Freedom in Christ

John 8:31-36; Galatians 5:13 January 27, 2008

Audio Link: Freedom In Christ Printable Word Document: Freedom In Christ

An American newsman sent a letter home from Red China. At the end he put a P.S. – “I hope this letter reaches you. The censors are very tough here.” When the letter arrived in America, another P.S. had been added: “There are no censors in the People’s Republic of China.” Obviously, this letter was censored.

One of the major characteristics of America is the appreciation of freedom. The history of our country is a story of the search for freedom. We have not hesitated to fight for freedom. We now enjoy freedom of press, expression, speech, assembly, and religion, more than most other countries. In China, North Korea, and many other Islamic nations, Christians are tested by hardship, but in America, ironically, we are tested by freedom. And being tested by freedom is much harder. Nobody pressures us about our religion so we relax and don’t concentrate on Christ, on His teaching, or how He wants us to live.

Today I’m going to preach not about political and physical freedom but spiritual freedom, “Freedom in Christ.” Freedom isn’t prized in just the secular world; it is just as crucial in our spiritual world as well. Today’s Scripture lesson from John is one of the well-known statements of Jesus. “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32) Jesus talks about a truth and a freedom that comes from God. He is talking about the slavery of sin and we needed to be set free from sin. As a Christian, are you a free person? Do you really enjoy freedom in Christ?

From the beginning of creation God’s intention for us was to live in freedom. He said, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die” (Genesis 2:16-17). If God had wanted to, he could have blocked off that tree from the first humans, Adam and Eve; rather He gave them the freedom to choose. Even though we yielded to temptation from Satan, God wanted us to be humans who had the will to choose. God still wants us to live in freedom.

Sin has cunning ways of enslaving us, controlling us, dominating us, and dictating our thoughts and actions. It drives us into self-centeredness, self-deception, rebelliousness, possessiveness, dysfunctional love, and addictive behaviors. Even if sin is restraining, mastering, or enslaving us, Jesus can break its power over our life. Jesus himself is the truth that sets us free. He is the source of truth, the perfect standard of what is right. He frees us from the consequences of sin through the power of the Holy Spirit, the Great Helper.

Many people think that freedom is the license to do whatever a person wants; this is a great misunderstanding of freedom. True freedom is the ability to do what is right. It takes obedience in order to have true freedom. Let’s think about it this way! I can sit at a piano and be at liberty to play any of the keys that I want, but I don’t have freedom, because I can’t play anything but noise. I have no freedom to play Mozart or even one easy tune like “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” Why? Because it takes years of practice and obedience to lesson plans to be truly free at the piano. Then, and only then, does one have the freedom to play any piece of music. The same is true of freedom in living. To be truly free, we must have the power and ability to be obedient.

Think about flying a kite. The freedom to fly is related to the string. The very thing that holds the kite to the earth is what keeps it in the sky. Cut the string, and what will happen to the kite? It will fly away and eventually it will fall somewhere. Even though the kite would enjoy its freedom for a while, it is not true freedom. It will not fly in the sky freely and, eventually, will fall down and never fly again. The kite is most free in the sky when it connects to the hand of the owner through the string. The same is true when it comes to our freedom in Christ.

In our other Bible reading today, Paul tells us that we “were called to be free.” Does this mean we can do anything we want to do? Absolutely not! In the middle of the first-century, the Christians in Galatia misunderstood the meaning of freedom in Christ. Many of the Galatians who had begun their Christian life in the freedom of Christ were turning to legalism, trying to earn God’s grace by religious actions. On the other hand, some of the Galatians were abusing their freedom, doing whatever they wanted in the name of freedom in Christ. So Paul wrote a letter to the Christians in Galatians telling them to live in the true meaning of freedom.

We mostly think of freedom as freedom from something that constrains, restricts, or subjugates us. Every Friday evening we celebrate “TGIF,” the freedom from weekly work. When we finish our car payment or house mortgage, we celebrate financial freedom from debt. Surely, freedom means, first of all, freedom from something. But this isn’t the whole picture. There is another characteristic of freedom that we usually overlook. It is freedom for something. It’s the freedom to be able to do things we haven’t been able to do in the past.

