FREE?

FREE? (John 8:32)

Ever since the Fall in Genesis 3, man has been enslaved to sin. That devastating decision in the garden put us at the mercy of the impulses and habits of our fallen nature. The reality is that we cannot save ourselves through the doing of good works. On our own, no matter how hard we try, we cannot escape the bondage of sin. However, our God is gracious and loving, and he has provided for our deliverance from the yoke of slavery. He offers us salvation through the substitutionary death of his son.

The Bible states emphatically in Galatians 5:1 that believers are free in Christ: “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free” (Galatians 5:1). Before Jesus died on a cross, God’s people lived under a detailed system of laws (the Law of Moses) that served as a moral compass to guide their lives. The standards of the Law were given for direction on how to behave, not for salvation. The Law, while powerless to grant salvation or produce true freedom, nevertheless pointed the way to Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:19–24). Through His sacrificial death, Jesus Christ fulfilled the Law, setting believers free from the law of sin and death. God’s laws are now written in our hearts through the Spirit of God, and we are free to follow and serve Christ in ways that please and glorify Him (Romans 8:2–8). In a nutshell, this is the definition of Christian freedom.

The great news of the New Testament is that through Christ, God provides the freedom — the liberation from sin — that neither man’s effort nor the standards of the law could provide. Paul says it this way in the book of Romans:

“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” (Romans 8:1-4)

Jesus spoke of this freedom in John 8:32, saying: “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Jesus is the Truth (John 14:6) and knowing Him will set one at liberty—free from sin, free from condemnation, and free from death (Romans 6:22; 8:1–2). Jesus came to proclaim liberty to the captives (Luke 4:18).

When we trust in Christ, we are free from the Law’s oppressive system, we are free from the penalty of sin, and we are free from the power of sin. It is worth noting however, that Christian freedom is not a license to sin. We are free in Christ but not free to live however we want, indulging the flesh: “For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love” (Galatians 5:13, NLT). Believers aren’t free to sin, but free to live holy lives in Christ.

“But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness” (Romans 6:17–18, ESV).

“Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God” (1 Peter 2:16, ESV).

Source: https://acalltoexcellence.com/christ-has-set-us-free/; https://www.gotquestions.org/the-truth-will-set-you-free.html; https://www.gotquestions.org/Christian-freedom.html