Freedom from Sin – John 8:36

So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.

Freedom streams out of astounding grace, flowing from heaven’s rivers of living water, freely given by Christ, our Lord, and freely received by those who love Him.

For by grace, through His shed blood on the cross and His gift of salvation, Christ set us free, free from anything that would bind us, free from everything that would keep us from the joy set before us.  He set us free from all our sins, free from feelings of victimization that would cripple us and rob our peace, free from lusts that would poison us, free from negative emotions that would trap us in bitterness.  Christ set us free, and in Him, we are free indeed, gloriously free, because He heard our cries of desperation, and He answered us, delivering us from our bondage. [1]  He led us out of darkness into the light, and oh, how invigorating is the light as it shines upon us.

Having once smelled the hyacinths and lilacs in freedom’s garden, and therefore, being unable to endure the putrid odors that sicken those who abide in sin’s slough, we ask our Lord to give us strength to stand firm against temptation.[2]  We cannot forget that when we were sinking in the morass of our sin, Jesus clasped our hand and lifted us out of a bog of joylessness, carrying us into a field of grace.  He delivered us out of the miry clay in the pit of destruction and set our feet upon solid rock.[3]  We need no longer behave as if we were slaves forced to labor deep within a cruel jungle, thirsty and hungry, with hearts shriveled and hardened, for Christ has broken our chains, so we might walk in the Light, standing erect, shoulders back, chins up.[4]

Disciple of Jesus Christ, you are free, having gained your freedom when you set your hope on the Rock of your salvation.  Therefore, allow Him to perform His sanctifying work within you.  Reject anything that would bind you and keep you from the Light.  Walk with your head held high toward heaven.  Shun your old sin master to become a slave to righteousness,[5] and enjoy the freedom Jesus purchased to release you from slavery to sin.

Having stepped out of the marshes where sin had entrapped you onto firm ground, and having breathed the open, pure air in the place where Jesus resides, stand firm in freedom; walk in it.  Live in the sun, and the Sunrise Himself will guide and protect you, enlarging your heart, establishing your footsteps, keeping you free indeed.[6]

So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.

You brought me out of Egypt

   And unchained my enslaved heart

Leading through the wilderness

   You did not my side depart

My strength did not desert me

     For You walked with me each mile

And kept me moving straight ahead

   Though I longed to stop awhile

You burned the path behind me

   So I couldn’t turn and run

Back into the bondage

   And the battle You had won

The land was set before me

     I had merely to walk in

Possessing what You’d given

   Far behind me laid my sin

The yoke of slavery broken

  Freedom reigning still today

For You brought me out of Egypt

  And gave life along the way

[1] Psalm 81:7

[2] Galatians 5:1

[3] Psalm 40:2

[4] Leviticus 26:13

[5] Romans 6:17-19

[6] Psalm 119:32, 133