Let me share my personal experience of this type of freedom for with you. As you know, last year I graduated from the Doctor of Ministry program at Princeton. The freedom of graduation wasn’t just freedom from heavy readings, lack of sleep, or not being able to go to the movies. It was also the freedom for something. Now I enjoy the freedom of reading for pleasure; I don’t have to follow up on mandatory reading assignments; I can read books I want to read. If we only have freedom from, without freedom for, then we don’t have real freedom.

As believers in Jesus Christ we are free from the power of sin and death. We no longer need to fear that our sin will lead to eternal separation from God, the ultimate death. We no longer need to be dominated by sin’s power in our life. However, many of us still do not enjoy the freedom that comes from Jesus’ sacrifice, death, and resurrection, and many of us still live in bondage to sin, guilt, and condemnation. As I preached two weeks ago, we easily tend to turn the good news of the Gosepl into the bad news of condemnation. Paul clearly proclaims what Jesus gives us: “Therefore, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:1-2)

The Christian also is free from the law. We are set free from trying to earn God’s favor through keeping the law. As Paul writes in Galatians 5:1: “So Christ has really set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.” However, Christian freedom does not mean unruly or uncontrolled freedom. Christ came to set us free—not free to do whatever we want because that would lead us back into following our selfish desires. Rather, we are now free and able to do what was impossible before—to live unselfishly. Christian freedom does not permit sin; rather it encourages loving service.

Do you know when and where the train feels free? Do you think the train will feel freedom when it is in the middle of a wide field or floating on the river? I don’t think so. We call it being derailed. Do you think staying on the rails limits its freedom? Only when the train is on the rails, can it run, run at full speed, and go wherever it wants. It is the same with our spiritual lives.

When we stay within the boundaries of God’s covenant, we really enjoy the freedom of life. If we think that going off the railroad will give us freedom, we will only experience the derailment of our lives. Thus Jesus does not give us freedom to do what we want, but freedom to follow God. As we seek to serve God, Jesus’ perfect truth frees us to be all that God meant us to be. Jesus’ sacrifice did not free us “to do our own thing;” rather he freed us from doing our own thing so that we could serve him!

Robert Chapman, a great friend of the late George Muller of Bristol, was once asked, “Would you not advise young Christians to do something for Jesus Christ?” “No,” was the reply, “I should advise them to do everything for Jesus Christ.” I believe he truly understood what Christian freedom means.

How does God want us to use the freedom He has given us? To the Christian, real freedom can be described and explained by obedience. There are many reasons why we may obey God. What are yours? Fear? Obeying because you have to. Do you obey God because you fear the serious consequences of rebellion? For Reward? Obeying because you get something out of it? Or Love? Obeying because you love Christ. You really want to obey voluntarily and freely.

Christian freedom isn’t only freedom from sin, death, law, and every kind of legalism. Christian freedom is also freedom for, it’s freedom for doing what’s right and honoring to God. We are now free to do the right thing. We are free to live our life for God and His people. In Christ we have freedom from and freedom for. We have been set free, not so we can live for our own comfort, but so we can serve one another in love.

God wants us to have freedom. He wants us to have a life full of freedom. We, as Christians, need to know that freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we should with Christ, for Christ, and in Christ. Let me finish my sermon with a Korean poem, Obedience.

Obedience
Others say, they love freedom, but I choose to obey.
Not that I do not appreciate freedom, but I long only to obey you.
When I do so, obeying is sweeter than beautiful freedom;
that is my happiness.
But if you order me to obey someone else,
I simply cannot be obedient to you,
For were I to obey him, I could no longer be free to obey you.
Han Yong-un (1879-1944)

Sermons On Line

Freedom in Christ

Freedom In Christ - Audio Sermon On-line - Reverend KyungMo Koo