Freedom

  

There is a saying in America: “Freedom doesn’t come free”, meaning that the freedoms that we enjoy were paid for with a price of fighting for them and fighting to maintain them against those in this fallen world, who in the desires of the sinful flesh, hate “God” and aspire to destroy godly “Liberty” of the people. The founding document of our nation, the Declaration of Independence, states: “When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Both “God” and “Liberty” are in our national Pledge of Allegiance and on every coin minted, because both saving faith and righteous freedom by God are foundational and are defended. This concept of liberty and freedom bridges both the metaphysical and the spiritual. 

 

Why is their division? Why did the Prophet say in Isaiah 5:20 “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. How do you define the words “evil” and “darkness”? The Lord Jesus Christ explains clearly in John 3:16-20, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.” Who needs saved, from what and why?

 

How great was the “Fall of Man”? An massive drop to our death. How greater is the “Wrath of God” against Sin? Ultimate and complete. But, how greatest is the “Love of God”? Endless and Immeasurable. The three enemies for us are (1) the wicked fallen flesh desires of every human being, (2) the evil God-rejecting world system, and (3) the devil and his demonic influences. All three are diametrically opposed to Creator God, His kingdom, His righteous commandments, statutes and decrees as King of Heaven and Earth, His sovereign reign and provision, and His children of repentant born-again Believers. The Lord Jesus told us in John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” It is hard to miss all the divisive trouble in the world today.

 

The Apostle Paul encourages us in Colossians 2:11-14, “In Him [Christ – our Savior and Lord] you were also circumcised [from our sin] with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self [body and soul] ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.” Jesus is the light that dispel darkness and saves.

 

Reality is that God sets the standards to live by. Sin is defined in the 1828 Webster’s dictionary as: “The voluntary departure of a moral agent from a known rule of rectitude or duty, prescribed by God; any voluntary transgression of the divine law, or violation of a divine command; a wicked act; iniquity.” Sin causes division, a departure from the good of God and the light of God. It separates people, but Christ invites and unites. The Savior of the world told everyone [both then and now] in Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Forgiveness of sin, salvation from destruction, and eternal life is found in no other. Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life sent by the grace of God to us for redemption. Saving faith and Belief transforms our soul and regenerates our spirit as the Holy Spirit is given to the child of God.

 

Hebrews 10:22 “Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.”

 

Liberty and freedom is in God and through Jesus Christ, so live, walk and have your being there.

In Christ, Brian