

Freedom without boundaries will be quite savage. In the jungle, there are no rules;

the strongest will win. If the weak happened to win, that's just luck and momentary,

because it will soon lose. Paul once called us “servants of sin” bound and influenced by

sin. Now we try to filter everything using the word of God. The power of sin has been

defeated.

Man's life is dialectical, there is good and evil. The problem is that it is difficult,

because we are given the freedom to choose. God never oppresses us or forces us to

follow His will. The freedom that we have to choose is often used to choose things that

will please us.

Indeed no one wants to live bound as a servant; everyone wants to be free from

such bondage. But let me tell you something, no matter how smart you are you are still

bound. A staff does not want to be bound to his boss; he works so hard so that one day he

can be the boss. One day as a boss he will be bound by his own job. He will be bound to

his company. That's why in this life we must filter everything so that we are not bound to

things that are not important, because Jesus has freed us.

2. To be free, you need RULE

Chaotic freedom will yield disorder and destruction. When the traffic light does

not work, what will happen to traffic? There will be disorder. Once again, you may be

free but you still need rules.

I still remember well that in Indonesia, reformation was publicized. Apparently a

group of people wanted to be free from the New Order. Here and there we saw

demonstrations. Everybody wanted to be free. They wanted to be heard. Then what

happened? Looting happened and riots broke out. It really is scary to have freedom

without rules.

Apostle Paul knew of rules, because he was a Pharisee. That's why he said once

we're free from sin, we must obey the Lord's words. This cannot be simply set aside.

My professor quoted a question from some magazine article. What is the

difference between a mistress and a wife? Is a mistress prettier? Not necessarily? Then

why must there be competition? There is actually no need to compete, because the wife is

already in a state of freedom, thus she has won. On the other hand, a mistress must keep

struggling. And finally, the wife is defeated. A wife usually feels safe about her status,

she never worries about putting on make-up any longer. She never dresses up to welcome

her husband from work. The house is in chaos with kids running around, loud and dirty.

But the mistress seems nice, smelling like perfume from her toes to her hair. She

knows her manners; she learned ethics and etiquette to greet someone. It is then not

surprising that the free wife loses.

A Christian must be like that; when we are free, we must still keep all the rules,