Freedom

What would you do with your freedom? In a free country like America that seems like an odd question to ask. We are free in a civil sense, and in our faith, we are free to worship God. Yet this is the topic the Lord chose to talk to me about in the night.

The foundation of our faith began during a time of rules and regulations: the Law given to God’s chosen people, the Hebrews. In our Christian faith, Judaism is the foundation for our faith. Our heavenly Father chose a nation to reveal Himself to, and gave them the Law. This Law was to teach them His nature, and served as a tutor for each generation and a guardian over our spiritual inheritance. By contrast, when Jesus met the requirements of the Law, He set us free from its regulations. “1What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. 2He is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. 3So also, when we were children, we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world. 4But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, 5to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. 6Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father." 7So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.” (Gal 4:1-7). Now that we have received Christ, we are children of God, free and with an inheritance equal to the “whole estate,” having the full rights of sons.

Though it seems like a simple thing to think of ourselves as free, Paul’s letter to the Galatians contains alarm at their apparent preference to please other men and become entangled in rules and regulations once again. He states that he is again in the pains of childbirth with them until Christ is formed in them. So we see that, although God extends son-ship to us, we can fail to receive our inheritance by becoming enslaved by the rules and regulations of Man (I’ll refer you to the full context of Galatians 4 for this message).

In our walk as sons and daughters of God, we now have the Holy Spirit teaching and guiding us into righteousness. It is also a walk of learning, or tutelage. We are restrained from doing evil and urged to do good by that inner voice of the Holy Spirit as God writes His ways and His nature on our heart. Instead of an outward law guiding us, with outside rulers watching over our righteousness, it is an inner law of righteousness, called the law of freedom. “25But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.” (Jms 1:25). If we follow what we have heard the Holy Spirit say to us, we will be blessed in our walk of faith.

God intended us to be taught and formed by His voice from within ourselves. His eventual goal is that we have Christ “formed within us.” As He is formed in us we begin walking in a true freedom from our old nature and from the influences of the world around us. Though it may seem better to have rules and regulations to follow, we find that the Law of Liberty written on our hearts restrains us from evil and compels us to do good (2 Cor 5:14). This is because our hearts change as we follow the voice of the Holy Spirit. And that is what God is working towards; a changed heart. A servant can do what his master wants, but a freed man has a choice. This brings me back to the original question; “What will you do with your freedom?” As Christ is formed in us, the Holy Spirit gradually enlarges our boundaries of freedom. He has been teaching us to make decisions according to His standards of righteousness, and to serve with a heart of love towards God and Man. Now He entrusts us in an ever-increasing walk of authority and freedom. If our hearts sincerely love what He has taught us, we will apply it to all aspects of our lives. But if we only did what we felt God required of us, and perhaps with a bit of resentment at times, then our freedom will become an occasion to return to our preferred habits and sins. As in the natural when we give our children increasing freedom to prepare them for adulthood, so it is in our walk of faith that freedom becomes a test of the heart as well as a catapult that sends us quickly into maturity, and finally, into our destinies.

God is maturing us through freedom, personally, and as the body of Christ. In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians he explains how the church will grow up into the full measure of Christ under the 5-fold ministry, and through the ministry of each saint to the others. “11It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

14Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. 15Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. 16From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work (Eph 4:11-16).”

The purpose of maturity is not just to have Christ formed in us, but also to prevent us from being deceived by “every wind of teaching.” False doctrines and teachings steal our freedom and cause us to become slaves once again (Gal 2:4). Though we may grow accustomed to rules and regulations overseeing our words and actions, these eventually prevent the very maturity necessary for us to walk in the fullness of Christ.

What is the sign of needing to walk in more freedom? What do we look for in ourselves that will indicate we need to walk in a little more authority? If it were faith, then we would walk in this freedom from the beginning, for we are all given faith when we receive Christ. No, I believe what we are looking for in ourselves is that sense of being held back, stifled, suffocated, and not seeing a fruit-bearing life. If we see and feel these things in ourselves perhaps we need to rely less on the rules and regulations of our childhood walk with Christ and walk as an adult. As spiritual teenagers we would begin to walk forward, trusting the Lord has prepared our steps instead of waiting as little children do for a hand to lead them. Truly, if we have been trained in His righteousness, our decisions will bear the fruit of righteousness. If we have been trained how to follow His voice and speak His words, He will not fail to fill our minds and our mouths as we live our lives. Though walking in freedom may seem like we have the security net taken out from under us, we are walking as a well-trained son or daughter of God, fully able to represent Him in all we say and do. I would like to encourage you today to walk in an ever-increasing freedom as Christ is formed in you. You will grow in maturity and your life will reflect the inheritance of truly being a son or daughter of God. The whole world is waiting for us all to be revealed as the sons of God (Rom 8:19), and what an adventure that will be!