Being Transformed Part 3
Being Transformed • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Freedom in Faith
Freedom in Faith
“Some things are too wonderful even for a child, and freedom's one of them. It does a man no good to be free until he knows how to live, how to walk in step with God.” - Amos Fortune (Born an African Prince. Sold as a slave in America. Made free by Jesus Christ)
For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
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. - Yeshua Meshiac, Born a King. Enslaved and crucified by the Roman Empire. Risen as King and Lord of all for eternity.
There is freedom in faith in Jesus Christ. Faith is the seed of transformation through Jesus Christ. Righteousness and holiness are the fruit of that transformation.
What is freedom? Is freedom a mere idea equal to any other? Throughout the history of mankind, freedom is something people have been both willing to die for as well as willing to give up for something else they thought was better. Many have given their lives so that others could know freedom. Still, others have sought to take it away from those they wished to usurp and control.
But what did Christ consider freedom? In the midst of the Roman Empire Jews were considered property of Rome under their occupation of Israel. This was a stark reminder as they crucified them on the Tav ת all over Israel. The Tav is the last letter of the Hebrew aleph-bet; used to mark one’s property. In ancient Hebrew it was a cross. According to the Talmud, the Tav represents ‘emet or truth. Thus, Jesus states, “I am the aleph and the tav; I am truth (‘emet אֱמֶת).”
There is a Jewish tradition that the base small gematria of the letter Tav is four, being the base of 400 (dalat is 4 - doorway; tav is 400 - truth; there is a connection; the only way to the Father; the way and the truth; a choice must be made). As such, the assertion is that Adam and Eve were laid to rest at the Cave of Machpelah in Hebron, later purchased by Abraham (Genesis 49:29-31). This cave is also referred to as the “cave of four couples”. These are the four couples of the Covenant including Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, and Jacob and Leah. (Found at Tav - The twenty-second letter of the Hebrew alphabet - Chabad.org and Where is Adam's tomb located? on 20 June 2025)
In the Book of Genesis, we see that God told Adam and Eve they could have everything and anything from all the midst of the Garden of Eden except the one Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. This tree was not just a tree but it represented a choice between freedom and faith or slavery and fear. They chose selfish slavery and found themselves bound in fear. Prior to their disobedience, they perceived God as only good and gracious. They perceived Him as loving and providing all they would ever need. He was a good Father. But after their disobedience, they feared him. Not with a holy fear but with a fear driven by their condemnation, guilt and shame.
Now, we do not know the time frame from when God created, blessed them and told them to go forth and multiply and the time that they were cast out of the garden and Cain and Able were born. But it is safe to assume it was probably more than what we would consider a day. Yet, during that time they had the opportunity to eat from another tree that was permitted. That tree was the Tree of Life. Since we find them falling into disobedience and being cast out before they could partake of that tree and live eternally in the slavery of sin, we can assume that they chose to not partake of the Tree of Life before their act of disobedience. There stood both trees, but they continued to be drawn to one and not the other. Thus, a perversion of perspective. A perversion of choices, a perversion of freedom and faith.
From the very beginning in the Garden of Eden, the Ha Satan (that which is adversarial to the will of God) has sought to enslave mankind with a perversion of liberty. Today, we have the same issue. We have people exhibiting and celebrating sexual perversion, legitimizing the perversion of children, burning down cities, committing murder and advocating lawlessness in the name of freedom.
So, Yeshua technically was a slave of the Roman Empire. Yet, when Pilot confronts Jesus about his freedom and pending death, this is Christ’s reply:
No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”
You have this same choice. Jesus was never a slave to any man, any culture, or idea of this earth. He was free in the Father, free in His faith in the Father. To the transformed Christian, their freedom does not come from legislation but from life hanging on a tree and risen from an empty tomb.
The Hebrew concept Jesus had of freedom is chuphshah חֻפְשָׁה . It refers to being loosed from bondage and captivity; to be set free from slavery; to be liberated or ransomed; to be made weak or prostrated. In other words, it is we who were enslaved by sin and our weakness to sins draw who were ransomed and liberated from sin and deaths eternal captivity by the strength of Jesus Christ. The strength of Christ was the love of the Father to draw us out of darkness and back into the light.
The word “Garden”, gan גַּן is a protective covering and Eden עֵדֶן a delight. God’s great love was to make a way, through Jesus Christ, that we could return to the protective covering, the shelter of His great delight and love for us and know true (chuphshah חֻפְשָׁה) freedom that is only found in faith in the Father. Christ brings you back into the garden.
