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Reflections

What it Means to be Free

Freedom has been the topic of our discussion during the month of July. Government, we observed, provides only civil liberty; it does not deal with freedom from sin or our own selfish nature. For freedom from these, we look to Christ alone: whom He sets free is “free indeed.”

When we understand our freedom in Christ, the next question we ask ourselves is: “What do we do now that we are free?” The Bible plainly teaches both what to do and what to avoid. Our freedom is given to us for a purpose.

Freedom to Serve

“All dressed up and no place to go.” This folksy statement could describe our position of being free in Christ if we do not understand the purpose of our freedom. True, Christ has “cleaned us up,” setting us free from the bondage of sin. As we walk with Him, we learn what it means to be free from our own selfish nature. He also teaches us how to live in that freedom.

Some people seem to think that liberty is the license to do what we please. But even civil liberty is available only within the confines of the law. The liberty Christ gives also has restrictions.

Liberty in Christ is not license to sin. A young man once told my husband, “Pastor, you may not understand this, but I heard another preacher say that once we are saved, it is impossible to sin anymore. So, because I am free in Christ, I can live any way I choose.”

He was right about one thing—that was not our understanding of freedom in Christ. This sounded more like what Peter was warning against when he said, “Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil” (1 Peter 2:16, NIV). The preacher the young man heard was propagating using freedom in Christ as license for any kind of immorality.

Liberty in Christ is not license for self-indulgence. Paul joined Peter in warning his disciples to be on guard against using liberty for satisfying the whims of the self-life.

You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature (Galatians 5:13, NIV).

The strong natural desires we discussed last week, and others we may not have discussed, are all brought under subjection to Christ. This submission does not earn our salvation; that would be legalism. We submit ourselves to Him because of our love for Him.

Liberty in Christ is not license for offending others. Paul wrote to the Corinthians about the freedom in Christ they were enjoying. But he warned them to be considerate of others who might not have the same understanding they had:

Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak (1 Corinthians 8:9, NIV).

He went on to tell them it was better to limit their own freedom than to give offense by their actions.

Liberty in Christ is given for service to others. Both Paul and Peter agree on the purpose of our freedom. Writing to different groups of people at different times, they say the same thing. Our freedom in Christ is given to us that we truly might be His servants.

Paul finished the instruction to the Galatians we quoted above by saying:

But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love (Galatians 5:13, NIV).

This brings us to a very sobering end to this whole discussion on the meaning of freedom.

In the end we discover that life really has only one question: who are you going to serve?

We can serve Satan and live in the bondage of a sinful life. We can serve ourselves by living a self-centered life—a different kind of bondage. Or, we can serve our Savior by serving God and others in the bondage of love. Our only freedom is the choice of whom we serve.

When we choose to serve Jesus we become like the love-slave of the Old Testament who by his choice remained with his master after he had been set free. His ear was pierced to show he agreed to become his master’s “servant for life.” We show our appreciation to Christ for granting us true freedom by becoming His love-slaves forever.

Points to Ponder:

In what ways might we fall into the practice of using our freedom in Christ for selfish ends? When does liberty become license? How can we maintain a love-servant’s heart in our service to the Lord?

PEGGY MUSGROVE is a licensed Assemblies of God minister. She is also a speaker, freelance writer, author and prayer group leader. Her latest book, Musings of a Maraschino Cherry was released in 2004.. You can visit her at www.musgroveville.com.

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