Freedom in Christ
previously published on July 2005
John 8:36 “Therefore, if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed”
From the beginning of time, Satan has tried to paint the relationship between God and man as one full of do’s and don’ts. God started by commanding our first parents that they were to eat freely of every tree apart from one.(Genesis 2:17), the serpent, on the other hand, sought to make it seem as if God had declared that they were not to eat from any tree (Genesis 3:1).
From the very first scenes of the history of humanity, God presents Himself to us as one who gives us permission and freedom before pointing out the limitations. Because God is true and He cannot lie, we have to believe that which He presents us to us as the truth. Satan has endeavored to show that God first imposes restrictions by giving us a long list of things that we are not supposed to do, He then begrudgingly gives us some freedom which He seeks to control. Satan has been very successful in this because nowadays Christianity is seen as nothing else but a religion of dos and don’ts.
As Seventh-day Adventists, we have been accused of being legalistic. Many times, when a person is asked to describe who the Adventists are, they start by saying “They are the people who don’t drink coffee, eat meat, go to movie theatres etc”. It is sad but true that instead of being known by what we do for Christ or our faith in His Salvific work in our lives, we are known by what we don’t do, thus painting a picture of Salvation by works. The evil of legalism (a strict adherence to the law) is that it introduces and enforces the rules without explaining and uplifting the relationship. One is made to know all the rules and forced to keep them without understanding the joys of a saving relationship with Jesus. That being the case, the focus is taken away from having a relationship with Christ Jesus to observing the rules. Even the most perfect of us cannot observe all the rules without going astray (Romans 3:23) and so when we fail to observe all the rules and suffer momentary setbacks the guilt becomes unbearable. We reason that Christ has forsaken us because we have disobeyed Him, we look at ourselves as fallen Christians who are unworthy and all this leads to despair and discouragement. What we fail to understand is that this is a well cultivated effort by the father of lies to promote performance over relationship and then fill us with negative thoughts and self doubts when we fall short. For those who have not found true freedom in Christ, this vicious cycle is a reality.
I should know, I have been there and done that. Growing up in an Adventist family, I unwittingly clung to the rules without understanding the dynamics of a relationship with Christ. Many times I did not even care about the relationship as long as I did a good job of following the rules, after all, what do you expect from a pastor’s kid?. This, however, brought a lot of heartache. Whenever I sat down to asses my life as a Christian, I knew deep inside that I didn’t have a relationship with Jesus regardless of what others saw or said. My life was just full of ups and downs. With the help of my teachers and my parents (yes my parents!) I came to discover that the relationship is what is more important. Once we let Jesus take care of the relationship, He gives us the freedom we need to come out of that vicious cycle, even freedom to overcome sin. Most important, He gives us freedom and ability to Love and serve Him and others!.
By His death on the cross, Jesus purchased our freedom from the curse of the law. We are no longer slaves to sin but are free in Christ. However, that is not where it ends. There are two masters in this life. You can choose to serve God or choose to serve sin. This freedom to even choose the master to serve was made possible by the death of Christ, otherwise without His death we were doomed to be slaves to sin forever. Those who choose to serve God become “slaves to righteousness” (Romans 6:18). On the other hand, those who choose to serve sin, become slaves to sin (Romans 6:16). The benefits of serving God are many. To start with, those who serve God are not known as servants, God elevates them to a new relationship with Him and calls them “friends” (John 15:15). These friends of God then become inheritors of eternal life. Those who choose to serve sin and become slaves to sin have no choice but to wait for its full reward which is death (Romans 6:23).
How does knowing that I have freedom in Christ factor in my life as a Christian youth? This is a legitimate question. As youths, we are faced with a list of many choices—to do or not to do, to listen to some music or not to, to watch some movies or not to, to abstain or to indulge---what am I to do?. The pressure from friends is high, the message from the World is attractive and the benefits really seem attractive (after all sin seems attractive). However, we need to understand that we have the freedom not to go along. Paul addresses a similar problem in his epistle to the Corinthians. He says in I Cor 6:12 “All things are lawful to me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful to me, but I will not be brought under the power of any”. By this he means that even if he has the freedom to do all things, not all are helpful to him, at the same time, he is very careful lest he engages in those things that will enslave him. This should become our rule too. While recognizing that God has given us freedom, this should not be used as an excuse or license to sin but our freedom should be used to serve others in love. (Galatians 5:13).
As young people, we should be careful when we make decisions because though some actions and thoughts may not be sin in and of themselves, they can lead to sin that leads us away from God and is enslaving. David sums up his freedom in God, which includes limitations. Of this he says in Psalm 31:8 “You have not handed me over to my enemies but have set my feet in a spacious place” (italics mine). This “spacious place” gives us freedom to operate when we choose to serve God and Him alone.