In that garden stood two trees among all the others. God was not hiding the Tree of Life from them among the other trees. In fact, He probably pointed it out. But they never partook of it. Instead, they were drawn to the “don’t” instead o the “do”. Just as a child and just as Israel, the draw of disobedience lured them from the security of trusting in God’s goodness. At any time, they could have partaken of the Tree of Life. But it a draw to discontentment with being like God, they wanted to be their own god. They wanted to define their own righteousness apart from God.
Like the word “grace”, the word “faith” is another one of those commonly misused and abused words in Western Christianity.
Speaking of Abraham’s willingness to forsake all and follow God’s commands even to the point of willing to sacrifice his only son, Scripture says this:
No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
Faith in the Hebrew is emunah אֱמוּנָה. Many have equated “faith” with a force of thought that comes from within themselves that embraces or produces a superpower of positivity void of any shadow of weakness or doubt. Therefore, it is that from within themselves that God must work with in His expectations to perform that which they desire. Folks, this is a pantheistic, George Lucas, humanistic, Jedi warrior idea of faith. This takes Jesus completely out of the equation. People with this concept, I believe, must struggle with spiritual hemorrhoids from their spiritual strain.
But Pastor what about all those Scriptures where people were healed and Jesus said it was because of their faith? The miraculous transformation of their situations, conditions and being were indeed a result of their faith. It was a result of their confession of who Yeshua was and their obedience to act upon that assurance.
Your self-induced power of positive thinking God does not count as righteousness. Noah’s obedience was counted as righteousness. If positive thinking is all we needed to free us from the enslavement to the power of sin, why should Christ have come at all much less die in our place?
Faith is the fruit of righteousness. Faith is the seed of transformation in Jesus Christ. Freedom is a fruit of sincere faith in Jesus Christ.
The Disciple Peter thought Jesus was a ghost in the midst of his storm. But when his eyes deceived him, he cried, “Lord if that is you call me to come.” When his eyes failed his faith, he knew that if he could just hear (Shema) the Master voice his faith would arise above the storm.
Faith (emunah אֱמוּנָה) is Biblically defined as firmness, fidelity, steadfastness, and truth. And this firm truth within their souls (nephesh נֶפֶשׁ their inner most being; seat of your appetites; place where desire is birthed and pleasure is sought) was counted as righteousness or tsadaq צָדַק meaning to be justified, made right in God’s eyes, to be made clean that you might be made holy (qodesh קֹדֶשׁ) meaning to be made sacred, set apart, belonging to God alone in monogamous covenant relationship. The standard is not perfection in your self-righteous efforts of religious legalism or hyper-grace self-justification. Perfect, in the Hebrew is tamim תָּמִים meaning blameless and complete and is not something you can do for yourself. Only Christ can do this through His righteousness by faith in Him. Your efforts to make you perfect will always be a contradiction to your own efforts.
as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;
We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
Christ came to set you free and cleanse you. This is transformation through sanctification through Jesus Christ. This is faith and this is freedom. The Word of God breaks the yoke and leads you in cleanliness through the righteous way of Christ. And the Holy Spirit of God keeps you clean reminding you of who and whose you are by Him who has purchased you with the price of His life.
The First Century Followers of Jesus Christ faced the mouths of lions in faith. They faced them without fear because of the strength of their faith. They had experienced a conversion, a transformation by the power of the Christ, the Holy Spirit and the revelation of the truth of the Word of God. Others allowed fear to steal their faith. Just as these First Century Christians faced the mouths of lions, being dismembered and crucifixion, so you can stand in faith and face your strongholds, overcome your vices, and know true freedom in faith.
The Christ of your faith has the power to transform you into the freedom He has ransomed you for.
My soul yearns for you in the night; my spirit within me earnestly seeks you. For when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
There is rest in the transforming power of the Jesus Christ. Through the power of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God written upon your hearts, the struggles with the flesh can come to an end. There is rests and hope for your soul.
For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.
But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.
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.”
“To know” means to have the “knowledge of" (da’at דַּעַת) and implies I make a resolved choice. I choose the Tree of Life. I choose to step through the door, who is Christ, and live in the garden under the protection of the Father living to delight in His goodness forever. It implies I daily choose righteousness because He has made me holy. Resolve today, “I choose to live free”.
