The seduction of liberty and freedom is so compelling because there is so much truth to it.
It is true that people long for freedom.
It is true that people deserve to be free.
It is true that God created us to be free.
It is true that Jesus Christ came to bring liberty and freedom, and that where the Gospel of Jesus Christ is taught and lived, freedom and liberty grows and expands.
The freest countries in the world and in history are those that have been influenced by the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The deception comes in when we think we can experience true liberty and freedom apart from Jesus Christ and the values of His Kingdom. There is no freedom or liberty apart from Jesus Christ.
One of the central truths of the Gospel is that we are enslaved to sin (John 8:34-36; Luke 4:18-19; Romans 6–7). This bondage cannot be broken in any other way than through the power of Jesus’ death and resurrection. It is death that destroys the power of sin, and it is resurrection that grants a new life for the future.
Yet the Gospel of Jesus Christ does not lead to complete freedom the way the world defines it. The Gospel frees us from the necessity of serving sin so that we are freed to serve others.
This is the paradox of the Gospel which is often ignored by modern churches. Jesus Christ does not set us free so we can live any way we want. Jesus sets us free so we can follow Him into the world to be His hands and feet in loving acts of service to others.
The personal and moral freedom that is so often taught in our churches is not part of the Gospel, was not taught by Jesus Christ, and is in direct contrast to much of what the Scriptures teach. To the contrary, “personal liberty is something Kingdom people are called to revolt against” (see The Myth of a Christian Nation,
The Gospel calls us to give up our liberty, and sacrifice our freedom for the sake of serving and loving others. Jesus gave up His right to liberty so He could serve others, and He calls those who follow Him to do the same.
Amen, Jeremy! Preach it! May it be so (on earth, as it is in Heaven).
You’re evangelizing the “Christians”, eh? This is the full gospel, and only possible in following the leading (and empowering) of the Spirit of Christ.
Word up.
M.
Thanks, Mark!
Hi Jeremy, I replied to your email about 2 weeks ago and not heard a reply. I was just wondering if perhaps it got lost in transit?
God bless
Andrew
Andrew,
It did get lost. I have responded now… Thanks for your patience.
We live in a great, but imperfect country. Yet, our real freedom is in Christ. It can never really be achieved through any man-made system, including any political system. While it can be important to be involved in our democratic processes, whoever and whatever we vote for or against will never completely bring about the freedom we desire.
Freedom in Christ includes the freedom to serve as His hands and feet. Yet I have discovered a sometimes caveat – We can not do and give everything that everyone wants. I need to follow Jesus’ example and serve and give where there is real need, rather than just perceived need. A couple of examples:
*The church that decides it really needs lots of dollars to build more buildings to serve its membership (although rarely stated quite in those terms), so it beseeches the membership to “give sacrificially”. This leaves little or nothing to help the homeless living under a bridge just down the street, to help the single mother who can’t pay to heat her apartment in the winter, etc.
*The person I know who thinks Christian friends and relatives should pay most of his/her bills while this person takes a year off work to “travel”.
Trying to figure out how to be the hands and feet of Jesus in every situation can be tough. Perhaps experience and seeking to do as Jesus modeled guides us best.
Jesus as our model will get us quite far down the road. Of course, so many people misrepresent and misunderstand Jesus, people can think they are following Him, but are not.
I have heard David Barton speak of Liberty in America and how the Bible was and still is a fundamental instrument and GUIDE in shaping this Country. The following link is to my Church and the video archive of past messages. Once on the page, scroll down to two messages from David Barton for further study on this topic. Well worth the time.
http://indianrocks.org/MediaArchive.php
Luke,
Thanks for the link. I will check it out.
Amen Sign me up ,There is no better Life ,This is the only Life.
As with charitable giving, voluntarily giving up one’s liberty in response to The Lord’s teaching is completely different from having government take it: One enriches the giver while the other merely enriches the government and increases its power.
Yes. This is why I get upset when people compare the “communal sharing” of the early church in Acts with “communism.” The difference is that the church gave generously from what was their own. In communism, the government takes what is not their own.
So true. Even in a church this is contentious topic. We need more sermons to educate Biblical liberty vs govt enforced social obedience, surrendering of indivisual liberty .