Freedom

	Freedom.  It's such a wonderful thing.  We all want it.  But there are so few who really know what it is all about.  This is true in our modern society.  And it is especially true in the religious world.  When all is said and done, freedom is a luxury in the physical world.  Many people are born and die without it. But freedom is essential in the spiritual world.  Without spiritual freedom we die in our sins.  This means an eternity in hell away from God.
	The first step in seeking freedom is a critical one.  We must acknowledge that we don't have it.  If we don't recognize the fact that we are slaves, then we won't do anything to obtain freedom.  The first-century Pharisees are proud of themselves.  They are blind to the fact that they are lost.  So they don't react favorably when Jesus offers them freedom.
	"We are Abraham's offspring, and have never yet been enslaved to anyone," they snap in John 8:33, "how is it that You say, 'You shall become free'?"
	"Truly, truly, I say to you," Jesus responds in the next verse, "everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin."
	The Jews start out as slaves in Egypt.  They then pass through centuries of slavery to neighboring countries, including Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome.  They spend most of their history as slaves.  Yet they claim to have never been enslaved to anyone.  They can't obtain freedom because they are blind to their real condition.
	To what are these Pharisees enslaved?  As Jesus notes, they are enslaved to sin.  They are also enslaved to the Old Law.  And they are enslaved to man-made traditions and ideas.  It is from these three things that Jesus offers freedom.
	"For if we have become united with {Him} in the likeness of His death," Paul promises in Romans 6:5-7, "certainly we shall be also {in the likeness} of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with {Him,} that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin."
	Jesus sets us free from sin.
	"So then if, while her husband is living," Paul explains in Romans 7:3-4, "she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress, though she is joined to another man.  Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, that we might bear fruit for God."
	By comparing our situation with that of a woman whose husband has died, Paul relates how we are set free from the Old Law in order to be joined with Christ.
	In 1 Corinthians 9:19, Paul points out that he has been set free from all men.  He does not have to rely on man-made traditions and man-made religion.
	Jesus gives us freedom.  He frees us from sin, from the Old Law and from all men.  There is something about freedom, though, which many people don't seem to understand.  Freedom goes hand-in-hand with responsibility.
	"{Act} as free men," 1 Peter 2:16 encourages, "and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but {use it} as bondslaves of God."
	What responsibilities accompany freedom from sin, the Old Law and all men?
	"But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin," we read in Romans 6:17-18, "you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness." 
	We are freed from sin, but we must be enslaved to righteousness.
	"For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death," Romans 8:2 states.
	"But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the {law} of liberty," we find in James 1:25, "and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man shall be blessed in what he does."
	"So speak and so act," James 2:12 urges, "as those who are to be judged by {the} law of liberty."
	We are freed from the Old Law, but we are enslaved to the law of the Spirit of life.  The New Testament refers to this as the perfect law, the law of liberty.
	"For though I am free from all {men,}" Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9:19, "I have made myself a slave to all, that I might win the more."
	Jesus frees us from all men.  Our response is to dedicate our lives to serving others in an attempt to open their eyes to the Gospel.

	Jesus offers freedom.  He offers freedom from sin.  He offers freedom from the Old Law.  He offers freedom from man-made ideas and traditions.  By accepting this freedom, we accept certain responsibilities.  We become enslaved to righteousness. We become enslaved to the law of the Spirit of life, the perfect law of liberty.  We become enslaved to all men in an attempt to win others to Jesus.
	Freedom must be coupled with responsibility.  There is another truth which seems to evade many people today.  Freedom isn't free.  Freedom always has a cost.  The greater the freedom, the greater the cost.  The cost of spiritual freedom is death.
	"For if we have become united with {Him} in the likeness of His death," Paul writes in Romans 6:5-7, "certainly we shall be also {in the likeness} of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with {Him,} that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin."
	To obtain freedom from sin, we must die to sin.
	"If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world," Paul wonders in Colossians 2:20-23, "why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, 'Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!' (which all {refer to} things destined to perish with the using)-- in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men? These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, {but are} of no value against fleshly indulgence."
	To obtain freedom from powerless religious forms such as the Old Law, we must die to man-made religion.
	"For speaking out arrogant {words} of vanity," 2 Peter 2:18-19 warns, "they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error, promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved."
	To obtain freedom from all men, we must die to the ways of mankind.
	Freedom definitely is not free.  The price that we pay for liberty, though, is nothing compared to the price that Jesus paid to purchase our freedom in the first place.
	"And if you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each man's work," 1 Peter 1:17-19 instructs, "conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay {upon earth}; knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, {the blood} of Christ."
	"And they sang a new song," Revelation 5:9 records, "saying, 'Worthy art Thou to take the book, and to break its seals; for Thou wast slain, and didst purchase for God with Thy blood {men} from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.'"
	Jesus offers freedom.  He offers freedom from sin.  He offers freedom from the Old Law.  He offers freedom from man-made ideas and traditions.  By accepting this freedom, we accept certain responsibilities.  We become enslaved to righteousness. We become enslaved to the law of the Spirit of life, the perfect law of liberty.  We become enslaved to all men in an attempt to win others to Jesus.  Freedom isn't free.  Freedom always has a cost.  The greater the freedom, the greater the cost.  The cost of spiritual freedom is death.  To obtain freedom from sin, we must die to sin.  To obtain freedom from powerless religious forms such as the Old Law, we must die to man-made religion.  To obtain freedom from all men, we must die to the ways of mankind. But Jesus is the One who paid the ultimate price.  He purchased our freedom with His blood.
	The world offers many kinds of freedom.  Some of it is good.  Some of it is not so good.  But, on the day of judgment, only one kind of freedom will matter.
	"If therefore the Son shall make you free," Jesus promises in John 8:36, "you shall be free indeed."
	How can we find this real freedom?
	"And you shall know the truth," Jesus has noted four verses earlier, "and the truth shall make you free."
	Let's obey the truth so that we may enjoy true freedom.

Unless otherwise noted, "Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE(R), (C) Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977 Used by permission."