WHY ARE WE FREE?
Today we celebrate our nation's freedom. In 1776 the Declaration of Independence was drafted. The colonists wanted to be declared free from Great Britain. They were getting tired of the taxes levied upon them as well as a few other rules and regulations that were put in place by King George III.
The settlers left England in the 17th century and crossed the Atlantic mainly in a quest for religious freedom, something which was a rare, almost non-existent privilege back in England as all people had to belong to the Church of England. They wanted to escape the religious persecution by the Puritans.
This is why they wanted to be free and they drafted the Declaration of Independence and representatives from all 13 colonies signed it. That's how they sought to establish their freedom. They wanted to be free so they could establish their own laws and government. This is why they wanted to be free, what they did to establish that freedom and what they were going to do with it.
What about us? Why did we need to be set free, what set us free and why have we been set free?
1) Why, who and how?
We needed to be set free because we are all sinners. Rom. 3:10-12, "As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”
We might want to throw out some names of people who we think would be the exception to the rule-Mother Theresa, the Pope, my grandma, me. But Paul's emphasis makes it clear, 'there is no one righteous-not even one'. Then he follows it up with 'there is no one who does good-not even one'. No one is righteous, no one is good. That's a lot to take in?
Most people think they're basically good people. According to scripture; no one is. Jesus made that clear in Luke 18:18-19, "A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone."
Wait, not even Jesus was good? No, Jesus is good because he is God in the flesh; but apart from God no one is good. Jesus asked him why he called him good. Why do we think someone is good? Because they're kind, loving and generous? Having good qualities doesn't make someone spiritually good. There's only one way to be declared good in the eyes of God-perfection. What?
Think about it-God is the only one who is perfect. So if God is the only one who is good then good, in this case, equals perfection. Jesus came to preach the good news. Is the gospel flawed in some way? Surely not-it's perfect. Why are we not good? Because of sin. Paul said a little later in vs. 23 that we have all sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God.
So how are we going to be perfect if we're imperfect through sin? That's where Jesus comes in. His sacrifice is the only way we can be good. Jesus said in John 14:6, "I am the way, the truth and the life. no one comes to the Father but through me." When Paul said no one, he meant no one. When Jesus says no one, he meant no one. The only way we can be right with God is to accept what Jesus did to save us.
John 8:31-36, "To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."
When Jesus said 'everyone who sins' he isn't implying that there are some who haven't; otherwise he would be going against what Paul said in Romans and we know he's not going to do that. The Jews thought their connection to Abraham, their Jewish lineage was what made them free. But Jesus let them know the only way they would truly be free was if he set them free.
People today think various things make them free. Their idea that they're a good person, they were baptized as a baby and perhaps made their confirmation. Or even when they're baptized later as an adult. But a one-time decision doesn't make us heaven-bound. Jesus said in Matt. 7 it's not the ones who call him Lord that will inherit the kingdom of heaven but only the ones who do God's will.
How does Jesus set us free? We need to put our faith in him, we need to repent, which means to turn away and go in a different direction. In this case, we are turning away from sin and turning to God, making a commitment to give Jesus the control of our lives. Then we are baptized in his name.
Acts 2:36-41, "Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day."
We are sinners in need of salvation. Only Jesus can save us and when we put our faith in him, repent and are baptized we will be added to the number of those who are born again.
2) What for? Why have we been set free? What is the purpose of our freedom? Is it just to escape the flames of hell and enjoy eternity in heaven? No. There is a purpose to be served.
To change.
Rom. 6:15-23, "But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.
When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
We were one way before Christ and now we have been set free so we can change. Paul said when we were without Jesus we were not able to live righteously. We were impure and indulging in wickedness. He highlights that there was no benefit from sin-those things are what brought about our death.
But now we have been set free so we no longer need to continue in the things that are deadly. We now have the freedom to be under the control of the Holy Spirit. And the benefit we receive from living in that freedom is holiness, resulting in eternal life. We are developing spiritual character. We have been set free in order to change the way we live.
To be like Jesus.
Rom. 8:28-29, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers."
We like to quote the first part of Rom. 8:28 about God working all things for the good of those who love him. But we need to see that God has a purpose for us. What is that purpose? To be like Jesus. The ones God knew would become born again he predetermined that they would be changed to be like his Son.
God has a distinct purpose in mind for each individual Christian but his overall purpose for all of us is to be like Jesus. I've talked with people who wanted to know what God's will was for them. I always bring it back to God's general will. It has to start there. Not that we need to do it perfectly before God will reveal his specific will for us but if we're not giving enough attention to God's general will, he will hold back in revealing his specific will.
Then we look at what will help us to be more Christ-like. We need to learn from Jesus. What did he say? What did he do? How did he do it? Why did he say or do it? We look at the times Jesus didn't say or do something. We learn the make-up of the master and seek to follow his example. We need to pray to be more like Jesus. We need to remove whatever isn't Christ-like in our hearts, minds and behaviors.
