Having just celebrated the Fourth of July or Independence Day we realize we live in the land of the free. When our founding fathers declared independence from Britain they were free from Britain’s rule. However, they knew they weren’t free to just run rampant or they would be in a bigger mess than they were before their independence.
As a country built on freedom we know certain limitations need to be enforced for everyone’s benefit. For example, we don’t want people to use their freedom to deliberately hurt others. We don’t want to give people the freedom to abuse others, commit murder, steal, or rape. We don’t want pedophiles touching our children. We don’t want public school teachers feeling free to teach every new age theory that comes along. We hate getting speeding tickets, but we sort of like having those speed limits, traffic lights, and stop signs. We trust ourselves not to misuse our freedom, but we aren’t so sure about the other guy!
Newfound freedom can be a heady experience. I often think of new college students. Some have not learned how to handle freedom by the time they move far away from home for the first time. Without mom and dad’s watchful eye they sometimes consume massive amounts of alcohol and focus on partying instead of education. They become prey to credit card companies eager to issue them new credit cards so they can charge, charge, charge their lives away! It takes a while for them to learn that they are only hurting themselves. The smart ones eventually decide to use their freedom wisely.
In Galatians five Paul speaks of a newfound freedom we have in Christ. He starts by admonishing the Galatians to “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free…” God no longer wants us to adhere to a long list of requirements to draw close to him. There is no need for circumcision or being slaves to ordinances, sacrifices, and rituals. Righteousness is no longer measured by a list of dos and don’ts. A list like that provided a certain comfort level because just following it made one feel assured of pleasing God. And one never had to think about what was right or wrong – just look at the list. That was the old covenant – a physical approach to a physical law.
The new covenant is a spiritual approach. We have access to God directly. There is no need to jump through hoops to get his attention. He walks with us and talks with us. However, even though Paul reminds us to stand fast in this newfound freedom and not be tempted to go back to our list of dos and don’ts, he cautions us to use it wisely – the way God intended. We are told not to pursue works of the flesh such as “adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, murders, drunkenness, etc…” Rather we are encouraged to walk in the spirit of “joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance” and so on.
So freedom in Christ does not give one license to do evil. Just like freedom in America does not give one license to harm others. If anything, it should fill us with a sense of responsibility to use our freedom for the good of everyone. We do good things because we want to, not because we have to. Therein lies the real difference. Therein lies the real freedom in Christ.
