John 8:34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 37 I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. 38 I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your Father.”
I'm captivated by the freedom from surrendering our lives to Jesus. The Greek term for 'Freedom' implies exemption from liability. We've been released from the grip of sin and adopted as God's children, as John 1:12 affirms. Living in this freedom means we no longer live as if we're still liable for our sins. We actively renew our minds with God’s Word and allow His Spirit to transform us by this reality. We move about in our liberty, being 'New Creations' as described in 2 Corinthians 5:17.
1 Corinthians 6:9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous[b] will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you.
But you were washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
Many passages remind us we have been exempt from liability physically and emotionally.
As we walk this life, we are instructed as followers of Jesus to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” Firstly, we can live faithfully to the Lord through obedience and repentance when we stumble. We live to persevere in our faith, eventually receiving the Crown of Life God waits to give His children.
Also, we have been emotionally released from the mental imprisonment of a life of sin we may have been party to, according to 1 Corinthians 6:11, “But you were washed, sanctified, and justified…” Psalm 19 tells us the power of God through His Word, revives our soul, makes us wise, gives us insight and understanding, and forms righteousness within us. Nothing is more extraordinary, sweeter, or more powerful than His Word for equipping God’s children. It offers us doctrine that informs life and godliness in us. It brings reproof but doesn’t leave us condemned because it turns the coin, correcting what is wrong, and then trains us to live in the way that pleases Our Lord.
I only touched the surface of the greatness of God’s Word for His liberated children. The freedom He has extended is by paying the price for our sins and becoming the propitiation for the wrath of God on us for those sins. We are free!
Yet, for some reason, Christians might understand that “Who the Son sets free is free indeed,” But many of those same believers live imprisoned to the sins, mistakes, and offenses others have done to them. They live in freedom from their past but remain captive by the choices of others who have hurt them. I won’t minimize the pain others might have done to many of you. Perhaps in childhood or marital betrayal, lousy parenting, intentional or out of ignorance. I can share the pain of coming from divorce, the disruption of a childhood ripped from us and told, “My kids will be happy if I’m happy.” The pain from others in our lives is not meant to be a tagalong in our Christian walk. Living in the memory or emotional struggle of others' impugned motives to cause us pain is not part of the freedom Christ gave us.
While the memories of hurt stay with most of us, we can say, “I’ll forgive, but I won’t forget.” Not forgetting can be thought of in two ways:
1. We allow God to use the memory to testify to others. When we share similar pasts and walk in freedom from their chains, we offer others the example of how God can break the hold of the sin, offense, or mistake they’ve been allowed to impart in our lives. In this freedom, we don’t live to denigrate the character of those who hurt us. That is forgiving while not forgetting. It is being exempt from liability and offering that exemption to others because we are experiencing true physical and emotional freedom in Christ.
We do not need to live in perpetual counseling for these things. We are set free in the freedom God’s Son has set us free to walk in. Did I say we are set free? Yes, God says it.
2. Not forgetting can also mean we hold sin, offenses, and mistakes against others. Holding them prisoner in our lives and waiting with bated breath to denigrate their character and live in an emotional prison for the sin, offense, or mistake they’ve brought into our lives. Eventually, it shows up physically. We look to counseling, talking about the hurt we carry while never experiencing the freedom we have been given in Christ. We talk and talk and talk with no end in sight.
We’ve missed that we have been emotionally set free from the pain others have brought into our lives. We are forgiven; we forgive and live in our freedom in Christ.
Without sounding cavalier, “Move on!” Let’s see this practiced by Christ, who set us free—exemption from liability to those who follow Him. At the end of Jesus' earthly ministry and life, he tells Peter that he will betray Him. The same Peter whose words were those Jesus says, "On this rock, I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it." The same Peter who was asked by Jesus, "Will you leave me too?" To which he responds, "Where else can we go; you alone have the words to eternal life."
1. Jesus expected and warned that others would hurt him. Not just others but one of His closest friends. Those closest to us hurt us deeply. Sometimes, it is so deep that it leaves a physical and emotional impact. The latter is what we can live in freedom from, not needing to stay captured by the depth of pain of what others may have done. Jesus sets that example.
As Jesus is put on trial, the time comes for what He prophecied to come to fruition, in the exact way and at the right time Peter catches Jesus’ eyes. The sin and offense separate Peter from Jesus by Peter’s own words of denial. When I read this in the Bible, my heart breaks as I picture Jesus all alone, not from God, but from those he did ministry with. Those he walked the closest with. One he shared the deepest confidences with. Peter's eyes are full of tears. He doesn’t rush to Jesus' side. He turns away from Jesus. Oh, the pain of this moment.
2. Jesus continued to the cross, not only for each of us and carrying out the plan of The Father but also for Peter, who, at this moment, hurt Jesus deeply. This moment for Jesus had to be included in his words on the cross: “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.” I cannot image Peter not being in Jesus' thoughts in that prayer: the emotional agony and scar it could have left was met with forgiveness for this betrayal and denial. That is the freedom we can walk in where others are concerned.
After Jesus resurrects, He is not holding Peter’s sin and offense against him. In Mark 16:7, when a few women head to the tomb to anoint Jesus, an angel tells them, “Go, tell his disciples and Peter…” Peter was in the mind and heart of Jesus. Of all the disciples, Peter would need to experience restoration powerfully. Peter had given up and gone back to fishing, and Jesus went to restore him and put him in ministry. Jesus moved on and offered Peter an opportunity to move on free from his sin and experience the freedom for which Jesus set him free.
When I say, “Move on!” That is not from a disconnect from sin, offenses, or mistakes against me by others. It comes from the example of the One who has set us free from our sins, offenses, and mistakes. We are set free from our past; we do not need to be captured by the hurts brought on us by others. We don’t even need years and years of counseling. When we are forgiven, we forgive; we move on with testimony and in the power of freedom.
We need to believe that freedom from our sins and the offenses and hurts of others is what God has offered us.
Then, Go! Live in Freedom.
This is such a good read
Thank you so much.
I’m gonna share it big time.