God’s Gift of Freedom: Liberated to Serve

Happy Birthday, America! On July 4th, America celebrated its 249th birthday. I thank God for our country and for the freedoms we enjoy here. However, I am especially grateful for God’s gift of freedom, which far exceeds those benefits we enjoy in America both in significance and in duration.

There is no real or lasting freedom apart from Christ. Until a person accepts God’s gift of salvation, they remain in the slave market of sin. So true freedom can only come through Christ. “If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:36).

When we accept Christ as our Savior, we are

1. Freed from the guilt of sin. We have experienced God’s forgiveness. “You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins” (Colossians 2:13, NLT).
   
   Because Christ died for us on the cross, we are also
   
   
2. Freed from the penalty of sin. “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
   
   If we allow the power of the Holy Spirit to lead and empower us every day, we can be
   
   
3. Freed from the power of sin. “We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin” (Romans 6:6-7). 
   
   
4. Freed from the Law with its demands. (threats and penalties) “Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace” (Romans 6:14).
   

God has given us a great gift called freedom. We are free from the guilt, penalty, and power of sin. But we must decide what we will do with that freedom. Will we use it, or will we abuse it? Will we use it to love, serve, and build up others, or will we use it as a license to sin or to destroy other people?

Where freedom exists, it should not be abused. “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). Behind Paul’s statement is an implied question about grace. The question was this: “If we live under grace, not the law, what is to keep us from disobeying God? The answer is that spiritual liberty is not the liberty to sin, but the freedom to do what is right. Paul exhorts us not to give our old sin nature an “occasion” to manifest evil.

Freedom in Christ should give us a new desire to serve one another, motivated by a new passion to love others with the love of God. “For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Galatians 5:14, NASB). It is the love of Christ poured out in our hearts and flowing through our lives that demonstrates living in and by the Spirit. (Romans 5:5)

When freedom in Christ fails, conflict is sure to arise. “If you bite and devour each other, watch out, or you will be destroyed by each other” (Galatians 5:15). Division and strife do not mean that Christians will lose their status as Christians, but that their fellowship with one another will be greatly diminished or destroyed.

God’s gift of freedom is priceless—don’t take it lightly. With freedom comes great responsibility toward God and toward the good of others. It’s not about us! The key to living correctly with the freedom that God has given us is the love of Christ, empowered by the Holy Spirit. We are liberated slaves who have been rescued by Jesus on a mission to liberate others.