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Pilate asked ‘What is t
Paul asks here ‘What is freedom?’ Again a
big question.
Many try to attain it, and when they get what they looked
for find it wasn’t freedom after all!
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Ask
the child what is freedom? Most probably hasn’t any idea except to eat
chocolate.
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Ask
the teenager and many will say it’s to be away from parental rules - but not
their purses.
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Ask
the young man or woman in love and they may say it’s not to be free.
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Ask
the factory hand and it’s winning the lottery and being able to tell the boss
to go away.
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Ask
the unemployed and it’s the ability to choose which cheese to buy for his
sandwiches.
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Ask
the old man or woman and it’s the ability to stay where I am and look after
myself.
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Ask
the Palestinian or the Israeli and they’ll tell you freedom to live and pursue
their dreams.
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Ask
the
This ‘freedom’ is aspirations, independence, being
free of people and obligations, constraints, limitations and hindrances,
restrictions.
Paul tells us that isn’t what God’s freedom is about:
It has to do with being not under law but not by
having that law removed.
Paul has been telling them that Christ has given them
freedom, a true freedom, ‘It is for freedom that Christ has set us free’. Don’t
go back into slavery!
Every man or woman outside of Christ is in bondage, a slave
if we did but realise it. A slave to sin. That doesn’t
mean we all live lives of debauchery but we’ve all been warped by
sin, It’s like the wrong balancing weights put in the wrong place on your front
wheels - you’ll have a rough ride.
Drama starts from the point of ‘man in a mess’. It’s true in
Borsetshire with the Archers,
Paul tells us we could
try to get out from these ‘shackles’ (a
mess) by swapping to another set of ‘shackles’, the law. Trying to do everything right. Trying to
fulfil the law. Once you try justifying yourself by using the rituals of
the law you commit to doing the lot! That’s a pretty heavy weight to carry
around!
You’ve just swapped shackles. You may actually be in a worse
position! Paul says - this wasn’t why Jesus came to die! Only He could ever
fulfil the law – and the fact that he did means we don’t have to! He fulfilled
the law for all those who are in Him!
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free’
He’s set us free - not that he made it possible for
us to work our way to freedom! That’s the motto of the
concentration camp! And it was a hope that mocked all who saw it.
Christ has set us free to be free of sin as oppressor and
free of law as master.
The law of the spirit
is what he offers, the law of grace and a new start as His children! vv16ff
Don’t ever put yourself or others back into the ghetto of
slavery to sin which is what the ‘Jezebel’ at Thyatira (Rev 2:18-29) was doing.
Don't ever put yourself or others back into the concentration
camp of law either which is what these people at
So - what marks this freedom lifestyle given us by
Jesus?
Ironically it is
service!
Paul says that we are set fully free from sin and law to
serve! And serve out of gratitude and love! To lay ourselves on the altar for
the Lord as He laid himself on the altar for us! Serving Him
- and others - for his sake. See vv 13-15.
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Do
you want freedom to indulge your own desires? - that’s not freedom that’s
independence!
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Do
you want freedom to buy all you want? That’s not freedom that’s enslavement to
greed.
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Do
you want freedom to have all the time in the world to pursue your own
interests? That’s not freedom that’s plain selfishness.
Jesus tells us that our freedom is given freely by His blood
and guaranteed by the Spirit.
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It’s
freedom to open our hearts to Him and to others.
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It’s
freedom to give away our time and resources which he has, after all, given to
us!
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It’s
freedom to mend fences and cross bridges.
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It’s
freedom to love and lift others.
·
Its
freedom to be like Him!
Think about one example of our freedom - the incredible
fierce independence there is sometimes among Christians. We sometimes think of it
as part of our much valued freedom - freedom to think and freedom of speech. Yes
there is a freedom to think and speak but not so that we will destroy others! -
that is entirely the opposite of the Christ’s freedom!
It is in this context that Paul warns the first century
Galatians about ‘biting and devouring each other (v.15) and being in conflict
with one another (v.17). Have things changed so much?
We still bite and devour each other! We still use our
tongues to kill and maim. We put ourselves up as the only ones who have the t
It happens in marriages, in families, and in church - no
wonder many are put off by these things.
What kind of
freedom do you want?
Is it independence or service? Is it indulgence or
sacrifice? Is it me-centred or Christ-centred?
The former is very attractive. After giving yourself for so
much it’s very tempting to say – ‘blow it I’m going to do and be what I want
for a change’.
But that’s not freedom - it’s a new bondage to self and
turning away from the freedom Christ has given.
How do I measure this freedom that’s I have? What is the answer to my first question –‘What
is freedom?’
It is when we are free to be like Jesus.
Would Jesus behave like this?
Regarding our
fighting…
He stopped those who, meaning well,
fought loyally on his behalf in the garden. He would do it now. However loyal
you are to what you perceive as a t
Regarding our
selfhood…
When He was tired from serving He still had compassion on
those who came. (That’s not to say we must burn out and sacrifice our children
on the altar but it does mean that we still burn with love for others.) Free to
be like Jesus
Regarding our future
prospects…
When the opportunity came to avoid the cross He set his face
steadfastly to
Paul writes in verse 18 But
if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. Yes - you are not
under sin and not under law - but you’ll find when you come to the day of
accountability that not only has Christ fulfilled the law for us but, in living
in the spirit, we actually lived much closer to Christ’s law than we could have
done if our aim was to fulfil the law!
The film ‘Brave heart’ is about one kind of freedom. Mel
Gibson as William Wallace asks his men ‘What will you do with that freedom?’