This month I have been talking about our rights to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”. I have also made the comment that we are not truly independent but very much dependent on God, our potter. Today I want to discuss “liberty”.
We will begin by looking at the definition of “liberty”. The dictionary defines “liberty” as the condition of being free from restriction or control.
So the question is “How many of us have a life free from any restrictions or controls?” The basic laws of the land restrict our liberties. We can’t drive as fast as we want without penalty. We are controlled by our work place; what time to be there; what time to leave.
Last week I talked about listening to our shepherd’s voice. Read with me John 8:31-36; “Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
“But we are descendants of Abraham,” they said. “We have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean, ‘You will be set free’?”
Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin. A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever. So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.”
Here we read that Jesus says we have been set free from the control of sin. And we have been set free from the restriction of sin that has kept us from being a part of God’s family. But are we liberated to live our life in total freedom?
Even the Bible reminds us that we don’t have that freedom to live as we want. Paul refers to himself as a slave 3 times, as does Timothy, James, Peter, and Jude. We are told in 2 peter 2:19 “For you are free, yet you are God’s slaves. Romans 6:18 says we
“have become slaves to righteous living.” Eph 6:6 states we are “slaves of Christ.”
How is it possible for us to be both slaves and free? Read with me Exodus 21:2, 5-6 “If you buy a Hebrew slave, he may serve for no more than six years. Set him free in the seventh year, and he will owe you nothing for his freedom. But the slave may declare, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children. I don’t want to go free.’ If he does this, his master must present him before God. Then his master must take him to the door or doorpost and publicly pierce his ear with an awl. After that, the slave will serve his master for life.”
We can say with David “I will walk in freedom, for I have devoted myself to your commandments.” (Psalm 119:45)
What are some of these freedoms?
1) Freedom from the law. --- Jesus said in Matthew 5:17 “Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose. And what was their purpose?
Paul wrote “God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were.” (Romans 5:20a) Then he went on to write “For Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given. As a result, all who believe in him are made right with God.” (Romans 10:4) So we no longer need the law to make us right with God. We simply need to believe in Jesus. Romans 10:9 “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
2) Freedom from traditions. --- Mark 7:6-8
Jesus replied, “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote, ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’ For you ignore God’s law and substitute your own tradition.”
Let’s look at baptism as an example. What does Jesus say? “Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned.” (Mark 16:16) There are a lot of folks that point to this scripture to say no baptism means any salvation. But what Jesus said was “But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned.” Paul wrote
“if you confess with your mouth and believe with your heart, you will be saved” No writer of the Epistles made it a commandment of the early church, although it is evident it was an expected and accepted practice. But we can have such strong traditions, like its King James or nothing. You must be at church every time the doors are opened. You must tithe or God can’t bless you. You must read your Bible everyday or you will never hear from God. While all these things are important none should be done from compulsion but rather from a desire. There are no set-in-stone rituals that would hinder the movement of the Holy Spirit and distract from the call of the church.
3) Freedom from sin--- Jesus said “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin. (John 8:34) So who is a slave to sin? We all are. “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.” (Romans 3:23) Paul continues “For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. (Romans 6:7) It was this power of sin that allowed us to live a life of destruction and turmoil. Why? Paul writes “When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right.” (Romans 6:20) Now, not only do we have an obligation to “do right” but we have a desire to do so. I love the way the writer of Hebrews put it. “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.” (Hebrews 12:1) Run to win.
4) Freedom from death --- Jesus said “I tell you the truth, anyone who obeys my teaching will never die!” John 8:51 We know all of us will face a physical death. The Bible says in Hebrews 9:27 “each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment,” (so much for reincarnation)
Jesus also said “I tell you the truth; those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.” (John 5:24) We are already alive eternally. Death has no grip on us or claims to us.
5) Freedom from judgment --- Jesus said “And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak. The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you.” (Matt 12:36-37) The day will come when we stand at a judgment seat. We can read about it in Revelation 20:11-15 “And I saw a great white throne and the one sitting on it. The earth and sky fled from his presence, but they found no place to hide. I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. The sea gave up its dead, and death and the grave gave up their dead. And all were judged according to their deeds. Then death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This lake of fire is the second death. And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire” It states that “the dead” were judged. But as we have discovered if we obey his teachings we never die. So we aren’t there. Well, where are we?
2 Corinthians 5:10 “For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.” We are being rewarded for lives, our crowns are being formed, the very crowns that we will lay at his feet one day.
6) Freedom from Hell--- Jesus said in Matthew 13:41-42 “The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will remove from his Kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. And the angels will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Jesus taught more on Hell than He did Heaven. To the farmer He spoke of wheat and weeds being separated. To the shepherds it was sheep and goats. To the fisherman it was the good fish and the bad fish. But the weeds, goats, and bad fish all ended up in a fiery furnace. The rich man was aware of his thirst in the fire. (Luke 16:24) In Mark 9:48 Jesus says it is a place ‘where the maggots never die and the fire never goes out.’ Several times He says it is “a place of darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Make no mistake about it. It is real. It is torment. And we have been set free from it.
But there’s even more good news. There are things we are set free to be a part of.
7) Freedom to commune--- Hebrews 4:16 “So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.” Never was there a king or a false god that you could approach boldly. You asked to be seen, you came before him on your knees, and you would not dare to lift up your eyes to meet his. But with God we are told to come boldly, upright, with our eyes fixed on his. We can expect mercy, not giving us the punishment we deserve, and grace, giving the blessings we don’t deserve.
What gives us this right? "And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus." (Heb 10:19)
8) Freedom to worship--- Jesus says in John 4:23-24 "But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” We have the freedom to worship God in the manner in which He calls us to worship. If you like choirs and hymnals that’s fine. If you like bands and Christian Rock that’s good also.
The most important worship to God comes from our spirit, our heart, and our emotions. He wants us to adore him, to love him above all things and all others. And He wants us to be sincere in our worship. He doesn’t want us to worship him from some obligation but rather from an open heart. We have the freedom to be us. What others perceive is of no importance.
9) Freedom to serve--- Paul writes in Romans 6:17-18 Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you wholeheartedly obey this teaching we have given you. Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living. Paul is instructing us that we are now living a righteous life. This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! (2Cor 5:17) We can now serve Jesus in-spite of any past mistakes. Paul continues; “When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right. And what was the result? You are now ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom. 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.” (Romans 6:20-22)
We have all done things that bring us shame. Often the enemy will whisper those past sins in our ears. But the Bible teaches us that those sins have been thrown into “the sea of forgetfulness.” And if God doesn’t remember those sins why should we? When satan whispers those past deeds in your ears just reply “I have no idea what you are talking about. That never happened.”
Remember the slave from Exodus 21? He chose to remain with his master, why? Because he loved him. Will you be God’s slave? Will you surrender your all to him? He has given you the freedom to choose. What will your choice be?
