Freedom In
Christ
“So
if the Son sets you free, you will be
free indeed.” (John 8:36)
Sin is like a hungry
octopus that has very long tentacles.
To make matters worse, every sin
comes with its own GPS tracking
device. You get the picture. We can
run, but we can’t hide. The GPS
locator tells the octopus where we
are. Sooner or later, the octopus will
arrive and devour us. Foolish
people think they can avoid the
octopus, but this is impossible. No
man can fool God. Moses said, “…
and you may be sure that your sin
will find you out.” (Numbers
32:23) And Paul wrote, “Do
not be deceived: God cannot be
mocked. A man reaps what he
sows.” (Galatians 6:7)
There is a difference between the penalty
for sin and the consequences
of sin. The penalty for sin (big or
small) is eternal death. (Romans
6:23) Unless a sinner surrenders to
the demands of the Holy Spirit and is
born again, he or she will pay the
penalty of sin. (Matthew 12:31,32) On
the other hand, the consequences
of our sins vary according to the
severity of each sin. Some sins have
small consequences and some sins have
enormous consequences. Given the
penalty and consequences of sin, we
should treat the topic of sin
lightly.
When we do wrong, God requires that
we make restitution. (Exodus 22;
Matthew 5:23,24) The concept of
restitution is more complex than it
sounds because the damage of sin
causes to a victim cannot always be
restored by a sinner’s
restitution. (Numbers 35:33; 1 Samuel
3:14) For example, how can a predator
make restitution for rape or sexual
abuse? How can a murderer make
restitution for two different murders
since he only has one life to give?
How does a liar make restitution for
slander or libel? How does a married
person make restitution for adultery?
How can parents restore the lives of
their children harmed by divorce? In
those cases where restitution is not
possible, God has provided a
wonderful solution for the victim.
It’s called forgiveness.
I know that it sounds strange that
God requires each victim to forgive,
but it is true! God does not want any
victim to suffer indefinitely. So,
God offers each victim a special
grace that will set each victim free
of all the hatred and revenge if he
is willing to accept it. God will
remove all negative feelings from a
victim if the victim is willing to
forfeit his demand for human justice.
(Of course, God will see that justice
is served, but until that day comes,
God’s heart is moved with
compassion for the victim’s
plight.)
In its simplest form, forgiveness is
a simple exchange. God says to the
victim, “Give me your anger and
the desire for justice and I will
give you spiritual and emotional
freedom from the injury.” From a
human point of view, forgiveness is
not possible in many cases. What is
more disgusting than suffering for no
other reason than an evil
predator’s passion? God
understands because He suffers with
us. This is why He offers to every
victim a special grace called
forgiveness. Jesus exhibited this
grace on the cross. He said, “…
Father, forgive them, for they do not
know what they are doing.” (Luke
23:34) Stephen, the first Christian
martyr, exhibited this grace. His
final words were these: “…
Lord, do not hold this sin against
them….” (Acts 7:60)
Freedom in Christ
Whenever a person receives a
dispensation of God’s amazing
grace (as in the previous example on
forgiveness), that person experiences
freedom in Christ. Jesus
said, “So if the Son sets you
free, you will be free indeed.”
(John 8:36) Let me be
clear, the freedom that Jesus offers
is not freedom from obeying God.
Never! The freedom that Jesus
offers is freedom from the demands of
the carnal nature. When the
carnal nature is able to do as it
pleases, it thinks it has freedom,
but in reality the carnal nature is
not free. It is spring loaded
in the direction of evil. (Genesis
4:7) The carnal nature is attracted
to things that are degenerative,
destructive, and offensive. The
carnal nature is insatiable and never
satisfied. It resists authorities and
boundaries and it asserts itself
above the welfare of others. The
carnal nature will cause a person to
sin and once sin is committed,
bondage begins. The octopus will
follow sin’s GPS signal, find
the sinner, and strangle him.
The Gospel Coin
Like a coin, the
gospel of Jesus Christ has two sides.
One side is knowledge and the other
is discipline, and herein lies a big
problem. Many Christians would
rather be an authority on Jesus than
a mirror of His character. This
lop-sided phenomenon has led many
non-Christians to loathe the gospel
and the wonderful name of Jesus. Many
so-called Christians exhibit behavior
that embarrasses even the pagans!
However, a knowledge of the gospel of
Jesus is a wonderful thing to
embrace. The Bible tells us wonderful
things about God and His love. It is
a joy to hear thoughtful sermons that
inspire and heart-felt songs that
bring tears, but these do not bring
freedom in Christ. Freedom in Christ
is only possible through total
surrender to the authority of Christ!
If you want to be happy and
fulfilled, if you want to be free
from burdens that are crushing the
very life out of you, if you want
freedom from addition, a worry, and
hatred, you can have it. Jesus grants
freedom to His disciples! Sometimes
Jesus gives this freedom a minute at
a time, sometimes it lasts an hour,
or it can even last a whole day!
A disciple is a person who
voluntarily submits to the demands of
a mentor. A disciple of Christ is not
a free man or woman as the world
defines freedom, yet disciples of
Jesus are truly free! They volunteer
to be Christ’s slaves,
surrendering their carnal natures
every time sin raises its ugly head
(each minute, hour or day). Disciples
of Christ are also servants of God,
and pagans are very puzzled that
anyone would want to be a disciple of
Jesus. They ask, “Why should we
give up the freedom to do as we
want?”
