The Mark of True Freedom

It’s one thing to make a bold declaration for freedom when you are comfortable, when you are not going through a trial or a test. But what happens when you get uncomfortable, when things get hard, when you are forced to make a decision in the face of death? The men who drafted and signed the Declaration of Independence didn’t scatter when things got difficult, they went forward with bravery and determination, even when many of them were killed, captured, their families killed or assaulted, and they lost everything in their bid for freedom. 

Paul wrote about this kind of resolve in Galatians, the kind that kills the flesh and makes us alive in Christ. 

Galatians 2:20-21

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.

Galatians 5:1

 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

What Freedom Actually Looks Like

The people who fought in the Revolutionary War died so we could worship God in freedom. Many of us have no idea what it is like to give up everything, even our lives, for a cause as great as this. We stand on their shoulders, but so often we take this freedom for granted. What will we do with this hard-won freedom?

Matthew 22:36-40

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

We love God completely. 

We love others genuinely.

True freedom is to serve and love others. But we can only love others when we love God and allow His love to transform us first. 

True Freedom Is Tangible  

When a person is truly free, there is a peace about them that is palpable. You can feel it. True freedom comes from a soul washed clean by the blood of Jesus. This is the only way to true liberty—liberty in the Spirit. This kind of freedom is one that no one can take away. 

This takes total surrender. The way up is down. The way you get true freedom is by letting go of control and surrendering your whole life to Jesus Christ. 

The world tells us that freedom is doing what you want, with whoever you want, no matter the consequences. “No one is going to tell me what to do!” But so many find that this kind of “freedom” lands them in a prison of their own making. The truth? Freedom isn’t free—it will cost you everything. It will cost you the things that look shiny and fun on the outside, but lead to death. This is a tension we face in the Scriptures: the way up is down. Humility is the only road to freedom. God says that He will exalt the humble. We don’t have to fight for recognition—God fights for us. He raises us up in due time.

We have to stop looking for recognition in this world, and look to Jesus for our identity. Let the world grow strangely dim in His light and beauty and grace. 

Remember Where you Started

 God is in the business of redemption. You didn’t deserve it. No one does. Why do we allow judgement to bring division? God doesn’t love you only when you’re easy to love. He loved you even when you were still a sinner and everyone had given up hope in you. We are called to love all people like Christ loved us—no matter where they’re at. 

Biblical independence is recognizing God is Lord of all. We have to surrender to His authority. The more we surrender to Him, the more freedom we find.

True freedom looks like sacrifice, loving the unlovable, serving the difficult, and those that don’t look like we think they should. People are searching for this kind of freedom—will you use your freedom to help them find Jesus? 

John 13:34

As I have loved you, you should love one another.

True Freedom Produces Joy & Hope

True Joy and Hope is tangible. It looks like something, and responds the way Jesus would. Happiness and joy are not the same thing! 

“Spiritual freedom is choosing to walk in joy despite our external circumstances.” - Jim Boyd

Peace doesn’t come from my situation, it comes from my Savior who freed me from sin. I am secure in His arms. True freedom lives from the inside out, not the outside in. 

Philippians 4:4

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

 Happiness is a slave to circumstance, to what is happening. 

Romans 5:1-2

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

When Paul wrote these words, it wasn’t because everything was going the way he wanted. He went through trials, even more than you and I have probably ever experiences: shipwrecks, beatings, being stoned, bitten by poisonous snakes, put on trial, and imprisoned (where he eventually was beheaded for the cause of Christ.) and yet he still wrote, “count it all joy when you face trials of many kinds…” 

How could he write such a thing? Because joy is free. Joy is an inside job. It is determined by our internal Foundation, not our outward circumstances. 

“Joy is not the absence of suffering, it is the presence of Jesus in the midst of it.” - Jim Boyd

Unshakeable Hope

When our hope is built on the Rock of Jesus Christ, it cannot be shaken! 

How will you manage your freedom? Will you use it to love and serve others, or serve yourself? Will you use it to become complacent and comfortable, or press forward to the goal God has set before you?