Where Has the Freedom Gone?

This morning, our intro video asked a question that I want us to fully consider: Where has the freedom gone? Does the culture in which we live reflect the kind of freedom God has called all of us to? Is this what freedom looks like?

First, we need to understand what kind of freedom we are talking about today.

I am very thankful for the national freedom that we enjoy every single day. I am thankful to live in this great nation. I am thankful for the men and women who have given so much to secure and to protect our liberties. Would you join me this morning in saying thank you to our veterans and our active service men and women for all they have given for us today?

As great as our national freedom is, I am even more thankful for the spiritual freedom God has made available to us through Jesus Christ our Lord. This freedom is a freedom from sin. This freedom was something we could not obtain on our own. No matter how hard we tried, we failed. ONLY JESUS could win the needed victory to deliver us from our slavery to sin. Our spiritual freedom came at great cost… and Jesus gladly paid that cost on our behalf. So would you join in this morning in saying thank you to Jesus for giving His life so that we could be free?

I am thankful for the freedom we share in Jesus today! I am thankful that Christ has done for us what no one else could have ever done - He broke the chains that bound us… He set the prisoner free! Freedom is available to ALL who call on the name of the Lord!

The sad reality is… many are not free. Many are still living in bondage and the longer they live in that bondage, the heavier it becomes.

Yes, we still enjoy the national freedoms, but spiritually, people are locked in sin… and it is showing. The current condition of our culture is NOT what freedom looks like. We have turned inward instead of upward. People have bought into the lie that freedom is doing whatever you want without worrying about the consequences. God Himself has given us the freedom to choose what we will do for ourselves… but not all choices lead to freedom.

Where has the freedom gone? I’ll answer it as plainly as I possibly can. Spiritual freedom began to leave this land the moment our nation turned its back on the One who called us to be free in the first place! Freedom is still available… but people are looking for it in all the wrong places.

2 Corinthians 3:17 tells us

2 Corinthians 3:17 NIV

17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

Our God… is the God of freedom. Our God INVENTED freedom. And where His Spirit is… there also IS freedom.

This is NOT an if or maybe situation. This is NOT a sometimes or occasionally kind of thing. Where God’s Spirit is… there IS freedom!

Therefore, the only why for spiritual freedom to return… is for America to become dependent on the Spirit of God once again!

God’s Spirit is the ONLY source of true freedom. We can fight for “freedom” and we can march for “freedom” and we can argue and debate for “freedom” but the only person that can actually deliver what we truly need is the Spirit of God.

The church needs to lead this nation back to the Spirit who brings freedom. We see the effects of sin all around us. We see the bondage, the wickedness, and the brokenness. We see the enemy doing all that he can to enslave as many as he can.

But we serve a Savior who gave all that He had to set free all who would believe! The victory has already been won!

And when a person calls on the name of Jesus for salvation… something remarkable takes place. The old self moves out. The old has gone, as Scripture says, and the new life in Christ has begun!

In that moment, the Holy Spirit moves into the heart of the new believer and with His presence comes the freedom only He can bring! SINCE God’s Spirit dwells within you… HIS FREEDOM DWELLS WITHIN YOU!

The problem is… with all that is going on… we have many who do not feel that freedom. We have many who are bogged down instead of set free.

Hear me clearly… the work that Jesus did is complete meaning the moment you called on His name, His victory on the cross became your victory over sin. YOU ARE NO LONGER A SLAVE TO SIN. Yet the circumstances around you might have you feeling less free and more burdened.

The church needs to lead this nation back to the Spirit who brings freedom… but before we can do that… the church needs to be set free again by the Spirit.

This morning, we are going to look at three key points regarding our spiritual freedom. God does not want you living in bondage. God wants you living as MORE THAN conquerors.

The new normal that God has for all of us is NOT a future consisting of bondage and burdens. His is a future or promise and presence! His is a future of freedom and deliverance!

So we are going to look at these three points that specifically address our freedom in Christ - the freedom that comes with the Spirit of God… for where His Spirit is, there is freedom! And I truly believe that everyone desires to be free today!

Knowing Freedom Means Knowing the Truth.

There is a lot of debate out there today regarding what truth is...

For instance, is truth a matter of perspective? Is truth absolute meaning that one truth applies to us all? Is truth truly obtainable or is it something we will never know? And what does knowing truth have to do with knowing freedom anyway?

