SCRIPTURE: “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” (Gal. 5:1 KJV)
QUOTE: “May we think of freedom as right not to do as we please, but as the opportunity to do what is right.” —Peter Marshal
NOTE:
In Greek this word free can mean to liberate or to exempt from liability. That means this verse could read whom the son liberates or exempts from liability will be really liberated and exempted from liability. Because of this definition, when you consider this verse in its full context, there are two conclusions I want you to consider. First, there are things Christ has freed you from. Second, there are things Christ has freed you to. Let’s consider both sides of the coin because they are both critical to living the full and abundant life that Christ wants you to live.
What has Christ freed us from? The Bondage of Sin (Your Captivity) — For something or someone to be liberated it must first have to be bound or imprisoned. The very definition of a captive is one who is confined or bound. That’s exactly what we were. You and I were prisoners held under the bondage of sin. We were held captive by the impulses of sin. We were bound to the instincts of sin. We had no power to overcome the influence of sin. Sin was our ruler and it held us captive. We were ‘slaves’ to old Master!
What has Christ freed us to? The Freedom to Live (Your Capacity) — One of the reasons it’s so important to understand that you are free from the bondage, penalty and guilt of sin is because it now increases your capacity, through Jesus, to love, to have joy, to experience peace, and to enjoy life. He also wants to increase your capacity to have a relationship with your Heavenly Father. This can’t happen if you are not free. You cannot have a vibrant, living, loving relationship with God or with anyone else for that matter, if you are holding on to the guilt and shame of your past.
ILLUSTRATION:
In just a few years on either side of 1960, a wave of struggles for independence was sweeping across Africa. Between March 1957, when Ghana declared independence from Great Britain, and July 1962, when Algeria wrested independence from France after a bloody war, 24 African nations freed themselves from their former colonial masters. Today 62 years ago, Nigeria gained her independence from her colonial master-The Great Britain. Unfortunately, like many African Countries, the giant of Africa is not yet totally free!
REFLECTION
What is your interpretation of liberty in Christ?
TWO YEAR BIBLE READING: Nehemiah 10, Psalm 88