Freedom ... From? To? For?

Freedom From, To, For? Galatians 5:1 - 23, ESV:

This patriotic weekend, we will be celebrating the country's 235th birthday. I have often thought about my freedom as an American. Am I truly free? I know I am truly free to live the way I want, but I am not free to choose the consequences. I know I am free to run in the street and play baseball, but I am not free from the consequences of having to fight off the traffic, and the constant interruption of the games. I can choose to go to the park to play, and enjoy uninterrupted baseball. I am free to ride on a boat, without the assistance of a life preserver, but I am not free from the consequences of when the boat flips over. Again, Am I really free? Have I truly appreciated the freedom that I have?

My grandparents, for several generations fought in wars. My father was in the army. Unfortunately, I was not. When I was younger, my father used to take me to a fourth of July parade downtown in my hometown of Columbus, Ohio. I used to love going to those things. What I loved more than anything else was the Armed Forces Marching Bands. The Marines, the Army, the Navy and the Air Force all had their "Dress Blues" and they marched smartly in precision while playing their instruments. I never heard the music, but I watched their cadence! Then, between the groups, there were some veterans marching. These men were injured, maimed, pushing others in wheelchairs. I looked at my father, as he would stand smartly watching these men, with his right hand over his heart. I could see a tear, or two. I looked back at these men, and I remember thinking, "What's so special about these guys?" It wasn't until years later, my father explained to me that these men who were maimed, etc., had given their lives so that we would be free, and live free. Then he said something that I will never forget" "Rickey, whenever you violate a law, you are slapping those men in the face! Don't ever let me catch you slapping these men!"

Of course, I was a young kid, then, and not an expert at analyzing the analogies of adulthood. But I had learned through the years what my father meant: "If you want to thank these men for the fight they gave to protect your freedom, live in freedom - not in captivity."

The entire fifth chapter of Galatians captures the entire focus of the Christian life. Here, in this specific chapter, we see the experience of Salvation, and the resulting expression of that salvation experience. They were saved from condemnation and brought into a relationship with the Father through Jesus to live in the freedom the Spirit as He has intended for us to live from the beginning - expressing our joy through the Fruit of Love.

Not only that, Paul also warns us that if we try to achieve salvation by a specific work of man (circumcision, for example) then we nullify the cross of it's very value. Once we complete the act of the law, then we must fulfill every obligation of the law - which brings certain failure. He says that if we want to be justified from Christ, but instead seek to justify ourselves by following the law, then we are severed from Christ. What are we free from? We are free from the demands of the requirements of the law, and the certain failure from not fulfilling the law. What are we free to? We are free to Love Christ and to love our fellow man. We were not set free to satisfy our flesh, but to live in the power of the Spirit!

But there is another aspect of the question: What are we free for? We are free to live out the life that God had intended for us to live from the beginning of time: To walk in the Spirit, to walk by the Spirit and to walk for the purpose of loving our neighbor, for the purpose of loving the father, and for the purpose of being a light on a hill, thereby giving hope to our city in times of darkness. However, let it be said that we are not free for ourselves, as we have been redeemed. The Apostle Paul reminds us that our redemption has set us free, but we do not own our bodies. We were purchased with a price.

Are you prospering in the power of the Spirit? Or are you floundering in the failures of the flesh? Are you enjoying the freedom that was given for you on the Cross of Calvary? Or are you, as my father would impress upon me, insisting to live in captivity to sin by "slapping the Lord in the face all the while He is on the cross?"

My challenge to you this weekend, "Learn to Live Free in the Freedom of His Grace (Not in the Requirements of the Law) Because He died for you!"

I thank you, my American Veterans, who have given your life for the pursuit of freedom and protection. I thank you, my members of the Emergency forces (Police, Fire, and Emergency Medical Workers) for diligently to provide protection so that I might enjoy the fruits of freedom in my community. And I thank you dear Lord, my blessed Savior, Redeemer and Friend, for giving your life for me in order that I might enjoy living in the fruit of the Spirit, and not struggling with the fruit of the flesh.

As the Gaither's have so eloquently proclaimed, "Let Freedom Ring!"

Happy Fourth of July Living!

Sincerely Yours,

Dr. Rick McClain, Pastor

Heritage Church of the Nazarene