It is no surprise to most people that God Almighty lives in absolute freedom and liberty. There is no captivity caused by sin or any relationship can lay claim against God. He dwells in the light of perfect righteousness, which allows His every activity to be open, lovely, and free. Some Christians have trouble believing that our new life is made in the “image” of God. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. (Col 3:9,10) Because we live among the bondage and unrighteousness of this world we have difficulty visualizing the righteousness that is given to every born-again person. A real Christian uses their will or volition to join with God in righteousness. Sin places people into the captivity of death but righteousness leads to eternal liberty.
A servant of God “chooses” to be part of goodness and right doing. No one serving God is a captive and they are free to walk out at any time. We are volunteers.
Most people think that their independence is wonderful but they have an extremely narrow and mistaken view. All the self-determination of worldly people will lead to failure and death. Talk to people who did it their way when they are old and you will find loneliness and bitterness. Ask people who raised children with a great plan that turned into a nightmare. Ask for wisdom from someone who dedicated his or her life to some vice and then view the wreck of a human. All of our natural impulses and plans will result in sin and eternal death. There is only one place to find eternal liberty and freedom and you must join with God to find it.
Real freedom is a bi-product of our inclusion into God’s grace. When God created humans they had freedom to live in His righteousness. Unfortunately, the Devil talked humans into following their own decisions, which left us captives to our sinful nature. God did not write us off. He sent his own son to earth with a plan for the redemption of humans. Jesus said, God has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s grace. (Luke 4:18) This is the second time God has offered humans the opportunity to live with him in eternal liberty. I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. (Rev 3:20) In order for us to have an eternity of freedom, we must avail ourselves of God’s offer of grace.
The truth is that all of us have a choice to make, live a captive as we were born or seek God and His freedom. For if you live according to the sinful (captive) nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, (in freedom) because those who are led by the Spirit of God are (the free) sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. (Rom 8:13-15) The unfaithful or unbelieving person is only free to run around the jail, so to speak. They will never escape this world alive. How wonderful it is to seek God and enter the freedom of His eternal family. It is God’s desire that all people seek Him but most prisoners of sin will not and are strangely content on their way to eternal torment.
The Bible makes a strong point of warning Christians not to misuse their freedom. The danger is falling back into the world. 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. (Gal 5:1) This can happen if we do worldly things after yielding to God. 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. (Gal 5:13) We see here that dedicating our life to others will keep us from indulging in the worlds activities for ourselves. Believe it or not, there are some people who even use their Christian position to do harm to others. The Bible says, Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. (1 Pet 2:16) We see that real freedom is only for the servants of God who stay in His grace.
There are preachers today that tell people how free they will be if we just follow their instructions. Of course, we must give them some money to show that we really love God. Some of these people actually did start out in the truth of God but something changed as they grew older. They promise them (people) freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him. If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. (2 Pet 2:19,20) We are slaves to anything that controls us. Serving God is the only way to find real freedom and break the bonds of this world.
The Scripture says repeatedly that we must continue to move forward with God. He has given us a new life of great value and we must appreciate His gift. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does. (James 1:25) So many people in America have heard the truth but are not doing it. What a great shame to go to eternal punishment with the unused truth in your knowledge. This verse says that living in the perfect law “Gives Freedom.” This is why we can say that freedom is a bi-product of living with God. Freedom is staying out of bondage; we cannot do things that put us back under domination. To live in sin is loss of control but living by some good laws also brings a downfall into our life. At best, following laws makes us self-righteous. Serving God in the Spirit is the only way to live in freedom.
Doing a sin or failing a law always lays a guilt on our conscience. Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, (Heb 10:22,23) The first thing God does for a new born Christian is to give freedom from their conscience. If you have not experienced this you must seek God. This great feeling of freedom makes it easy to love and serve God. I will walk about in freedom for I have sought out your precepts. (Ps 119:45) Since Jesus sent the Spirit to live in us and show us the way, we can really feel the freedom in our lives. David had to read the precepts but they actually live in us. This is how the love of God can come through our life if we allow it.
May God delight in our lives as we follow Him in freedom.
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