Well it is another year of celebrating the freedoms we have in this nation, I hope you enjoyed the Fourth of July. Celebrating our freedom is good. It is sad that many people do not have the freedoms we have in the USA. It is even sadder that so many people are not free from the bondage of sin and death. I preached this truth in last Sundays sermon, so let me share with you some of what was in that sermon. People that are still controlled by the the world, the flesh, and the devil are in desperate need of Christ’s salvation from God’s wrath to come and the sin that has broken fellowship with God. So many people need to be set free from sin’s bondage, and the hell that awaits them because they refused the Gospel. Jesus says in – (John 8:36) – that when He makes a person “free” they are “free indeed.” The word translated “free” (eleutheroō) comes from a word that means “to set at liberty, ”one who is freeborn, it is the picture of someone liberating a slave from bondage. Jesus is saying that the freedom He gives us when He saves us is so complete that “it is as if we were never slaves to begin with, but it is as if we were freeborn sons of God”
The liberty Jesus gives us is so complete that it blots out our past and makes us absolutely free in Him. That is a far cry from where we were before we were saved (John 8:34) (Ephesians 2:1-3). Thank God for the liberty we enjoy in Jesus Christ!
Consider for a moment some areas where we have been liberated
- We have been delivered from the wrath of God – (Romans 5:9)
- We have been delivered from condemnation – (Romans 8:1)
- We have been delivered from death and Hell – (John 5:24) (John 3:16)
- We have been delivered from the power of sin – (Romans 6:13-14)
- We have been delivered from the power of Satan – (1 Peter 5:8-9)
The deliverance we enjoy in Jesus is complete and full (Romans 8:2) (Galatians 5:1). The source of our freedom is in Jesus Christ alone – The scope of our freedom is absolute, complete and eternal in Jesus Christ. While the price for our national freedom was costly, it pales in comparison to the cost of our spiritual freedom. The cost of our spiritual freedom was the death of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross at Calvary. (1 Timothy 2:5-6) (1 John 2:2) (Isaiah 53:5-6) (Ephesians 2:4-6). Why did He do it? The answer is quite simple. He did it because He loves us (Romans 5:8).
Freedom in Christ means freedom from sin and its power (John 8:33-36). Do we really appreciate the freedom from sin? We have freedom from the condemnation of sin (Romans 8:1-4).
- In Christ we have propitiation, redemption, justification – (Romans 3:24-26)
- In Christ we are holy, blameless, and above reproach – (Colossians 1:21-22)
We have freedom from the power of sin – (Romans 8:5-17)
- For those who live according to the Spirit, not the flesh
- By setting their minds on the things of the Spirit, not the things of the flesh
- For those who have the indwelling Holy Spirit
- For those who by the Spirit put to death the deeds of the body
- For those who are children of God, joint-heirs with Christ
With help from the Holy Spirit, we can break free from the bondage of sin! Freedom from the condemnation of sin and the power of sin! We will see freedom from the corruption of sin (Romans 8:18-25).
- We will see the glorious liberty of the children of God!
- Even the creation will be delivered from the bondage of corruption
- We will experience the redemption of our body, of which we eagerly await
- Having freedom does not mean that we are free from all things
Having freedom does not mean that we are free from all things
- The Christian is in bondage to Christ
- We are bondservants of Jesus Christ
- We are no longer servants of sin, but we are servants of righteousness – (Romans 6:18)