Freedom and the Gospel
Bringing freedom was a crucial part of why Christ came.
The Realities of Freedom
What comes to mind when you hear the word “freedom”? Commonly, we think of freedom as
- not being trapped or caged
- not being enslaved or in bondage
- not being imprisoned
- being able to go wherever / do whatever you want, etc.
However, freedom is also a mental and spiritual state. Although a person is physically free and not enslaved to anybody, they can be terribly enslaved in their mind and their spirit. We see an example of this in the book of 2 Peter. Peter, a disciple of Jesus, wrote a letter to believers, addressing the issue of false teachers in the church who were propagating moral perversions and denying the return of Christ. In 2 Peter 2:19 he says
“These false teachers promise those people freedom, but they themselves are not free. They are slaves to a mind that has been ruined by sin. Yes, people are slaves to anything that controls them.” (ERV)
From what Peter points out about the false teachers and their enslaved minds, we see that mental bondage is a reality for some people. The second half of 2 Peter 2:19 can be interpreted to mean that people are slaves to anything they can’t control or stop doing.
I’m sure we’ve all experienced that feeling of “no control” at one point or the other. For some people it shows up in their expressions of love. They love someone so much that they can’t control the way they act around the person. For others it shows up in their relationship with food — they know that the over-consumption of certain foods is harmful to their bodies, but they can’t help themselves. Yet others develop habits such as smoking and are eventually unable to stop. At this point, it’s not strange for addiction to set in. In all of those scenarios there is no control.
Defining Freedom
Now, you may be asking: how then can a person be free in their mind and spirit? How can I truly attain freedom?
Let’s answer these questions by first defining freedom. As we’ve established, bondage of the mind happens when we have [negative] desires that control us. So then, is freedom just the opposite of that? Not being controlled by anything? Not exactly.
Here’s a comprehensive definition of freedom based on the confessions of Apostle Paul in Romans 7:14–25
Freedom is the ability to do what you want to do when the thing you want to do is what you ought to do.
- Pastor John Piper (A Renewed Mind and How To Have It, 2005)
This means that two things should be established for you to say you are free in every sense:
- You must want to do what is right
- You must do that thing which is right
In Romans 7 Apostle Paul talks about the reality we as humans face when struggling with sin (what we ought not to do). He implies that there is a war waged on the people’s minds that makes them slaves to sin (this is a good time to be curious about who is waging that war). He talks about how painful it is to want to do what is right, but not be able to because your mind is focused on doing the wrong thing. In verse 24, he cries:
“Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?” (NLT)
Isn’t this hopeless? Indeed, who will save us from a mind that is enslaved to doing the wrong things? Who will set us free?
We see this person in verse 25 when Paul says:
“Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.” (NLT)
And what is that answer that Jesus Christ has? Let’s look at Phillipians 2:13 to see it.
“Yes, it is God who is working in you. He helps you want to do what pleases him, and he gives you the power to do it.” (ERV)
So through Jesus, God is working in us to want to do what we ought to do and then to do it.
Freedom in Jesus
This is where the Gospel of Christ comes in. How can we as human beings always want to do what is right? Well, through Christ we can get to that point. This is called the miracle of changed desires. This miracle is the only way human beings obtain true freedom. And it happens only through Jesus Christ.
In Luke 4:18–21 Jesus is in the temple and he proclaims that he is the One through whom freedom comes. He stands in the midst of the congregation and reads a prophecy from Isaiah that is about him.
“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, and that the time of the Lord’s favour has come. He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently. Then he began to speak to them. “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!” (NLT)
Bringing freedom was a crucial part of why Christ came. Let that sink in. He came so you can be set free from things that enslave you and keep you in bondage. And so the good news (which we call the Gospel) is that God took on a human form and was seen as the man we call Jesus (whom we have identified as the one who will save us from bondage of the mind and spirit). He came to reconcile the lost, the oppressed and the spiritually blind back to himself. And everyone of us falls (or fell) under at least one of these categories. We all need the salvation that Jesus brings.
We get this salvation by simply believing that his death on the cross was the ultimate sacrifice for our sins, and that his resurrection and glorification (his ascent into heaven) was the activation of the new life we are given once we believe. Paul explains this in Romans 7:4 where he says
“So, my dear brothers and sisters, this is the point: You died to the power of the law when you died with Christ. And now you are united with the one who was raised from the dead. As a result, we can produce a harvest of good deeds for God.” (NLT)
So we can say that freedom is a by-product of the work that Jesus does in us when we believe in him. He does this work through the Holy Spirit who is the Spirit he gives us the moment we believe and accept the life Jesus offers.
A Call to You
If you have never understood what Jesus did to set you free and give you life, or if you haven’t yet believed it… there is an invitation for you to do so today. It doesn’t really matter what you’ve done. His sacrifice is big enough to cover your past, present and future shortcomings, giving you new life.
If you have already believed and have found yourself stuck in destructive habits or portraying characters that are inconsistent with your new life and identity in Christ, then know that God is not afraid of your mistakes. His sacrifice still covers you and He is prepared to meet you where you are and take you to the destiny he has in store for you.
