Tomorrow in America, we will celebrate Independence Day. We’ll have picnics, family gatherings, and fireworks. I fear, though, we Christians will miss a number of additional reasons to rejoice. We too often forget about other freedoms that are critical:
- We have the truth that sets us free. Billions of people today don’t have access to the truth of God’s Word that liberates us (John 8:32). Many who do have at least some access don’t have the entire Bible in their language. Most of us do.
- We can have freedom from worry. Worry is a lack of faith, sometimes even an idol when we can’t let it go. As Christians resting in the arms of God, we don’t have to live that way.
- We can be free from bondage to sin. God the Father made us His child. Jesus the Son broke the power of the enemy through His cross (Col 2:15). God’s Spirit convicts us and leads us. No sin is more powerful than the God who owns us – so the shackles of sin are already broken.
- We’re freed from the chains of death. That’s a crucial part of our faith: because Jesus paid our sin debt and conquered death, we don’t need to fear death anymore. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2 Cor 5:8).
- We can be free from bitterness and anger. The world holds on to its anger, harming relationships and breaking hearts. Believers have the Spirit of God in us – the Spirit who empowers us to forgive others. If we stay angry, we do so sinfully.
- We’re free to love even the most unlovable people. We really are. We can love the biggest headaches and the most arrogant knuckleheads because God loved us when we were probably both.
- We’re free from the guilt of yesterday’s sin. We must be free, if we accept God’s Word as truth. He forgives our sin (Rom 4:7), remembering it no more (Jer 31:34), dropping it to the bottom of the sea (Mic 7:19), blotting it out (Isa 43:25), and separating sinners from that sin as far as the east is from the west (Ps 103:12).
- We can worship together freely without threat on our lives. Many believers have no such privilege. Some of our brothers and sisters around the world have amazing internal freedom, but they’re living in a prison. Literally.
- We can be free from things that keep us awake at night. The Lord graciously gives us sweet sleep the world can’t understand, even when we have fears and worries—as long as place our concerns at His feet.
- We’re free to live for Christ even unto death. If the Lord’s call on our lives is to die for the sake of the gospel, He will empower us with faith to live and die. We can risk all for His glory (as last year’s 4th of July post said).
We have much to thank God for today. We’re free!