In this study we will try to see one of the greatest truths that the Word of God teaches us. It is all about the topic of freedom, and the way that the Bible deals with this all-important topic.
In our world today, the issue of freedom is as important for everyone, as it always has been. The need to be free is a fundamental one in each one of us, and this need has been inside all human beings, no matter of which country, culture, race, or social background they come from. Countless people have given their lives in the past in order to be free, and many are doing this same thing somewhere in the world at this very minute, fighting against different kinds of oppression within their societies or their countries.
In our modern democratic societies we assume that we are free. After all, we live in societies where freedom of speech is respected (in most cases anyway). We all enjoy a certain degree of personal freedom too. After all, we can go wherever we want and do as we please (as long as we respect other peoples’ space). To that extent, one could say that we are free. But are we? What is real freedom?
If you ask somebody on the street "do you think you are free?" most probably he or she will think that you are either drunk, or a nutcase! Or both! But this is a big question. The issue of freedom extents far beyond the limits in which we put it in our everyday lives. Because people can walk the street, because they can talk freely and make their ideas known, because they can have access to information of all sorts, because they can do or say all sorts of things and express their opinion, does this make them "free people"? According to the Word of God, it doesn’t. True freedom is a much broader issue. I will explain what I mean. Lets have a look at the gospel of John:
John 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
John 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
As we see in verse 31, Jesus was speaking to "Jews which believed on him". These people were in the right frame of mind to receive information from a person they believed in, from a person whose words they trusted. As we see, Jesus here was aiming his words to a "friendly" audience, not to one that was ready to doubt his words and argue with him. To those people, Jesus gave the requirement for them to be his disciples: That requirement, was to continue in his word (which ultimately is God’s word). In this verse, the word "continue" is a somewhat free translation of the Greek word "meeneete", which means "stay". What Jesus said here to people that believed in him, was to stay in his word, and then they would be his disciples indeed. Verse 32 starts with the word "and", which connects the context of this verse, with the context of the previous one. This is very important, because in this way, Jesus continues saying what it will happen when we stay in his word: "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free". What we learn from these two verses, is the following:
STAYING IN JESUS’ WORD results to BECOMING JESUS’ DISCIPLE which then results to KNOWING THE TRUTH. That truth, which is God and His Word, will set us free. And we’re talking about real, unlimited, perfect freedom here, not the human conception of freedom, but the perfect freedom that God has given us.
Continuing from the verse we left, we read:
John 8:33 They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?
John 8:34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
John 8:35 And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.
John 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
In verse 33, we see that Jesus’ listeners misunderstood his words. They thought that he was talking about freedom as humans conceive it, and hastily told him that they were never "in bondage" to any man. But Jesus here wasn’t talking about slavery or bondage to a conqueror. When he said "the truth shall make you free" in verse 32, he meant freedom from sin. What he clearly wanted to indicate here, was that people who think they are free because they are not in bondage, might still be slaves to sin, therefore NOT free. And he clearly says so in verse 34. And in verse 36, he says that if the Son (Jesus Christ) shall make us free, we shall be free INDEED. How wonderful is the Word of God! How clearly it speaks to the hearts of men and women that want to learn from it!
So, after the study of the above verses, we reach the following conclusion:
STAYING IN JESUS’ WORD (which is ultimately God’s word) results to BECOMING JESUS’ DISCIPLE which then results to KNOWING THE TRUTH. The KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUTH which is GOD and HIS WORD will SET US FREE by RELEASING us from the bondage of SIN. Then we will be FREE INDEED.
Now lets go to Romans 6:16-18
Romans 6:16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
Romans 6:17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
Romans 6:18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.
It becomes clear from verse 16, that if you are a servant to sin death will be the result. And of course the meaning of death here is much broader - it involves not only bodily death, but primarily it means spiritual obscurity. But if one becomes a servant of obedience (towards God and His Word), this leads to righteousness. And by obeying from the heart to the doctrine of God, one becomes free of sin, and a servant to righteousness (verses 17-18). God in these verses gives us a very clear way in order for all the believers to be free.
Another verse that indicates clearly how corruption enslaves people, is in the second epistle of Peter:
2 Peter 2:9 The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:
2 Peter 2:19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.
The word "deliver" in verse 9, is a translation of the Greek word "eleftheronee" in the original text. This is more accurately translated in this instance as "setting free". It is clear from this verse that God knows how to set free from temptation, (which leads ultimately to sin). God and His Word is the weapon we have to fight a fight which is a spiritual one, not one of flesh and blood (see Ephesians 6:12), and by using this all-powerful weapon, we become free from being slaves to sin. Furthermore, in verse 19 there is a great truth that is as valid today as it ever was. Here we learn about people who promise "liberty" people of this world who cry for freedom when they themselves are "servants of corruption". And the last phrase of verse 19, gives us the great truth: "FOR OF WHOM A MAN IS OVERCOME, OF THE SAME IS HE BROUGHT IN BONDAGE" It is so clear. IF YOU ARE BEATEN BY SIN AND CORRUPTION, THEN YOU BECOME A SLAVE TO SIN AND CORRUPTION. It is as simple as that.
Now let’s go to Galatians. There we read:
Galatians 5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
Galatians 5:13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
Galatians 5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
Galatians 5:17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
Galatians 5:18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
Galatians 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
Galatians 5:20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
Galatians 5:21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Galatians 5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Galatians 5:24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
Galatians 5:25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
Galatians 5:26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.
Verse 1 says clearly that we were made free by Jesus Christ and urges us to "stand fast". This phrase is translated from the phrase "meenete statheree" in the original Greek text. The word "meenete" means "stay" and the word "statheree" can have different synonymous translations: it can be "firm" as well as "steady". So, a more accurate translation of this phrase is "stay firm" or "stay steady". In both cases, God’s advice is clear: Stay firm, in the freedom that Jesus accomplished for us, and do not be "entangled again with the yoke of bondage", which is sin as we saw before.
In verse 13 we are taught that we were called to the freedom of God, and urged not to abuse the freedom that we were given by God, not to use it for the devices of the flesh. We should use this freedom to lovingly serve each other. (the meaning of the word "flesh" here and in most Biblical references, is much broader than the exact meaning of the word "flesh". It also refers to the world around us, it means our materialistic surroundings).
In verse 16 there is a very clear form of advice on how to avoid the "lust of the flesh". Walk in the spirit. The rest of this chapter is a very good source of information regarding the fruits of the flesh, and the fruits of the spirit. All the negativity, against all the positive qualities of believers who put the Word of God into their lives, and by the freedom that God gives to them through the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ, they are set free from sin and all its negative effects. Walk in the spirit. This is a command that we can’t afford to overlook as Christian believers, because only then we are truly free. Thank you for reading this.
(I would like to thank Dimitris Pilidis for his suggestion on the appropriate passages on the topic of freedom, his teaching on this matter was really invaluable. Also Tassos Kioulachoglou, for his continuous enthusiasm an encourangment.)
Tasos