We're Not Really Good At Christian Freedom
Christian freedom is a wild idea, so wild that we, as Christians, are mostly pretty terrible at it.
When I say Christian freedom, what do I mean? Simply put, Christian freedom is the freedom, the liberty, we have through faith in Christ from the power of sin. But it's not just that we are set free from sin's control over us. We're also set free from legalism. And if that wasn't enough, the best part about it is what we're set free to. (More on this in a moment.)
I think most Christians understand the basic premise. Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and ascension made it possible for us to be released from the chains of bondage sin has over humankind. Through faith in the person and work of Jesus, believers are set free from sin’s dominion over them. Of course, sin still exists in the world, but it no longer controls us. Scripture attests to this repeatedly.
"So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." - John 8:36
"He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." - Colossians 1:13-14
"For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace." - Romans 6:14
As Christians, we get this. This concept is at the very core of the Gospel. In Christ, we are set free from sin's power. Check. But I think many of us still struggle with this next concept of Christian freedom.
In Christ, we have been set free from legalism. And lest you or I think for a second that we're not legalists, let me re-phrase the word legalism in a way that hits closer to home but still retains its meaning: performance-based approval. A legalist is someone who seeks to be seen as righteous in God's eyes by strictly keeping God's rules. The Pharisees were legalists. They had boiled down their identity as God's children to how well they could keep God's Law and the many additional rules they heaped onto the Law.
We don’t always see ourselves as legalists, but we can be guilty of being cut from the same cloth. One of the markers of our current cultural moment is the performance-based value system. We are conditioned, especially our young people, to attach our value to our performance. We are deemed worthy by our titles, our accolades, the number of followers we have, our income, our appearance, our possessions, and so on. Our performance determines our value. Many Western Christians bring this value system into their understanding of God and themselves.
Somewhere deep in our hearts, many of us believe that we must perform to earn God’s approval.
I follow the rules so that God will value me more. The only problem with this is, of course, that God doesn't work like this. At all. God sees us as valuable and worthy because Jesus purchased our value with His life. This is the literal definition of what it means to be redeemed. Colossians 1:22 says that Jesus reconciled us to God through His death on the cross “in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before [God].” And that’s it, friends. That’s the source of our value. “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21).
Does God want us to obey? Of course, He does. John 14:23–24 says that if we love God, we will obey Him. And if we don't seek to obey God, it's a sign that we don't really love Him. But our motivation counts! Legalism (and a performance-based value system) is about motivation. It's about our intent. Do you obey because, as a child of God, you love your Father and want to be like Him? Or do you obey because you think God will like you more?
Christian freedom frees us from this entire cycle. It means we are no longer under the Law to earn our righteousness. Paul says in Romans 8 that in Christ, the righteous requirements of the Law have been fulfilled on our behalf. In other words, Jesus has set you free from rule-keeping as a misguided means of earning your righteousness. You are righteous because Jesus has made you righteous.
That weight around your neck? That heavy yoke of works-based approval? Take it off. Jesus has removed it.
As good as this news is, we have to pause for a caveat. Again, we’re not great at this freedom business. We must stop here to remember that Christian freedom doesn't mean that we're free to live however we want. I can rise from the chair I sit writing this and go and sin, and God will not smite me. (Thankfully.) Why? Because Jesus paid my sin debt on the cross. That is what justification means. My status in God's eyes is holy because Jesus has made me so. However, Christian freedom does not mean I can ignore God’s rules and ways.
In Galatians 5:13, Paul addressed this directly:
"For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another."
Peter did the same thing in 1 Peter 2:16
"Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God."
As children of God, our motivation should be, as Paul says in Ephesians 5:1, to "imitate" our Father out of love for Him. Grace cannot be an excuse to sin or be flippant about sin. Jesus set us free from sin’s bondage. He set us free from the burden of legalism. But He did not set us free to set aside the call to holiness. God’s expectation, the standard, is still holiness. Period. We know this, but if we’re honest, we don’t live like it. We lean on this side of freedom too often.
So, Christian freedom means that we're set free from the power of sin over us and also set free from the burden of rule-keeping. If it ended there, that would be enough—more than enough. But there is one more aspect of Christian freedom, which is the best part. Yet, it’s the part we’re really not so great at.
The best part of Christian freedom says that we are set free by Jesus to live as God always intended: the fullness of life Jesus describes in John 10:10, what Dallas Willard calls the “eternal kind of life,” a life lived in joyful obedience, empowered by the Holy Spirit, and driven by a soul-deep appreciation for God’s great love. It is not and has never been, a freedom to do whatever we please, but a freedom to live, to REALLY LIVE, as God designed.
We must realize that sin has corrupted everything about our human existence. Not just us but the world around us. As Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13:12, the life we live on this earth is as if we’re seeing everything as a reflection in a cloudy mirror. The freedom Jesus offers us is an undoing of this distortion, in progressively expanding moments of clarity here on earth and in eventual perfection in eternity with God. That’s the Gospel message. That’s living as citizens in God’s Kingdom.
Jesus makes possible life-giving liberty. He sets us free from the bondage of sin and legalism and empowers us to live out the truest form of our identity on this earth. It is a blessed reality Paul encapsulates in Romans 6:22: "But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life."
The great paradox of Christian freedom is that we find real freedom when we indenture ourselves to God.
Freedom to love others unconditionally. Freedom to see nature and the universe for what it truly is, the handiwork of the Creator. Freedom to serve God and others with no strings attached. Freedom to explore our purpose and passions, knowing we are divinely designed for good. Freedom to search for the joy God has tucked away in each day. Freedom to obey in love, fail without shame, and strive for holiness unburdened by flawed ideas of God's value system.
Freedom from sin and legalism. Freedom to joy: the pure, uncut, undiluted kind of joy that only comes to those who have been made new in Christ.
That’s Christian freedom. And we can be better at it.
This article originally appeared in Volume 33 of my free newsletter, Good For You.
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