We need to be like Paul who said in Gal. 2:20, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me."
Paul knew his old nature didn't just miraculously disappear. And it's not that he didn't struggle with the old nature; you just need to read Rom. 7 to see that. But Paul knew a change had taken place in him and that his old nature didn't have control over him anymore. He now had a new nature that enabled him to live a righteous life and be like Jesus.
Paul was committed to growing and maturing in his faith. He wanted to experience increasing glory.
2 Cor. 3:16-18, "But whenever anyone turns to the Lord the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."
Paul had been referring to Moses when he was up on the mountain in the presence of God. When he came down his face shone with the Lord's glory. It kind of freaked the Israelites out so he put a veil over his face. After a period of time that glory faded. Paul takes that imagery and uses it to describe what happened to us spiritually.
The veil of blindness and inability to be like Jesus has been taken away. Now we have the Spirit of the Lord in us. With the indwelling Holy Spirit comes the freedom to be more like him. We are to reflect the Lord's glory. As Moses came down the mountain, away from God's presence, we are doing the opposite-we are making our way up the mountain-closer to the presence of the Lord.
So, the closer we get to God the more we will reflect the Lord's glory. We grow and mature in the faith, we rid ourselves of the junk that blocks that light so we can shine the light of Christ and make a difference in people's lives, bringing glory to God.
To serve.
We have a purpose in Christ to be like Christ. Part of that purpose is fulfilling the work that God has prepared for us to do. Jesus did the work that he was called to do, so we need to do the work that God has prepared for us to do.
Eph. 2:8-10, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."
We need to see that the Christian life is not one where we just go to church once a week and think we've fulfilled our obligation. Doing the work of the Lord isn't optional. We are God's workmanship; we have committed ourselves to allow God to work on us; to mold us into his image. A big part of that process comes in humbly serving our Lord; doing whatever he moves us to do.
Sometimes we say no to God. But if we look at the grace we have received, the gift of God that has been bestowed upon us, then we can be moved to appreciate the gift of life we have through Jesus. This will compel us to say 'yes, Lord' whenever he wants us to do something for him, great or small.
If we are afraid-we ask him to remove our fear-not find someone else. If we're making excuses out of laziness we ask for him to remind us of the grace, mercy and love we have received. If we're tired, we remember what Jesus went through for us. And not only do we say 'yes' to these divine works, we should be eager to do them.
Titus 2:11-14, "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good."
If we understand the immeasurable grace of God then that recognition will cause us to reject ungodliness and live godly lives. And while we're waiting for Jesus' return we understand our purpose-purity and eagerness to do good works. God has gifted us to serve in him and bring glory to him. It's about him.
Jesus gave himself up for us not just to redeem us but to purify us and to be enthusiastic to do whatever pleases him. If someone saved your life you would want to do whatever you could to repay him. Jesus has saved our lives. We should want to do whatever he asks of us.
To not go back.
The Israelites were set free from Egyptian slavery so they could move forward and establish themselves. But early on they wanted to go back. In Numbers 14:4 they actually said, 'we should choose a leader and go back to Egypt'. Earlier in chapter 11 they were complaining about the manna, remembering the food they had when they were in Egypt. They minimized their bondage and glamorized their conditions.
We could develop the same problem if we're not careful. Gal. 5:1, "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." Christ has set us free so why would we want to go back to the things we are now ashamed of? But yet it could happen, otherwise Paul wouldn't be warning us.
We need to stand firm in the face of the enemy's lies that tell us we were better off before. He wants us to glamorize the old life; he wants us to rely on the things we once used to cope with the difficulties of life. He wants to convince us that living for Jesus is a waste of time. But the reality is that the old life without Jesus is a burden; it weighed us down; kept us enslaved.
Then Paul said this in vs. 13, "You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love."
We can get to thinking that because Jesus paid for my sins, it doesn't matter how much I sin now. That's not only wrong, it's the wrong response to grace. But that's the tug of war battle we're facing. We want to live in both worlds. We want everything Christ has to offer with the "freedom" to indulge in the old life when we want to. But that's foolish and dangerous. That's trying to serve two masters and Jesus said we can't do that. So which one will win out?
Then, in vss. 24-25, Paul reminds us of the commitment we've made. "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit."
At our baptism, we gave ourselves to Jesus. We chose to hand over control of our lives to him. Paul is saying we pledged ourselves to live by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we keep pace with the Spirit. And the Spirit isn't going to go backwards-only forwards. We have been set free to take two steps forward, not three steps back. We have been set free to move forward in the faith.
It's not only important to know why we needed to be set free and how we can become free but also to know why we have been set free. We have been set free to fulfill God's purposes.
