Free in Christ

Message / Question

What does it mean to be free in Christ?

Response

Freedom in Christ has nothing to do with borders, walls, chains or political expression. These may well be things that we value, quite rightly, in our society. Especially in the Western world, freedom is considered to be the highest virtue, and it is sought after by anyone who is, or consider themself to be, in some way, oppressed. But freedom in Christ is not the same as political or economic freedom. In fact, some of the most harshly oppressed people in history have had complete freedom in Christ.

First of all, we are free from the consequence of sin. The wages of sin is death, and that eternally. But in Christ, the eternal consequence for our sin has been borne by Christ, so we are freed from it. We don’t have to keep the Law in order to please God, because His favour is upon us not because of our obedience or our law-keeping. God's favour is upon us because of what Christ did on the cross. That is liberating, we are free.

Within the bounds of freedom, there are always limits and so Paul told the Ephesian church not use their liberty to sin, rather to use it to serve one another. So we are free, but called not to sin. Likewise, our freedom does not give us the liberty to cause someone else to stumble. We must not abuse our freedom, that would be careless. So we are free to live and not have to worry about how our behaviour affects God's attitude towards us (because His attitude is one of love and acceptance that is guaranteed by the sacrifice of Christ). However we can still expect God to discipline us if we stray.

This freedom is a freedom in spirit, which is why no human being or human system can take it away. This is why Paul and Silus, although in prison and in chains, could sing God’s praise, despite their circumstances. This is why many today who are imprisoned, tortured and even martyred for their faith can endure all things with peace in their heart.

Freedom in Christ cannot even begin to be compared with what we, particularly in the Western world, call freedom. It is something far greater now and lasts eternally!