Today we remember those who were willing to give their lives
for the United States of America in order to protect our freedom. We are thankful
to them and appreciate their sacrifice and willingness to lay their life on the
line so that we could enjoy freedom. In light of this political freedom, we
would do well to remember another who willingly laid down the life of His Son
for our spiritual freedom. For freedom is never free, but paid with a high
price.
Yet because of what Jesus Christ did on the cross, we can
enjoy freedom from the tyranny of sin and its demands. It is as much as a
captor as any flesh and blood enemy. It keeps us tied to deception, into
thinking we have to do something to earn our freedom, though we are helpless to
set ourselves free.
We are born into sin. Just watch any t
wo year old for a few
hours and fireworks will soon erupt over something they want to go their way. Why
re they like that? Because of their inheritance of the sin nature. As surely as
we inherit brown or blue eyes, we inherit this nature of sin, whether you believe
this or not. It exists.
We struggle to be set free from it. We do things that we
think make us good or acceptable to God. Yet really all we need to do is accept
the sacrifice of His Son. If we place our lives in His hands and believe in
Him, all our sins will be washed away. We might think ourselves as sinners, but
any selfishly motivated action is sin. Anything that lifts ourselves above God
or replaces God in our lives, and idol, is sin. Not a popular notion in today's
culture, but nevertheless, true.
However, the remedy is really quite simple, but at the same
time profound. We hand over this huge debt we inherited, the sin nature, and
Jesus, who paid the price for us, takes
it from us. This is the Good News of the Gospel. We exchange our sin for
freedom! That's a freedom that will last not only in our earthly lifetime, but
into eternity!
How does this divine exchange occur? The Word of God tells
us to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and we shall be saved, saved from our
sin nature and from condemnation. Yet our belief must be married to faith
because belief in itself is not enough. The Bible tells us that even the demons
believe and tremble. They know Jesus Christ exists but they don't act on this belief.
Faith requires action. The action of getting the belief from
your mind to your heart. This is true in many instances. I can believe I can
lose weight, but until I act on it, start making good food choices, I won't lose
weight. So what must we do to enjoy spiritual freedom? Accept the sacrifice of
God's Son, Jesus Christ, on the cross. We don't need to do anything in the physical
realm, but accept, believe and have faith. That will start us on our spiritual
journey to find true freedom.
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