True Freedom

To be free, you must first surrender.

Photo by Raphael Nast on Unsplash

Each of us is born with free will. That means we can choose for ourselves what we will do in life. It started in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. God created them and gave them free choice.

They had everything they would ever need. They had all the food they could want. But God told them not to eat the fruit from a single tree. To have free choice, there must be an option that is forbidden.

Only that one thing was off-limits for them. However, they chose to disobey God and ate from the tree they were supposed to avoid, which was the beginning of sin.

Was it the fruit that gave them the knowledge of good and evil, or was it the act of eating that which was forbidden that opened the door for them to experience evil for the first time?

They already knew what was good. They walked with God Himself, who is the definition of good. Everything He created, He called good. They lived in that creation. They saw it every single day.

What they didn’t know before their disobedience was evil. Before sin, evil didn’t exist in their lives. After they sinned, things deteriorated. It was then that they knew shame. It was after that choice that they saw sickness and death for the first time. Even thorns that could hurt them didn’t exist in their garden before sin, but thorns took over their world afterward.

Because of their sin, an animal that Adam had named, and they had taken care of, had to be sacrificed to cover their nakedness. From then on, blood had to be spilled to cover their sin, although it was temporary. It had to be a sacrifice of something they cared about.

After the first sin, selfishness grew within people. They became slaves of their own sinful choices. And each generation after them continued to be shackled to sin.

How often do we seek the things that we know are wrong for us? Blessed beyond measure, we have so much, and yet the forbidden is attractive, just as it was to Adam and Eve. Sin sinks its teeth into the people who are unprepared to withstand the temptation. It enslaves the people who give in, binding them, and making them face dire consequences.

“Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.” John 8:34 NASB1995

But God already had a plan to set us free from sin once and for all.

Freedom requires sacrifice.

This past week, we in the United States celebrated Independence Day. We celebrated freedom. But we know that freedom took a lot of sacrifice. Much blood was spilled to give us the freedoms we enjoy today. I have the freedom to write this to you, but if I lived in some other place in the world, I may not have that freedom without facing severe punishment or even death.

Remember the animals that had to be sacrificed to cover sin temporarily? Well, Jesus became the ultimate sacrifice for our sin. It was God’s plan to save us once and for all. His blood covered us, and because He was the perfect sacrifice, we need no other. But one thing is required of us to live in the freedom He gives.

To be free, you must first surrender.

It sounds like a contradiction. If you surrender, how can you be free?

Surrendering in the middle of a battle was giving up. Waiving the white flag meant defeat. It meant possible slavery or even execution. Any resistance you had left shattered after the surrender. It was complete vulnerability to your enemy.

But it’s what we need to bring to Jesus. He is not our enemy. He doesn’t enslave us against our will. With Him, we have freedom of choice.

We are all slaves to something. We need to trade being a slave to sin for being a slave to Christ, which gives us power over sin. Slavery to Him is not oppression. It does not lead to death as sin does. It is freedom, power, and life everlasting.

“Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.” Romans 6:16-18 NASB1995

We must ask ourselves this question: would we repent of sin even if there were no punishment? If we truly are repentant, we would repent out of love for God, not because we were afraid of the consequences of sin.

In the moment, sin may bring pleasure, but it never gives lasting joy. It hurts us. It controls us when we allow it to stay in our lives. But because of Jesus, our chains are broken. Sin no longer has that hold over us.

He gave us His all to save us. What He asks for in return is our all. He wants our sacrifice of our first and best of everything — our money, our time, and even our thoughts. He deserves it all — our worship and our full surrender to Him.

Using our free will to surrender our lives to Jesus will yield freedom unlike any other, with eternal life and boundless joy.

How do we surrender?

We must humble ourselves. We have to see God for who He is and submit to His authority.

“Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” James 4:7-8 NASB1995

We must trust the Lord. Seek His will for your life. Listen to the Holy Spirit’s conviction when you are on the wrong path.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart

And do not lean on your own understanding.

In all your ways acknowledge Him,

And He will make your paths straight.

Do not be wise in your own eyes;

Fear the Lord and turn away from evil.

It will be healing to your body

And refreshment to your bones.”

Proverbs 3:5-8 NASB1995

We must live in freedom by the Spirit. Freedom in Christ did not open the door for us to sin freely. It broke sin’s hold over us. The Holy Spirit grows His fruit within us, and we can have self-control and power over every temptation that comes our way.

“It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5:1 NASB1995

“For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” Galatians 5:13 NASB1995

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” Galatians 5:22-25 NASB1995

Truth sets people free.

“So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, ‘If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.’ ” John 8:31-32 NASB1995

Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Live in His love, follow Him in all you do, and you will be truly free.

“So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” John 8:36 NASB1995

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Check out my poem, “Freedom’s Path” on page 14 in Anchored Magazine!

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