Freedom Isn't What You Think

The end of phase three in Illinois also has us thinking about our freedom to assemble and the right to say and do as we please. In many ways, we have been freed for more. But what does this really mean for us as a Christian?

Help me with this phrase::

Freedom isn’t…. Free -----someone paid a price

Again, Again and say it louder.

That's right. I want to say thank you for all those who have stood for freedom in our military and for every essential worker who has been on the front lines willing to stand in the gap so the rest of us can remain free. : Great idea

“The best freedom is being yourself.” Jim Morrison

“Freedom lies in being bold.” Robert Frost

“Better to die fighting for freedom then be a prisoner all the days of your life.” Bob Marley

“Freedom and life are earned by those alone who conquer them each day anew.” Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

In our culture, the definition of Freedom is expressed as:

Freedom is having the ability to act or change without constraint. Something is "free" if it can change easily and is not constrained in its present state.

The current definition from Mr Google has it as: the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. In this case, it might be connected to the word privilege.

However, this definition confuses the original understanding. The Webster’s 1828 dictionary gives us the original definition: Freedom is a state of exemption from the power and control of another. That is, Freedom offers independence. YES

A few years back, I was talking to a group of kids about the freedom we possess in Christ. And as I explained the benefits of believing in Christ, a young person asked, “If all I have to do is believe and all my sins are and will be forgiven, does that mean I’m free to do whatever I want? Afterall, if Jesus forgives all, then why not really enjoy life and live for the moment. Why even listen to you or my parents or the stupid ‘this is your brain on drugs commercials?’ Let’s admit it. He had a point. It’s logical.

However, it's a misunderstanding of the meaning of freedom as privilege versus Independence. The young man was in good company. Paul addressed a similar question in his treatise to the Christians in Rome. Probably his greatest theological work. Let’s take a look at what the man who wrote some 25% of the New Testament says.

If you have a bible, let’s turn to the book of Romans Chapter six verse one.

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with,[a] that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. 14 For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

The question was /is: If God loves sinners, why can’t we keep sinning?

It’s also a question that has been connected to a term called “Cheap Grace.” The term “cheap grace” can be traced back to a book written by German theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, called The Cost of Discipleship, published in 1937. In that book, Bonhoeffer defined “cheap grace” as “the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline. Communion without confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ.” Notice what is emphasized in Bonhoeffer’s definition of cheap grace and what is de-emphasized. The emphasis is on the benefits of Christianity without the costs involved; hence, the adjective cheap to describe it.