Enjoying Freedom in Christ

Freedom in Salvation

If you have ever wondered what it means to be saved, today is your day. Certainly, this is important for those who are looking tounderstand their purpose, meaning, origin, and destiny. But for those who are saved, sometimes you may not “feel” saved or you doubt your salvation. You haven’t been getting the Holy Ghost ‘goose bumps’. Maybe you are just going through a time in the desert. I think you will draw life from this message today.

We Have Freedom in Christ

I was reading in the Bible a few weeks ago and came across this passage in 2 Corinthians:

2 Corinthians 3:17–18 ESV

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

I focused on the phrase, “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” I thought about it for a while:

· What exactly is this freedom?

· Do I feel free? Do you feel free?

· Am I able to do whatever I want? Do speed limits no longer apply? Am I free from paying my taxes?

· Does freedom mean I can do whatever I want with my life? Freedom to love anyway I choose? Freedom to express myself with whatever feels good?

There was an event in the desert of Nevada recently that made headlines because of the rains that stranded tens of thousands. The event was called “Burning Man”. It made me curious, so I looked it up. It looked like a celebration of all things New Age and Eastern Mysticism mixed with hedonism. I looked up the founder’s intentions. According to Burning Man co-founder Larry Harvey in 2004, the event is guided by ten stated principles: radical inclusion, gifting, decommodification[equal access to financial resources], radical self-reliance, radical self-expression, communal effort, civic responsibility, leaving no trace, participation, and immediacy [overcoming barriers that stand between us and our inner selves].[1]

· Is that the freedom that Paul is describing? Of course not!

I have heard church people say, “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” and sometimes I’ve wondered what they were talking about. So, I decided to do a deep dive on what Paul meant.

What Does It Mean to Have Freedom in Christ?

Many Bible scholars suggest that this passage was written by Paul to respond to Jewish missionaries (Remember, the Jewish missionaries didn’t accept Jesus as God). These false missionaries were trying to seduce the Christians to fall back into the 613 Laws of the past – the kinds of things that Jesus rejected. One was to wonder, what was so attractive about Moses and the old Law? They didn’t obey it for most of the time, anyway.

What was it that attracted them to the past? Maybe it was the persecution that they were enduring. Maybe it was the comfort of the old traditions (this is the way we’ve always done it). Maybe it was position and respect in the community. Regardless, Paul breaks down what it meant to be free.

Biblical Freedom

Biblical freedom can be understood in terms of what we are freed from and what we are free to do.

We Are Free FROM

Paul mentions “the ministry” multiple times in this passage. He is not talking about the ministry the way that we think about the ministry – putting on a white collar, visiting house to house, and preaching weddings and funerals. He is talking about the greatest division in history. When we think about history, we divide it up and call it BC or AD. “Surprisingly, history’s mid-point is not an invention, or the discovery of a continent, or a war, but a person, Jesus Christ.”[2]

2 Corinthians 3:7–11 ESV

Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory.

Paul uses the word “ministry” and describes the previous ministry (prior to Christ) as bringing death, condemnation, and temporary benefits at best. So, we are free from death (eternal). We are free, in Christ, from condemnation of sin. And, we have a better glory that awaits us than the temporary glories of the past.

Samuel Rodriguez is an Assemblies of God evangelist. In 2015 while speaking at Rick Warren’s church, Saddleback, he shared, “We live in a world where people find themselves bound. Bound by sin. Pornography, sexual immorality, addiction, alcoholism, dismay, anxiety, fear, confusion, the past, failure defeat…”

It is only through the ministry of Christ that we can be free from those things.

We Are Free TO

Since Paul writes that the previous ministry brought death, we can say that the new ministry of the Spirit brings life.

2 Corinthians 3:7–11 ESV

Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory.

If the previous ministry (the old covenant) brought death, by implication the new ministry brings life. The previous ministry brought condemnation; the new ministry brings righteousness. If the previous ministry brought moments of glory, the new ministry brings lasting glory. So, we are free to LIFE, RIGHTEOUSNESS, and LASTING (ETERNAL) GLORY.

Let’s look to Jesus to better understand biblical freedom.

Freedom is grounded in the Truth.