Unfortunately, many Christians are
not disciples. Wearing a label that
says “Disciple of Jesus” is
like wearing “The Medal of
Honor” without having earned the
medal. Leading people to become a
disciple of Jesus is time consuming
and difficult because a person has to
be a disciple before he can help
someone else become a disciple! It
takes a great deal of patience to
teach another person the ways of
Christ and to help him understand the
benefits of giving up his personal
freedom. Jesus understands the
struggle and this is why He said, “Therefore
go and make disciples
of all nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father and of the Son and
of the Holy Spirit, and teaching
them to obey everything I have
commanded you. And surely
I am with you always, to the very end
of the age.” (Matthew
28:19,20, italics mine)
Holy
Spirit Guilt
Here is an irony. To be free and
truly happy, one has to become a
disciple of Jesus. To become strong
in the Lord, one has to see and admit
his weakness. To overcome the world
(the cares of this life and the lust
of our eyes), one has to receive
special grace from God because it is
otherwise impossible. I know this
sounds confusing, so here is a shot
illustration.
Suppose a man has come to a place in
his life where he really wants to set
free from pornography. He realizes
one day that porn has taken him
further into depravity than he ever
wanted to go. Yet, the man remains
overpowered by porn. He cannot escape
the fantasies and pictures that
constantly pass through his mind, and
this monster is ruining his personal
relationships. His wife and children
notice that he is emotionally far
away and detached. Inwardly, the man
wants freedom from porn. He might
gather up whatever resolves he can
muster and do something helpful, such
as removing all porn from his
possession. He might avoid TV shows,
movies or even the Internet so that
he will not see porn. While these
actions are steps in the right
direction, they are not liberating
because his brain is damaged. His
passions for porn might be reduced by
remedial action, but remember,
“even though we manage to pull
the nail out of the wall, the hole
remains.”
The gospel of Jesus offers a
different route to freedom than porn.
Jesus said, “So if the Son
sets you free, you will be free
indeed.” (John 8:36)
Suppose, the Holy Spirit comes to the
man one day and heavily impresses two
things upon the man’s heart.
First, the Holy Spirit causes the man
to see porn is a sin against God in
general and against women in
particular. It is a disgusting and
debasing sin. Porn is a perversion of
the intimate and meaningful
experience that God created for a
husband and a wife. The Holy Spirit
also tells the man, “Porn is
devouring your soul. You value woman
according to the sexual response they
produce within you. Porn is
destroying your marriage and your
relationships with your children. It
will lead to inappropriate
relationships, even predatory
violence.” But, the Holy Spirit
does not end there. He tells the man
that Jesus can heal him of this
illness and put him on the road to
freedom from porn if he will
confess his sin to the Lord and
acknowledge that further
participation will ruin his life and
disqualify him for eternal life. Did
you notice the last five words? When
the Holy Spirit pounces on us with
conviction, when the Holy Spirit
brings us to the moment of truth, the
road leads to freedom or death. “If
we confess our sins, he [Jesus] is
faithful and just and will forgive us
our sins and purify us from all
unrighteousness.”
1 John 1:9, insertion mine) “If
we deliberately keep on sinning after
we have received the knowledge of the
truth, no sacrifice for sin is left,
but only a fearful expectation of
judgment and of raging fire that will
consume the enemies of God.” (Hebrews
10:26,27)
This type of guilt the Holy Spirit
produces always comes with a promise
of freedom. God sends the Holy Spirit
when we sin so that we will choose
freedom and avoid death. If we feed
our carnal nature, sin will take us
into bondage (addition). So, the Holy
Spirit puts discipleship on the line
every time every time He visits. In
other words, if the man is battling
porn is willing to confess his sins
and believe God’s promise, he
will receive special grace from God.
The man will be purified
according to God’s wisdom. I
say, “purified according to
God’s wisdom” because Jesus
may set us free for a few minutes, an
hour, or a day. Often, the Lord will
test our willingness to be
disciplined many times before
granting conditional freedom.
(Freedom in Christ is always
conditional. We have to remain a
disciple of Jesus to remain free.
This is why the Twelve Step support
programs are so helpful.)
So, which is better? The man who
cleans his house, shuts off the TV
and internet, and then struggles
within himself to overcome porn or
the man who voluntarily submits to
the Holy Spirit, confesses his sin,
and receives God’s grace which
causes his interest in porn to die
for a span of time. Of course, the
second answer is the right one. The
carnal nature cannot overcome itself.
We can only overcome the demands of
the carnal nature through surrender,
confession, and faith. Jesus will
impart the grace that we need and conditional
freedom is the result. “So if
the Son sets you free, you will be
free indeed.” (John 8:36)
Jesus said, “When an evil
spirit comes out of a man [and
the man is conditionally set free],
it goes through arid places seeking
rest and does not find it [demons
are not happy unless they are
tormenting someone]. Then it says,
‘I will return to the house I
left.’ When it arrives, it finds
the house unoccupied [no demons
within], swept clean and put in
order. Then it goes [for help] and
takes wit it seven other spirits [demons]
more wicked than itself, and they go
in [and break down the door] and
live there. And the final condition
of that man is worse than the
first…” (Matthew
12:43-45, insertions mine) This means
that freedom comes through
discipleship and it will be lost if
discipline is refused. If the
Holy Spirit confronts us on any
matter and we refuse, eight demons
will break down the door and take up
lodging. So, be on guard. That
temptation knocking at the door may
have eight demons behind it.
Larry Wilson
