So This Is Freedom

 

For, in the Lord, he who is being called a slave, is the Lord's freedman.  Likewise, he who is called being free, is a slave of Christ. 

1 Corinthians 7: 22, Concordant New Testament 

I've spoken recently to the idea of the freedom we have in Christ Jesus.  Yet, to most who have never truly experienced this freedom it might seem like something that is out of reach.  That's exactly how I saw this when I heard people speak to the idea of freedom in Christ.  So, is there true freedom in Jesus?  From my own experience, I would say yes.  However, I do have a dog in the fight as well.  I believe in my heart that I am free in Jesus.  That is, free from where I used to be.  Where I used to be was a belief in a system that preached each and every Sunday a concept of submission.  This is what the mainstream Christian church has become.  This wasn't a gradual change, but a change made over a few thousand years ago.  Over time, the message has remained basically the same.  For a traditional church going believer, there are expectations which come with our beliefs.  The expectation to serve.  The expectation to tithe and the expectation to fill our pew each and every Sunday are among a few of the expectations I struggled to uphold in my time in the mainstream church.  These days I speak to others, and they are somewhat surprised that I haven't stepped into a brick and mortar church in over fourteen years.  I've been accused more than a few times of forfeiting my faith.  I've been looked upon as one who has given up on believing in God.  All because I forsook entering into a building each and every Sunday.  But hear me out on this, I truly believe that what I have done is not forsake the Lord I trust and believe in, but to throw away the chains of a system which held me captive for so many years.  You could say that I exchanged one freedom for another.  That I exchanged the freedom of celebrating my beliefs with like minded Christians for the freedom of being one with Jesus.  

For freedom Christ freed us!  Stand firm, then, and be not again enthralled with the yoke of slavery.

Galatians 5: 1, Concordant New Testament 

I know that those who may not be familiar with the freedom found in Jesus might be surprised at such terms as slavery, captivity and submission.  To Many Christians, these are words which might describe their former lives of sin before they found the Lord.  It has been widely accepted that prior to recognizing the saving grace of the Lord, that we are bound by the chains of captivity to sin.  That's the popular mainstream church story anyway.  For we are all sinners deserving of God's grace {Romans 3:23}.  I do not dispute that sin has been a part of each of our lives in the past.  However, I believe that like a terrible actor, we give sin way more credit than it truly deserves.  The apostle Paul went so far as to declare that we are now dead to sin {Romans 6:11}.  This seems to be true in that Jesus became sin on our behalf that we might not suffer its consequences {2 Corinthians 5:21}.  This is what originally got me thinking of my freedom in Jesus.  Yet the mainstream church continues to speak to sin and forgiveness.  I get it.  Remember, one of the expectations of each and every church goer is to fill a pew each week.  What better way to keep people coming back than to lead them to believe that it is the church itself that holds the key to their freedom.  The church can set you free.  The church is your one connection to God.  Well, if being in church is freedom, I don't want any part of it.  Freedom rarely comes with expectations and rules to be followed.  One could say that these are the chains of the bondage of the church.  So does going to church bring one closer to God?  Not according to Paul, who proclaims that God does not dwell in temples made by men {2 Corinthians 5:1}.  So, where does God live then?  Again, Paul helps us in our understanding.  Paul speaks to Christ Jesus in us {Galatians 2:20}.  This is the foundational scripture of our freedom in Jesus.  For if we know and realize that it is Christ Jesus in us, what good are the words of the church that claim that only the church can bring us closer to the Lord?  It is not the building, ages old theology or fancy sermons in that we will find our freedom.  It is only through our faith and trust in Christ that we are truly free.  

Now the Lord is the spirit; yet where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

2 Corinthians 3: 17, Concordant New Testament 

~Scott~