Knowing truth has EVERYTHING to do with knowing freedom. In fact, spiritual freedom is not knowable without first knowing the truth.

in one of the many discussions Jesus had while on this earth, He said these words to a group of Jews who believed him in John 8:31-32

John 8:31–32 NIV

31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

The truth will set you free. these guys struggled with this line a bit because they didn’t know what it was they needed to be set free from! In their arrogance, they replied to Jesus with a false statement that was anything but true. Then Jesus drops this bombshell… a reality that EVERY PERSON knows and understands… but not every person will acknowledge.

John 8:34–36 NIV

34 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

The truth is… EVERYONE who has ever walked this earth has sinned. EVERYONE. This means everyone knows what it is to be a slave to sin. And the problem is… there is nothing that any person can do to break themselves free from this sort of slavery.

We don’t like to use that word in our culture today. It’s kind of taboo… it’s looked down upon with disgusted eyes. No one likes the idea of slavery, yet so many people are stuck as slaves to their sin.

With sin as a master, that person is guaranteed one outcome - they will perish for the wages of sin is death. That is the truth. that is the reality that Jesus came to set us free from.

Jesus did not come to reveal the truth and then leave us in a position of slavery and death. Jesus came to set us free from our sin reality.

The truth that Jesus spoke of… the truth that sets us free… is not some form of philosophical truth or freedom from ignorance regarding the ways of the world. The truth Jesus spoke of is the ONLY truth that has the power to set people free from sin, destruction, and the power of the enemy.

That truth… IS JESUS HIMSELF and the revelation of His Word. WE CAN KNOW THAT TRUTH PERSONALLY AND THAT TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE!

Jesus is described in Scripture as being “full of grace and truth” John 1:14. John 1:17 tells us that “Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. John 14:6 tells us that Jesus is “the way, the truth and the life” and Colossians 1:5 and 2 Thessalonians 2:13 tell us that His message is the word of truth.

Thus, KNOWING THE TRUTH MEANS KNOWING JESUS! KNOWING JESUS MEANS KNOWING FREEDOM!

If we desire to know freedom today, then we need to know Jesus. We need to be students of His Word and His ways!

The Word of God is a living Word that reveals the message of forgiveness and new life through faith in Jesus Christ. THERE IS NO OTHER SOURCE OF NEW LIFE AND FREEDOM. That is the truth!

The enemy would like us to believe otherwise. He is working hard to present an alternate “truth” which is no truth at all.

The problem is, many have chosen to exchange God’s truth for a lie as Romans 1:25 warns of. Those lies do nothing but bind our souls.

But when a person takes a stand by living out God’s truth in his or her life… they will truly know freedom as sin no longer has a grip on them!

I do not know what it meas to be a slave to any one person… but I remember what life was like as a slave to sin. And I am beyond thankful for my encounter with the truth that set me free!

And I am thankful that our freedom is not just a one time encounter. Jesus said we must HOLD to His teaching which means we must know AND live His truth in order to be set free by it.

Knowing His truth is key number one… but staying the course… remaining faithful to His truth is key number two.

Knowing the Truth Means Staying the Course.

What good is freedom if… that freedom is used to indulge that which used to enslave us? Jesus Christ set us free so that we could be free indeed!

Throughout the book of Galatians, the apostle Paul is working to lead the believers of Galatia back to the freedom that can only be found in Jesus.

A group of people were working against the message of Jesus. They were promoting a false gospel that Paul identifies in Galatians 1:7 as “no gospel at all.” People were perverting the true gospel message and trying to confuse the hearts and minds of the early believers.

So in his attempt to lead the people back to the true gospel message, Paul gave this instruction in Galatians 5.

Galatians 5:1 NIV

1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

Galatians 5:7–9 NIV

7 You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth? 8 That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. 9 “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.”

Someone was “cutting in.” Someone was bending the ears of the believers trying to convince them of a different way.

That way was the way of the law. And while there is nothing wrong with God’s law, there was everything wrong with the way it was being promoted. God’s law in the OT had not been abolished, but was fulfilled through the blood of Christ.

The times had changed… the reality had changed… now was NOT a time of law… but was a time of grace! Yet there were those who were promoting the law as the way instead of Jesus.

So Paul said to stand firm. Stand in what you know to be true. Stand in that which set you free. DO NOT take on that yoke of slavery again!

Look at his warning in verse 9… a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough. In other words, all it takes is for one small bit of compromise in order for our freedom to be lost.

A person can surrender his or her freedom they have in Jesus by choosing to embrace ways that are outside of His Word. Such it why it is CRITICAL that we choose to stay the course… we cannot allow for someone or something to cut in on the race we are running for the Lord!

