Freedom
Freedom is very important to Americans. Our country was founded on freedom or liberty. Listen to the words of our Pledge:
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America,
one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Wars have been fought for freedom and many lives have been lost. Let me give you some statistics:
· Revolutionary War – 4435
· Civil War – North – 140,414, South – 74,524, Total – 214,934
· World War I – 53,402
· World War II – 292,557
· Korea – 33,686
· Vietnam – 47,410
43 million men and women have served this country in the armed services to date and there are 19,400,00 veterans still alive today.
Today we experience more freedom than any other country in the world because of those who served and died for us. We owe them so very much! Tomorrow is Memorial Day, the day we remember those who died in our nation’s service. So, let’s observe a moment of silence in memory of their great sacrifice.
MOMENT OF SILENCE
Thank you!
Yes, we love our freedom here in the USA, don’t we? But do you realize that long before the US was formed, someone had already died for our freedom. Turn with me to Galatians 5:1.
FREEDOM – WHAT IT IS
Galatians 5
1 Christian Liberty
Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.
The Holman Christian Standard Bible says it this way… “Christ has liberated us into freedom.”
That’s right, Jesus Christ came to liberate us, free us, into freedom. Let’s look at another passage that supports this one.
Luke 4:18-19
18 "The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
NIV
Jesus Christ came to set us free – to give us true freedom. Another verse says…
John 8:36
36 Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.
NKJV
But, what is freedom? Webster defines it this way:
· The quality or state of being free; independence
· Exemption, release
· Ease, facility
· Frankness
· Unrestricted use
· A political right
That’s what it means today, but what did it mean to those of Jesus’ time? Well, the common usage of the words “liberty” and “freedom” in the world of the New Testament simply meant the opportunity to do whatever one wanted to. However, in the New Testament there were three Greek words that were used, none of which meant this:
· Eleutheria – freedom, independence from others
· Eleutheros – free, not bound, indicating one who is his own master
· Eleutheroo – to set free, to release
As you can see, freedom is a spiritual and relational concept in the New Testament. It takes its meaning from the fact that the New Testament sees human beings locked in terrible bondage – a bondage beyond our ability to overcome. Nowhere in the New Testament is freedom thought of as a license to do whatever one wants, without hindrance or consequences.
WHAT WE HAVE BEEN SET FREE FROM
The New Testament’s teaching on freedom can only be understood against the background of human bondage. According to the Bible, human beings are definitely not free. There are some powerful forces to which people are in bondage.
First, Satan and his “powers of this dark world” and “spiritual forces of evil” are against us.
Ephesians 6:12
12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. NKJV
Second, the law, though righteous and holy and good, can do no more than hold us in its grip; it can never help us achieve what it requires.
Romans 8:2
2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. NKJV
Next, the Bible also speaks of a spiritual death that holds an icy hold on humanity.
Romans 6:23
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
NKJV
But, most importantly, the Bible speaks of sin as a principle that is active within our personalities. Sin propels eager humanity into acts that expresses fallen human nature and brings people into even deeper bondage.
Romans 6:18-22
18 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. 19 I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.
20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22 But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. NKJV
What men and women need is not the removal of external restraints, but release from the chains of the inner bondage that keeps them from being the persons that God intends them to be and that they yearn to be.
In Roman law, all people were either slaves or free. Slaves lacked rights as human beings and might legally be punished or even killed by their masters. But when a slave was freed, he or she possessed the freedoms of the free-born citizen.
It is striking that from the perspective of the New Testament, true freedom is not viewed as independence from a master. Freedom is found only in taking a new master, Christ. The Christian is never to serve his old masters, especially sin.
The death of Jesus was the price by which we were purchased from slavery to become servants of the Lord. Paul says….
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.
NKJV
As a slave of Jesus Christ, Paul realized that only in submitting to his new master (Jesus), could the freedom that people yearn for and need be achieved.
CLOSING
We, as Americans, experience freedom everyday. We enjoy our freedom, but, I wonder how many Christians are experiencing and enjoying their freedom in Christ?
Christian freedom is a strange thing. We are not set free to do whatever we want, but we are set free from one master in order to serve another, from slaves of sin to slaves of righteousness. We remain slaves, yet free!