This week’s post was written by my son, Stephen. In sharing about the freedom we have in Christ, he gives us a thorough teaching on what it means to be free in Christ. He also reveals how that freedom should be taken into consideration regarding our relationships with others. Eric

Through Jesus, God gives us freedom.

“But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil [that hides the truth from people’s minds and hearts] is taken away. For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” – 2 Corinthians 3:16, 17

God sets us free in several different ways. Most obviously, the freedom we are given is freedom from spiritual death and hell. Another way we are set free is that He removes the veil, or mask, that covers our hearts and keeps us from understanding spiritual truth. Also, Jesus sets us free by making it possible to have a good relationship with God. Before Jesus, our only hope for salvation was perfectly following the letter of the Old Testament law or performing animal sacrifices when we failed that. However, we couldn’t possibly fulfill those requirements, so now we are no longer convicted by the letter of the law. It is much better to be remade and desire to live righteously in eternal freedom than to live in continual fear of messing up and finding eternal punishment for our effort.

The freedom Jesus brings is not freedom to sin, but freedom from sin. It’s important to realize that if we regularly sin without regard for God’s nature or the sacrifice of Jesus, it demonstrates that we are not set free from sin and continue to be ruled by it. If we are not set free from sin, then it is an indication that we have not accepted the sacrifice of Jesus in the first place. Be mindful; seeing that someone has sinned does not mean that they are unsaved. Grace overcomes a great number of sins. However, if someone is unconcerned that they sin regularly and doesn’t seek repentance, it is a strong indicator that they have rejected the offer of Jesus for salvation.

“Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace. Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not! Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living.” – Romans 6:14

“God sent [Jesus] to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that He could adopt us as His very own children.” – Galatians 4:5

The Biblical book of Galatians teaches us using an analogy. It says that when we were mastered by sin, we couldn’t access the resources that are available to the members of God’s family. However, once God bought our freedom through the death of Jesus, we could be adopted as His children. As His children, we aren't to try earning our way to heaven by being good or doing more right things than sinful things. If we believe that salvation can be earned through good actions, we become dominated by doing things that can’t save us. Instead, we should do right things and reject sinful things because we are filled with God’s Spirit and share in His good nature.

Even though Jesus has made us free, we need to make sure that our freedom doesn’t lead others toward being captured by sin. Everyone has human weakness present in their lives. Some people are tempted by chemical abuse, others are tempted by destructive gambling habits, and there are many other things that can entice us. Having weakness is not a sin, but if we indulge our temptations and give them priority over God in our lives, our actions become sinful.

There are things that God permits us, as individuals, to do that may not be appropriate or wise for other believers to do. For example, someone may have been addicted to alcohol before they became a believer. While God permits us to drink a little alcohol, forbidding only drunkenness and alcoholism, doing so around a former or recovering addict could lead them back into sinful habits. Beyond addictive struggles, matters of the conscience are also important. Scripture tells us that if someone believes an action is a sin, it is sinful for them to do it. That means we should choose to abstain from doing something around other sincere believers if they believe it is sinful, even if we don’t believe it is. That way, we don’t lead someone else to sin by violating their conscience because of the way we act.

“You must be careful so that your freedom does not cause others with a weaker conscience to stumble.” – 1 Corinthians 8:9

“For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”” – Galatians 5:13-14

Ephesians 4:17-32 gives us several instructions about how believers in Jesus should act once we have been renewed with God’s spiritual life. Do not act in whatever way your mind tells you to. Don’t give in to lustful living. Don’t be deceived by the depraved life you left when you were made new. Let your mind be renewed into the likeness of God through right actions and being holy. Speak the truth instead of lies. Don’t use anger as an excuse to sin. Learn to let your anger go so the devil won’t use it against you. Work honestly instead of stealing. Share with those who are in need when you have extra. Speak so that your words help strengthen the faith of others and not in ways that will damage their relationship with God. Don’t behave in a way that brings sorrow to the Holy Spirit. Get rid of bitterness, wrath, prideful anger, slander, tantrums, and malice. Instead, be kind, tenderhearted, and forgiving because we should treat each other as Jesus has treated us.

As we live our lives daily, it is a good thing to recognize our freedom with gratitude to Jesus, who paid a great price to buy it for us. May we always seek to honor the God who has given us so much!

— All scriptures used are from the NLT.