Something about Jimmy appeared different from the other inmates. He was always smiling despite the fact he was behind bars serving a lengthy prison sentence. One night during the weekly chapel service our church conducted, he shared his testimony. His life of crime began at an early age. By the age of nineteen, he was on the run knowing a warrant had been issued for his arrest. Soon drugs and alcohol could no longer suppress his pain and fear. In desperation, he headed to the small church his mother attended, where revival services were taking place, and walked straight to the altar. He got up a new creation in Christ, free from drugs, alcohol, and bondage to the devil. Deputies were waiting in the parking lot. With no resistance, they handcuffed the ‘new’ Jimmy. When he awoke the next morning in the county jail, he leaped from his bunk and began jumping up and down shouting, “I’m free! I’m free!” This continued until the prison officials sent him to the state’s psychiatric hospital for an evaluation. He shared that night, “I may be locked up behind these bars, but I am free, more free than I have ever been.”
The word free and freedom originated as a description distinguishing the difference between a slave and a free man. The word first appears in Exodus in the Law. If you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve for six years; but on the seventh he shall go out as a free man without payment (Exo 21:2). The Law established a Year of Jubilee every fifty years when owners where required to set Jewish slaves free and return land that was seized because of debt to the original owner or to an heir. By the New Testament, which uses these words 48 times, the definition had broadened beyond just a means of identity differentiating a slave and a free man. It included freedom from anything that brought people into bondage. Israel lived in bondage to the Romans and their laws, rules, and customs. Yet, the majority of NT usages refer to the spiritual freedom we find in Christ.
In Jesus’ first sermon, he read from Isaiah “the Spirit of the Lord is upon me . . . He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed . . . (Luke 4:18). Some Jews thought this meant He would overthrow the Roman Empire and set up His Kingdom thus setting them free from the oppression of the Romans. However, Jesus came for the purpose of setting the Jews free from the bondage of the Law and setting humanity free from sin and death. To accomplish this, He would fulfill the Law and pay the penalty, which the Law demanded for sin. This would make freedom available for all people, Jew and Gentile, who received His gift of salvation and followed Him.
I was in Russia when the Soviet Union collapsed and the streets filled with people celebrating their newfound freedom. However, they had no clue what freedom meant. Learning to live free in Christ is a journey as we discover through the Bible, all that freedom means. Jesus told those who had believed in Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (Joh 8:31, 2). The foundation of freedom is truth. Coming from my legalistic background, I am realizing everyday what it is to be free. Freedom in Christ doesn’t constitute a life where ‘anything goes’ or life with no rules or restrictions. A few misguided ministers today teach that because of grace, believers can do anything they feel like doing. They use their freedom as a covering for evil (1 Pet 2:16). The freedom we have is liberty for serving the Lord because we are free from the bondage of the Law and from the chains of sin and death. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death (Rom 8:2).
Walking in freedom requires effort and vigilance because people, traditions, false teaching, society, temptations, and the devil are constantly seeking to rob us of His freedom and drag us back into bondage. The Galatian church was struggling with this when Paul wrote; It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery (Gal 5:1). Standing firm is the same root word also translated resist. James says, resist the devil (Jas 4:7); Peter says resist your adversary, the devil (1 Pet 5:8); and Paul writes, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day (Eph 6:13). Standing firm in our freedom is equivalent to resisting the devil. Jesus died for our freedom and desires that we live in that freedom. For you were called to freedom, brethren (Gal 5:13).
Even behind bars, Jimmy was free in his heart and mind. We may be living in and with difficult circumstances. Yet, we can live in Christ’s freedom that brings peace, joy, and life.
Sustaining Word for the Week: What’s robbing you of freedom? Stand firm, keep learning the truth and it will continue setting you free. If the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed (Joh 8:36).