What Is Freedom?
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Introduction
This weekend, we celebrate our historic independence from the control of a foreign power and our freedom. Being fond of words and their meanings, I feel compelled to ask and answer the question, "what is freedom?"
In my quest for clarity, it seemed fitting to bypass those definitions that applied primarily to our nation as a whole. Conceptually, our Country is free. I might go so far as to say, we're freeish.; but that is probably a very different conversation for a
different time and place.
Instead, I chose to focus on freedom as it relates to you and me personally. This seems doubly appropriate since everywhere you turn in our country today, people are obsessed with their personal freedom (though not nearly as interested in yours).
So beginning with Dictionary.com, I find that freedom is:
the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint:
exemption from external control, interference, regulation, etc.
the power to determine action without restraint.
political or national independence.
personal liberty, as opposed to bondage or slavery:
Philosophy. the power to exercise choice and make decisions without constraint from within or without; autonomy; self-determination.
That definition correspond with what we see going on in the world around us. Everyone wants to have the power of choice without any constraint. As much as that tracks with current events, I don't find that definition very satisfying. The trouble with this definition is that it too closely resembles other descriptions.
Sounds cryptic, I know, so here is a little more context.
Early in the book of Romans, The Apostle Paul was laying the groundwork for the need of personal salvation through faith in Jesus and His death in our place and for our sins. As a part of that groundwork, he recognized that, in a very real sense, humanity has rejected God in favor of being god. And God let them.
28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, 30 backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; 32 who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.
We hear "debased mind" and assume, with some degree of correctness, that it is inherently negative. It really conveys the idea of a way of thinking that should be rejected because it leads to failure. However, God allows us to think how we wish regardless of how futile it might be. And regardless of how detrimental the effects of such thinking are. Most of this passage highlights the effects, but the cause is absolute freedom of thought and choice.
It sounds alike like today. Our politicians and other people with power seem obsessed with mitigating the effects of absolute freedom without addressing the cause, that will not work because it cannot work. Where did we get the idea that absolute freedom was what we needed?
1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”
2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ”
4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.
Adam and Eve lived in a state of absolute innocence. They walked around naked and were completely unaware that was a problem: because it wasn't. As adults, they still possessed the innocence of young children. There was one rule (only ONE!) and it posed no issue for them. But the serpent (The Devil) convinced Eve that one rule was one too many and that she could be god, rather than following God. She could, he said, experience absolute freedom.
So, when I think of freedom, as defined and demanded in our contemporary context, I consider the source of its suggestion, Satan, and the impact of its adoption: despair, destruction, and death. I do not find this definition of freedom acceptable. I want something else.
Jonathan Pennington, associate professor of New Testament Interpretation at Southern Seminary, wrote that “the essence of sin is ‘trusting the wrong voice as humans’. We ‘mistrust the voice of God and follow the voice of the serpent instead.’ By contrast, ‘faith involves heeding God’s repeated calls in Scripture to listen to Him and trust His voice once again.’”
Transition
I want to listen to the voice of God. What did He say about freedom? In the Gospels of John, Jesus addressed freedom directly.
Illumination
For context, the passage we want is in the middle of a “conversation” Jesus was having with some very religious folks.
12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”
This statement did not sit well with all who heard it.
13 The Pharisees therefore said to Him, “You bear witness of Yourself; Your witness is not true.”
In His reply, Jesus argued that His Father bore witness to His words and that enough. The religious leaders did not understand—or did not want to understand—that He spoke about God and the argument kind of devolved from there. Even though the religious leaders were arguing against Him, many of the “common” folks who were listening in believed in Jesus as their promised Messiah.
31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
First Observation: Freedom Is Founded on Faith
First Observation: Freedom Is Founded on Faith
There are three important elements in this statement:
“Abide in My word”
Beyond reading
Live according to My word
“you shall know the truth”
accurate knowledge of facts
accurate assessment of reality
“the truth shall make you free”
Assumes they were not free
Underscores that they could be free
Clarifies that they could not be free apart from truth
Faith—believing and trusting what God said enough to live as He said we should live—is the bedrock upon which the experience of created freedom is built. If you remove this foundation, your experience of freedom will collapse.
One other element is present in Jesus’ statement, and it was one that His audience heard loud and clear, was that they were not free. They took exception to that observation.
33 They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?”
In response, Jesus replies with another key to understanding freedom.
Second Observation: Freedom Is Lost by Choice
Second Observation: Freedom Is Lost by Choice
34 Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.
There are two critical words here:
Commit - this does not refer to a single act, but rather to spending significant time committing related acts. The word is used graphically by the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 11:25 “25 Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep;”
Sin
Most common/general word
Missing the target
When we spend significant time in actions that are contrary to how God said we should live our lives, we sacrifice our created freedom and become beholden to those actions and the consequences of those actions.
Hot on the heels of our second observation, comes a third.
Third Observation: Freedom Is Secured Through Salvation
Third Observation: Freedom Is Secured Through Salvation
35 And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. 36 Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.
Once we have lost our created freedom, we need someone to give it back. That someone is Jesus.
He came that we might have abundant life, John 10:10 “10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
He died to take our consequences and give us His blessings, 2 Corinthians 5:21 “21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
Freedom is given by the Son, not taken by the Serpent. The Son offers to restore our created freedom and all of its blessings. The Serpent offers absolute freedom and all of its consequences.
Conclusion
Do these observations answer the question “What is freedom?” Maybe not, but they certainly give us the tools to formulate a definition. I would say that freedom is:
The ability to live as we were created to live.
This is simple but broad and understands that we were created free but were not created to experience absolute freedom and the consequences that come from it.
Absolute freedom is not freedom. Created freedom is freedom.
Application
Experiencing true freedom is a choice…actually it’s the culmination of a bunch of choices. The scores of minor choices in life determines the major direction and experience we have. Each time we make a choice we build upon our experience of freedom, or we tear it down. We should choose wisely and live as we were created to live, not as we are tempted to live.