John 8:31–32 ESV

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.”

Freedom is Found in Jesus Alone

John 14:6 ESV

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

The truth is that sin condemns men to hell. It is only through the Son of God that we can be made free. There are no “multiple ways” to get to Heaven. God is not manifested in Buddha, Mohammed, or the Pope in Rome. Self-reliance, good works, and small environmental footprints are no substitute for surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. That is the truth, and the truth will set you free.

Freedom is Through the Blood of Jesus Christ

Revelation 1:5–6 (NIV)

... To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood,

and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.

The fact that sinks into my heart more and more each time that I read it is that the Roman soldier who stood at the foot of the Cross began to worship God. He realized that Jesus was an innocent man[3], the perfect sacrifice on the altar for my sins and for your sins.

We must understand that freedom is found in God’s truth, in Jesus alone, and through the blood of Jesus Christ. Beware of what is called freedom beyond these 3 things.

Do You Realize Your Power?

You are a transformer! If you have any little boys who know about the Transformer movies and the toys that battle against evil. They are men who change from cool cars and planes and back and forth. Paul says that we are transformers:

2 Corinthians 3:17–18 ESV

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

Now, that’s if you get it…if you get the new ministry of the Spirit of Christ. Have you been captured by Christ? That is the paradox of Christian freedom. Freedom comes from being captured. Let’s use marriage as an example:

The biggest drawback to living alone is having nobody to forgive, says author D. J. Waldie. It’s not that you don’t get certain things, such as companionship, sex, and somebody to share the chores; it’s that you can’t give to them. You are deprived of a great opportunity: to learn to love your neighbor as yourself.

“This was a radical notion in Christ’s time; it is radical now,” Waldie says. “It will always be radical because it is the hardest way, the most illogical way, the ‘unfairest’ way—and the only way that can grant us the peace that passes all understanding.

“In a way I can see only dimly, marriage is causing me to be freer with my time, my money, my affections. It is changing my heart, one molecule at a time, from stone to flesh. Day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute, it is giving me the opportunity to die to myself.”

And that, as Saint Francis said, is the only way to awaken to eternal life.

—Based on D. J. Waldie, Holy Land: A Suburban Memoir (Norton, 1996)[4]

Transformation takes place in marriage incrementally as the husband and spouse become one physically and emotionally. Spiritual transformation takes place because of the work of the Cross, the power of the Spirit, and the obedience of the believer in response to God’s love. Samuel Rodriguez made this powerful statement, “The most powerful person on the planet is someone who has been set free.”

Enjoying Freedom in Christ

If you find that your religion is characterized by death and condemnation, then you are missing out on what God intends for you. Life in the Spirit is freedom.

God has removed all hindrances – social, spiritual (sin and death), economic, and institutional – that block our God created purpose. That is, to know, love, worship, and enjoy God forever. This is the freedom that has been won for us by the death and resurrection of the Messiah.

Christians need to stop thinking that Christian freedom is sunshine and rainbows. Nothing wrong with sunshine and rainbows and, when you’re experiencing them, good for you. But Christian freedom is equally available to the hundreds of Christians imprisoned without a single charge in Eritrea. Worldwide persecution has doubled in the last 30 years. Christian freedom is more than living inside or outside of bars. It is more than sunny skies or gloomy clouds.

What is biblical free? When you accept His freedom, your life will never be the same. We are…

Baptized with Christ in Romans.

Crucified with Christ in Galatians

Seated with Christ in Ephesians

Strengthened by Christ in Philippians

Hidden in Christ in Colossians

Reigning with Christ in Revelations.

I want to leave you with 2 things:

1. For those in Christ, realize what your freedom is….and what it isn’t.

2. Without Jesus there is no freedom – He needs to be your Savior

[1] Burning Man. Wikipedia. Accessed September 7, 2023. Internal quote, "The 10 Principles of Burning Man". Burning Man. Retrieved June 18,2020. [2] Paul Barnett, The Message of 2 Corinthians: Power in Weakness, The Bible Speaks Today (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1988), 67. [3] Luke 23:47. [4]Craig Brian Larson and Phyllis Ten Elshof, 1001 Illustrations That Connect (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 2008), 268.