Free Indeed

Free Indeed Focus: Jesus forgives us to be free in who He made us to be. Function: As Christians, we encounter God forgiveness and live freely in Him. Have you ever wished you could witness a miracle so that you would know without a shadow of a doubt that God was out there? Or see a sign or hear His voice or see an angel, just so that you could rest easy knowing He actually exists? I think we all have that desire sometimes, especially when we feel doubt nagging at our faith. But, supposing you did get to witness a miracle, or confirm God’s existence, or even got to meet God face to face, what would that accomplish? I would like to propose that a God existing out there somewhere is not automatically a good thing for you. Why? Because He’s bigger than you! He can smite you with just a thought! The knowledge that there’s a God out there without knowing the kind of God He is would mostly be terrifying, because you might be on His bad side! This is especially true because we are sinners. Naturally, we are enemies of God. We desire in our heart to rebel against Him. Five-hundred years ago, Martin Luther taught that we are bound to sin, that our nature is not capable of choosing good or having good motives because our will is bound up, confined, and corrupted only ever to sin. Our natures are cursed! And that’s what Jesus says in John 8:34: “everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.” Sin is believing a truth or being dependent on something other than God. So Jesus is not mincing words. We are slaves to sin. We can’t help it. We desire it. We crave it. We can’t help ourselves. We are not free. Sinners are utterly dependent on things other than God. When we think of freedom, think of the ability to choose, to make decisions, to do whatever we want. But if freedom is being independent, then by definition you are not depending on God, and that, my friends, is sin! What Martin Luther, and really Jesus, is saying is that in reality, sinners only have the illusion of freedom. Our wills are bound to depend on things other than God. We are slaves to sin. And we’re in deep doo-doo, because we can’t do a thing about it. Which is why I raise the point that simply knowing there’s a God out there is not necessarily a good thing if you don’t know what kind of God He is. You might confirm that He exists, when you’re a slave to sin and every fiber of your being wants to incite rebellion against that God, that God is dangerous. So, it strikes me as amazing that the main message of God’s Word doesn’t focus on trying to convince you that God exists (although that is there). The overwhelming message of God’s Word is what we would need to hear most from Him if we did meet Him face to face, and that is that you are forgiven. If you ever wondered what God would say to you if you ever met Him, it would be this: you are forgiven, He loves you, and you have eternal life. And frankly, that is way more important than just confirming the existence of God. Friend, you have a God that came in human flesh, who took the curse of your sin upon Himself on the cross, and rose victorious over your death to tell you just that: Jesus is God, and He is the God who forgives your sins. Who forgives your doubts and idolatry. Who forgives your superstitions and profanity. Who forgives your apathy toward Him and His Word. Who forgives your dishonor toward your parents and your authorities. Who forgives your acts of murder and thoughts of hatred. Who forgives your promiscuity, adultery, divorce, and addictions. Who forgives you for stealing, embezzling, and not caring for your neighbors’ needs. Who forgives your slander and when you assassinate the character of others. Who forgives you when you grumble and scheme and covet. You have a God that you can meet face to face and live to tell about it. We celebrate the Reformation not because we are trying to worship Luther or celebrate him as our hero. Reformation isn’t about Luther. Reformation is about what the Holy Spirit did in His church. At a time when it was widely believed that you had to help God in your personal salvation project, when priests were preaching that you had to do things to purify yourself of your sins, when people didn’t know that Jesus’s cross didn’t cover all your iniquity, and when the church was fundraising off the idea you that could pay your way into heaven, it was at that time when the Holy Spirit revived a right understanding of the Gospel, revived the right understanding of Jesus, and gave greater access to His Word in the church. Reformation is about the Holy Spirit giving a full understanding of the Gospel, just like He did at Pentecost. The full Gospel is that even when you were totally bound in your sins, a total slave to Satan, and a dark instrument of evil, Jesus forgave you. You didn’t have to do a thing. He made you alive. He gave you a new life. He didn’t need your help or cooperation. By the power of the Spirit, you received full pardon and a full declaration of forgiveness in your baptism. Forgiveness is not a process, it is not something you have to earn. If it was, it wouldn’t be called forgiveness! Forgiveness is a declaration! You are free! Jesus says in John 8:36: “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” Freedom is being dependent on God who loves you and has declared you His. Jesus doesn’t just present the idea of forgiveness. Forgiveness is not just a concept we believe in. Forgiveness is not something you’re waiting for. The Gospel is that forgiveness is actually delivered to you from Jesus. And you don’t even have to meet God face to face to get it! Jesus delivers His forgiveness to you through the words of a fellow Christian. Jesus delivers His forgiveness to you in your baptism. And if you were baptized as a baby, you got His forgiveness before you even realized you need it! Jesus even delivers His forgiveness to you in His actual Body and Blood with the bread and wine. Forgiveness is so overflowing you get to chew on it! Forgiveness means that you as a sinner get to depend on the true, living God. And that’s freedom. You have been made free in Christ. Free not to do whatever you want, not to live as an independent creature. And this isn’t an American freedom we’re talking about. As a Christian, you are free from being a slave to sin. You have Jesus’s full and total forgiveness. You have freedom not to be dependent on other things, but dependent on His forgiveness and love. The Holy Spirit makes you free so that you can choose to live in the way of Jesus, not because that makes you more likely to go to heaven, because you already have that promised to you. You live according to how God would have you live because the Spirit puts a new desire in you and a new heart that craves Him. No longer are you a slave to choose only sin, but now you have been given power to choose not to sin, to repent of sin and expect forgiveness, to choose to show His love, to abide in His Word. Friends, that’s freedom: not being independent, but being totally, joyfully, and utterly dependent on the God who you know and who forgives you. You are free indeed! In Jesus’ name, Amen.