Freedom

I promised a while back that I was going to talk about freedom, and just never got around to it. Perhaps now is a good time. Especially with my new small group on royalty starting in 2 weeks! I'm ready to see "defeated daughters" released from the chains that hold them back from embracing their true identity as God's royal, chosen daughters! 

What does it mean to be free? 

The dictionary defines it as an absence of undue restrictions and an opportunity to exercise one's rights and powers. Whew, what a perfect way to sum it up! Romans 6-8 is one of my favorite passages in the NT, because Paul describes that no matter how hard he tries, he is still subject to the old sinful nature, and that it is only in the salvation of Jesus, and living in the Holy Spirit that he is liberated from his fleshly bondage. 

You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.--Romans 6:18

I keep that verse on a post-it note on my bathroom mirror. Among others, it reminds me that my freedom has already been bought. It also reminds me of my response.

Set free from sin: Theologians argue different perspectives on the ability to live a life that is free from sin. Some contend that is possible to be completely free of sin, conjuring up images of Jesus as the absolute perfect. Others promote a culture that reminds believers that they are horrible sinners that must be desperately grateful and humiliated (not humble) because of this fact. I think that both statements are extremes in some way. To be "set free" means a lot of different things: that we are no longer bound to the punishment our sin creates, that temptation is not sin, that freedom directly means submission and servitude.

Slaves to righteousness: I doubt many would argue the need to live a righteous life, seeking to do God's will and live up to the standard of holiness set forth for us. What this does NOT say, however, is that we are to be slaves to the past, slaves to our testimonies, or slaves to the ability to overcome. By holding on to those things, we negate our real freedom.

For as a man thinks within himself, so he is.--Proverbs 23:7

As I mentioned a little earlier, I'm doing a small group on royalty this spring, and one of the quotes from the book on this very subject says this:

"We are Christians; it is not our nature to do wrong. Our very nature has been changed. Now we are actually saints; righteousness is part of our new natural and it is natural for us to glorify God. Our old man is buried. We need to stop visiting our tombs and talking to our dead, old man." 

He also talks about how if we call ourselves "sinners", even redeemed sinners, we are living by faith in our own sin, which will only perpetuate itself.

You have been set free. Stop living in bondage. Stop holding on to the past. Stop letting the word "sinner" define you, because that is not who you are! You are a HOLY NATION and a ROYAL PRIESTHOOD!