Freedom does not equal free
“I will walk in freedom, for I have devoted myself to your commandments.” NLT Psalm 119:45
Hello Saints,
I was recently sent a video where Alice Cooper, the famous rock star of the seventies was being interviewed by the famous pastor Greg Laurie, of the movie Jesus Revolution. Cooper was born into a Christian family and was the son of an evangelist. He says he knew the bible and the stories therein and knew the gospel. Like so many kids who grow up in the church, he chose to go his own way in his teens, and suffer the consequences for his choices to abandon his faith. He describes a debauched lifestyle typical of successful musicians and performers who have all the money, fame, pleasures and amenities they could ever dream of. Depression, suicidal thoughts, guilt, shame, loneliness, unhappiness were the fruit of a life of freedom to do whatever he wanted to do. The lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life were all achieved but still left Alice in more bondage than he ever could imagine. Friends, Freedom does not equal Free! It’s one of the world’s biggest lies!
Freedom to choose means freedom to make the wrong choice which can lead to death, both spiritual and physical. Big in the American election race is the topic of a woman’s freedom to choose what she does with her body, homosexuals to choose who they get to love, and a young person to choose what gender they desire to identify as. Freedom seems great until one has to deal with the ramifications of his or her choices. The enemy wants you to feel free, but the freedom to choose to go against God’s will always brings pain and suffering. The enemy is a liar and those who follow him don’t tell you about the side effects of choices – guilt, regret, depression, remorse, broken relationships, suicidal thoughts, loss of identity, physical problems, and the list goes on! Freedom often causes pain and suffering!
Now the problem we have before us is that people believe that in order to be truly free they need to be the master of their own destiny, maker of their own life, which means answering to no other authority but themselves. In essence, they become their own god, lord and master – they do what is right in their own eyes. This is the lie satan has propagated: I don’t need a god to tell me what to do, cause I am god! Imagine driving down a freeway in your car with your family and there are no traffic laws! Imagine living in a society where people do whatever they want, whenever they want, with whomever they want! Chaos! Pandemonium! Mayhem! Imagine the amount of death, depravity, fear and greed, where only the strongest survive – it’s jungle rule! Living in fear is not freedom! That’s one side of the coin…now imagine a society where there was an elite group of people who forced everyone to follow a set of rules, and if you didn’t you were made to feel like a second-class citizen – unworthy of acceptance. That’s first century Rome - A Roman society full of licentious living where the citizens are abandoned to satisfy their own desires; and a religious institution with an elite class of leaders who impose rules on the would-be adherents to the faith. Both keep people from experiencing true freedom.
Jesus came to set people free from both: “Jesus said to the people who believed in him, "You are truly my disciples if you keep obeying my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."” (John 8:31-32 NLT) What does it mean to be free? Obedience to your Creator! Freedom does not mean free…obedience equals freedom! Jesus came to give abundant life, not confine us to a rule book; but the reality is that the more we adhere to His rule book the freer we are! Freedom to sin and do whatever we want, actually leads to slavery (John 8:34). Mike! Stop talking double-talk! OK! When you have a play book by which to live your life by the Author of life Himself, life will be all the more worth living when you live it by the One who wrote the rule book for how to live life and that more abundantly. Living to satisfy your desires is selfishness and leads to death…it’s sin! Living to please God and enjoy Him within His parameters is joy inexpressible and full of glory! So if the Son sets you free, you will indeed be free ( NLT John 8:36). Wow! Did you get that? The Son has to set you free! Go back to the beginning of John, chapter 8 – the woman caught in adultery was free to live her life in sin – she chose freedom over obedience to God’s law, and she was now going to experience the consequences of her choices – death. BUT….Jesus stepped in and set her free to experience life – the Son set her free – not to chose sin again, but to live in freedom to choose what is right in God’s eyes: obedience makes one truly free to experience true life (John 8:11-12). We have traffic laws to “save lives”, and allow people to live! The Psalmist can write, “I will walk in freedom because I have devoted myself to your law” (Ps. 119:45) and “Happy are people of integrity, who follow the law of the LORD” (Psalm 119:1). Jesus came to make people truly free; not by giving people freedom, but by delivering people from their sins so they could live a life in obedience to His commands and experience true joy: “To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.”(John 8:31) “If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” (John 15:10-11) Good News of Great Freedom and Joy is found in obeying Jesus – He has come to make free:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free” (Luke 4:18).
It is for freedom that Christ has set you free,
Peace.
"Advancing the Kingdom of God by releasing Spirit-filled followers to serve Jesus in freedom and joy."
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