Maybe you are in this place and you can relate to the statement I made in the introduction… many people have been set free… but several struggle to feel that freedom today. Maybe that struggle is rooted in the truth that you have allowed someone to cut in on your race… you have allowed for compromise regarding the truth you hold on to.

it doesn’t take much before a person begins to feel the weight of said compromise. And the cost of such action is steep - that we would be willing to give up the freedom given to us by Christ for the satisfaction of our flesh.

God has not called you to a position of compromise. God has called you to freedom - out of darkness, and into His marvelous light.

Knowing freedom means knowing the truth but knowing the truth means staying the course. It is one thing to believe and understand that Jesus saves… but it is an entirely different thing to live the life as one who has been set free.

Staying the course means NEVER RETURNING to that which once bound you. It means using that freedom for the glory of God! It means knowing and living His Word and operating in ways that honor God.

it means we say goodbye to the things that once gratified the flesh and saying hello to a life that is led by the Spirit.

If you have been set free… your life is going to look different from the rest of the world. And that is a good thing! It means life is no longer about want we want… life is now about what He wants! Because what He wants is for us to be free! He wants ALL to be free! All people matter to God!

Our freedom is to be used to serve the interests of the Lord. Our freedom is to be used to glorify the Lord and to lead others to freedom. Knowing freedom means knowing the truth. Knowing the truth means staying the course. And staying the course...

Staying the Course Means Serving Others.

Galatians 5:13–18 NIV

13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. 16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

Brothers and sisters… hear the Word of the Lord: YOU ARE CALLED TO BE FREE! That calling was presented to you through the work Christ did on the cross and through the gospel message of salvation and redemption. God so loved this world… the hurting and the broken… that He gave His one and only Son, Jesus, to make a way that we might be forgiven and set free from our sin. In that salvation and freedom, the curse of sin is broken! No longer will we perish but will receive eternal life!

We know that the wages of sin is in fact death.But we also know that the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord! he calls us, through Jesus, TO BE FREE!

We have been separated from that which bound us: sin and the desires of the flesh, so that we may never again be bound by such things.

In our freedom, we have been called to serve: to serve God and to serve others.

Serving God means we remain on the path of freedom. It means we place His ways above any other way. It means we turn our backs on the ways that would bind us up in sin again.

Serving others means we use our freedom to lead others to freedom. It means we lead others to Jesus with our love so that they might experience the same freedom we have received!

And what I find to be really interesting is found in the last three verses that we just read. Paul gives us how this is done… the method by which we are to serve others.

Galatians 5:16 NIV

16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

Walking by the Spirit is the key… and this brings us full circle to our main text we shared in the introduction. Where the Spirit of the Lord is… finish it with me… THERE IS FREEDOM!

Knowing freedom means knowing the truth. Knowing the truth means staying the course. Staying the course means serving others. And serving others means… walking by the Spirit - the Spirit that brings freedom! Walking in the Spirit is walking in freedom!

Church… it is for freedom He set us free! Today is NOT a day to be bound up by the desires of the flesh, the ways of the world, or the lies of the enemy… today is a day of spiritual freedom and liberty! Today is a day that the death’s shackles have been loosed, the grip of sin has been released! Today is a day of victory and celebration for if you are in Jesus! You ARE FREE!

So if you don’t feel free… if you don’t feel victorious… I want you to ask yourself an honest question: WHERE HAS YOUR FREEDOM GONE?

Perhaps you have entertained a way that isn’t truth. Maybe you have allowed for something to dwell within your mind and heart that you know goes against the Word and way of the Lord.

Such a thing could have you bound up today. Such a thing can cause a lack of freedom in your life.

Maybe you know the truth, but you have struggled to stay the course. Maybe someone or something has bent your ear… they have cut in on your race. Maybe it’s a situation or circumstance. Nonetheless… whatever it is is robbing you of freedom.

I would encourage you to drop the compromise and get back in the race. Turn your back on whatever it is that is trying to cause you to turn your back on God!

Maybe you have used your freedom to indulge the flesh and in that indulgence, you find yourself back in the muck. You slipped back into the habit of serving yourself instead of God and others.

Then it is time to stop gratifying the desires of the flesh. It is time to start walking by the Spirit - the Spirit who brings freedom!

YOU WERE CALLED TO BE FREE! God is calling you back to a place of true spiritual freedom but you must be willing to take the steps for yourself.

It is time to come out from under whatever it is that has you bound. Call on His name and be set free by the power of Jesus Christ! Where the Spirit of the Lord is, THERE IS FREEDOM!