How Free is Free?

As Memorial Day draws to a close, we would do well to consider just what kind of freedom the men who have served and died for our country have bought us, so as to honor them as we use it. In America, does one have the freedom to do whatever he or she wants? If you think so, just try to steal a car or something else of just about any value. If caught, you will be prosecuted and your freedom taken away. So we don't have the freedom to steal other people's property without paying for it. It is the same with murder, as well as small things like traffic laws. So our freedom is not total, we cannot do whatsoever we please at the expense of others. Our freedom is not lawlessness, it is regulated. But history and common sense tell us that this is the best kind of freedom, one that is regulated for the good of the society. Lawlessness is a bondage in and of itself. It is the same with the believer's freedom in Christ. But the Bible tells us that we are slaves to Christ, you may say, how can we also be free? The Bible speaks of both, and both are true. In a sense, slavery to Christ is freedom. Think about it, going back to the example of the civil law. Are Americans free? Yes. Are we under law? Yes. They are not contradictory. So it is with the Christian and Christ. Are we free? Yes, from the law of sin and death (Romans 7:2). Are we under law? Yes, the law of Christ found in His Word. Paul had to deal with this in many places in Scripture. After speaking of the free grace of God, Paul often had to deal with the question: "Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?" To which he replied in the strongest vernacular, literally: "God forbid!" We are recipients of the free grace of God, but we must not use this as an excuse for lawlessness. Peter says it well in 1 Peter 2:16: "Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God." So then, the Christian is free, but not lawless. Christ did not die so that believers could continue to live for themselves, but for Him, and that means being obedient to His Word as a loyal and joyful slave. So as we remember the price that American men through the years have paid to make us free to exercise our freedom within the confines of the civil law, let us also meditate on the free grace of Christ that frees us from the tyranny of sin and frees us to obey Him as joyful slaves!

A lowly fellow slave of Christ,

Alex