Tag: independence

The Shepherd's Voice

Independence Day–Our True Freedom

Posted on by The Shepherd's Voice

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. (Galatians 5:1)

I rarely write what might be called “holiday posts,” with the exception of Thanksgiving and Christmas. With the division and chaos troubling the United States, this seemed an appropriate time to do otherwise and give us some reminders.

We Americans have long seen freedom largely as the right and ability to do what one wants. In somewhat of an extreme correction, some segments have defined freedom, however, as the right and ability to do what one should. This definition often rings true to people professing faith in Christ. The biblical perspective of freedom, however, differs from both of these.

Slaves vs. Sons

In the New Testament, we see several ideas of what it means to be free. We first turn to a well-known verse in John:

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. (John 8:31–36)

In this passage, Jesus is speaking of two types of freedom–or better yet, two results of true freedom. He speaks of both freedom from the enslaving power of sin and freedom to fully enjoy God as members of God’s family. All humanity is born enslaved to sin due to the sinful nature we inherited from Adam. Since there is no reforming the flesh through education, enlightenment, or psychological treatment, the only way to free us is to kill the sinful nature and remove it. 

Because all are enslaved to sin, none is naturally a child of God. Note Jesus’ words on the difference between a son and a slave. A slave may (and often did) serve in the house, but at the end of the day, he or she had to return to the place where slaves dwelt. It is the children who “remain in the house forever.” In these comments, Jesus is saying that the freedom he offers is the freedom to enjoy God fully as his children (John 1:12-13)

Called to Liberty

In Paul’s letter to the Galatians, we find some of his strongest words on the subject of freedom. He writes:

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. . . . For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. (Galatians 5:1, 13)

In the context of Galatians 5, Paul is talking about freedom of conscience. We are free to live in the way that pleases God without condemnation of the law for failing to do so perfectly (Romans 8:1). This goes far beyond the typical, “free to do as we want/should” argument. This is the freedom to live according to who we are. Since the entire Trinity consists of three self-giving Persons who seek not their own but the good of the others, we also were created to seek the good of others rather than our own. 

And we can live that way because the Son has truly set us free (John 8:36). We have a new heart and a new Spirit (Ezekiel 36:25-26). Paul’s words on freedom remind us that it’s okay that we aren’t perfect yet–we haven’t arrived. We are free to grow in love, holiness, and obedience without the law’s condemnation. Will we stumble along the way? Yes. But that is a far cry from not being able to do anything but sin.

We are no longer slaves but children of God. We were seated at his family table and invited to join in the Great Family. We all know what families look like here–loud, messy, joyful (and at times painful). God invites us to bring all of that as we learn to live out our new identity in Christ. That is true freedom, and living in a free country can never compare with that. Because that freedom can never be taken from us.

There is true freedom at the foot of the cross.

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The Shepherd's Voice

The Sin Behind the Sin

Posted on by The Shepherd's Voice

In a previous post (“The Root of the Problem,” 9/30/19), we talked about our underlying fear/belief that God is not as good as He claims to be. Now, as a believer, part of me wants to believe that He is. We are told that God is good. We are encouraged to memorize Scriptures to learn that God is good. But still, we have this nagging belief that He is not.

Unfulfilled Longings

Now, if God is not good, how does that affect me? Besides the fact there is a God who I believe is not good who holds my eternal destiny in His hand, there is the fact that I need and want things, and God doesn’t give them to me as I think He should. We were all created with longings in our soul, and we feel the ache in our soul when we sense that those longings are not being met.

Look at what Scripture says about the creation of man:

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth” (Gen. 1:26).

We can draw out two things from this verse about the nature of humanity. First, notice that we were created for relationship and community. God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” God exists as an Eternal Community (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). Each relates to the others in perfect love, connection, and harmony. Thus, when man was created in God’s image, part of that is necessarily a longing for relationship.

Second, notice that man was given a purpose: “Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” We still have that purpose. We thus have a longing for impact, to be a part of the eternal plan, to make a lasting difference in our world.

The Root of All Sin

What does this have to do with our belief that God is not good? Remember those longings that we just identified? Those will only be fully met in a perfect world. We were designed for a perfect world–a world of no sin, corruption, or pain. In such a world we would be loved fully and unconditionally, we would likewise love unconditionally and sacrificially, and we would find ourselves having impact on those around us and our world.

But, we don’t live in that world. We live in a world that is fallen–along with us. We experience hurt, rejection, and pain–and often cause the same to others. Worse yet, we experience the ache of these longings that will never be fully experienced until eternity. So, in our fallen state, we want those aches to go away. Now. And since we believe that God is not good, that He won’t provide what we think we need and want on our terms, we decide that we have to arrange for it ourselves.

That’s exactly the path that Eve and then Adam took. Eve decided that God wasn’t good, that He was holding out on her. She sought a way to provide for her own satisfaction. Likewise, Adam decided God wasn’t good because He had not (in Adam’s view) provided a way for Adam to deal with the confusion he now faced. He thus took matters into his hand, leading his wife down the path of self-gratification.

This is the root of all sin, no matter what form it takes. We want life to work. And we are determined to make it work for us, apart from God–because we view Him as not good. Even those of us who have been born again struggle with this. We want to take the principles of Scripture and make them rules. However, we forget that those principles (and we) were designed for a perfect world.

Moving Into Dependence

If all sin essentially boils down to living independently of God, making life work in our own way, then the answer to the sin question does not lie in more Bible reading, prayer, accountability, etc.–though those are good and necessary things. I know that might shock you, especially if you come from a background that emphasizes this. “Oh, you’re struggling? Get into the Word and find the principles that you are not applying and apply them to your life. Pray more. Get involved in ministry more.” The truth is that those things are strong medicine for the soul. But, if we are using them to continue to make life “work,” then they are worse than a band-aid.

The answer to independence is dependence. We must acknowledge our deepest fear that God is not good, despite what the Bible teaches us. We must turn to Him in dependence and trust. Now, this is no easy task, because the times we must depend on Him the most are the hardest and darkest times of life–those times when we desperately seek answers to questions and relief from real pain.

Part of our quest to make life work for us is that we avoid or minimize the pain of life–especially relational pain. If we are to grow, to become like Christ, we must be willing to face that pain–even embracing it–so that He can show Himself good beyond our wildest imaginings and dreams of what “good” is like.

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