Freedom in the Holy Spirit

 

Now, the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.          

2 Corinthians 3:17 

According to Webster’s Dictionary, freedom is the power or right to speak, act, and change as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving oneself one's own laws." The English word "freedom" is etymologically related to the word "friend." Philosophy and religion sometimes associate it with free will as an alternative to determinism or predestination.

The Greek word is eleuthería, and it is translated as freedom, generosity, or independence. Freedom is presented as a signal blessing of the economy of grace, which, in contrast with the Old Testament economy, is represented as including independence from religious regulations and legal restrictions; it is freedom from the yoke of the Mosaic Law, from the yoke of observances in general, from the dominion of sinful appetites and passions, from a state of calamity and death. In contrast with the present subjection of the creature to the bondage of corruption, freedom represents the future state of the children of God.

In the above passage, Paul returns to the more familiar language. To turn to the Lord, who is Spirit, is to turn to the Holy Spirit, which is His, referred to as the Spirit of Christ (Romans 8:9, 1 Peter 1:11), and whom He gives. And he assumes, almost as an axiom of the spiritual life, that the presence of that Spirit gives freedom, as contrasted with the bondage of the letter, freedom from slavish fear, freedom from the guilt and burden of sin, freedom from the curse of the Law.

Redeemed From the Curse 

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, "CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE"— in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Galatians 3:13-14

Jesus fulfilled the Law of Moses to deliver each believer from its curse. This is a strong declaration of substitutionary redemption whereby Christ took the penalty of all guilty lawbreakers on Himself. Thus, the curse of the Law was transferred from sinners to Christ, the sinless One, and Christ delivered people from it. The confirming quotation from Deuteronomy 21:22-23 refers to the fact that in Old Testament times, criminals were executed and then displayed on a stake or post to show God's divine rejection. When Christ was crucified, it was evidence that He had come under the curse of God. The manner of His death was a significant obstacle to faith for Jews until they realized the curse He bore was for them. Believing in the promises of God as Abraham did becomes the avenue into freedom and the spiritual life, defined by the Holy Spirit for Gentiles and Jews alike.

This is allegorically speaking, for these women are two covenants: one proceeding from Mount Sinai bearing children who are to be slaves; she is Hagar. Now, this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother. For it is written, "REJOICE, BARREN WOMAN WHO DOES NOT BEAR; BREAK FORTH AND SHOUT, YOU WHO ARE NOT IN LABOR; FOR MORE NUMEROUS ARE THE CHILDREN OF THE DESOLATE THAN OF THE ONE WHO HAS A HUSBAND." And you brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise.            Galatians 4:24-28

The apostle pointed to two covenants. One, the Mosaic, had its origin at Mount Sinai. Those under this legal covenant were slaves. As Hagar, a slave, brought forth a slave, so does the Law of Moses. The Abrahamic Covenant, a gracious system represented by Sarah, brought forth children who are free. Next, Paul pointed to two Jerusalems. Hagar also stood for the first-century city of Jerusalem, a city enslaved to Rome and in slavery to the Law. On the other hand, Sarah corresponds to the Jerusalem above, the mother of all the children of grace, also speaking of the new covenant, one based on better promises. Both the Abrahamic and new covenants are free from performance to qualify, founded on faith alone, by God’s grace. These covenants produce followers more numerous than those of the old covenant. 

Faith Working Through Love 

It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore, keep standing firm [steko – persevere, be steadfast] and do not be subject again to the yoke of slavery. Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you. And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole Law. You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. For we, through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything but faith working through love.                Galatians 5:1-6

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. For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF."       Galatians 5:13-14

Paul takes the conversation further in Galatians 5, discussing that freedom from slavery to the Law of Moses produces steadfastness in the faith and not being severed from Christ and fallen from grace. The power and ability of the Holy Spirit keep the believer in a state of waiting eagerly for the consummation of God’s righteousness, that is, his glorification. 

The evidence of a fulfilled faith “in Christ” is agape love, faith that exposes its existence by love for God and benevolence to people. It is not just an intellectual belief but is that which reaches the heart and influences the affections. A living faith is operative and manifests itself in Christian kindness and affection. When the believer receives or accepts God’s personal love, he is transformed. True faith is seen in benevolence, love for God, love for all who bear the Christian name, and readiness to do good to all mankind. The essence of faith is trust; when the believer finds God’s love to be real, he trusts the one who loves him. Tyndale renders Galatians 5:6, "Faith, which by love is mighty in operation." Man’s intended response to God’s love is the freedom to love God and others.

Freed From Sin

For if [since] we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this [ginosko – perceive, coming to know], that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.                  Romans 6:5-7 

For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. Therefore, what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death. But now, having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification and the outcome of eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.           Romans 6:20-23

In the above passages, Paul presents the truth that the unregenerated man is a slave to sin and, therefore, free in regard to righteousness. Freedom from sin is both positional and experiential; the challenge is for one’s position to become his experience, his mindset. When the believer dies to self, he transfers his trust from himself to the work of Christ on the cross. A believer's old self is the person as he was before he trusted Christ when he was still under sin, powerless and ungodly, a sinner, and an enemy of God. The old self was crucified with Christ so that the body of sin might be rendered powerless. It means that one's physical body is controlled or ruled by the sinful nature. This was the condition of each believer before his conversion. But now, at salvation, the power of controlling sin is broken; it is ineffective or nullified.

Responding to the gospel by faith and accepting Jesus Christ reverses things completely for an individual. He is now set free from sin and has been enslaved to God with the result that he is now being sanctified (made holy). The sinful life gives no benefit, but salvation gives the freedom of a holy, clean life. Whereas the outcome of sin is death, the result of salvation is eternal life. The wages (opsonia originally meant a soldier's pay) of sin is death eternally. This death is eternal separation from God, in which unbelievers suffer conscious torment forever. These are the wages they have earned and deserve because they have refused Christ’s offering. By contrast, the free gift (not earned) of God is eternal life. Enslaved to God is the direct result of a personal recognition that Christ’s work is sufficient for the believer and his identity is now “in Christ.” He chooses a life of sanctification, set apart from the world for the purposes of God. Enslaved to righteousness represents total freedom from self. 

The Truth Makes You 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." They answered Him, "We are Abraham's descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, 'You will become free'?" Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. So, if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.                   John 8:31-36

Jesus tells His believers that to be His disciples, they must continue in My word so that they know the truth, and the truth will make you free. The above interaction ties the freedom of the truth to the freedom of the true believer in Christ from his slavery to sin. I shall run the way of Your commandments, for You will enlarge my heart (Psalm 119:32). Walking in the truth of the Word of God delivers the believer from the power of the sin nature and his personal desires to an enlarged place, a place of freedom. Your word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against You (Psalm 119:11). 

For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face [face of his birth] in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently [more closely] at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.                 James 1:23-25

For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.                Hebrews 4:12-13 

James is comparing the one who only listens to the Word of God without internalizing it to the man who only glances at himself in the mirror without paying much attention to what he sees. Many sincere believers read the Bible casually, without understanding that it has a spiritual purpose, to divide or segregate the natural from the spiritual (soul versus spirit) and judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Unless the believer looks closely at the perfect law, the law of liberty, the good news of the gospel that provides liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners (Isaiah 61:1, he will not find the deliverance the Word of God provides. It has to do with accepting it not as the word of men but for what it really is: the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe (1 Thessalonians 2:13). The spiritual man acts on the Word of God as the Holy Spirit directs him.