Third In A Series:
Reformation Christians!
It's Free! I'm
Free! Freedom Is What We Have For Christ Set Us Free!!
Turns out that it’s free!
Imagine that! With the way that prices for gas and milk and real estate are going through the roof, you’d think that the cost of life with God forever in eternal peace and joy would be a little more expensive, but it’s free!
Reformation Christians don’t take that lightly and we certainly don’t take it for granted. The most priceless treasure, a gift beyond the wildest imagination of the richest person who ever lived is given to us for free. It doesn’t make sense.
That’s why all religions besides Christianity make up rules about “do this and do that and you might have a chance someday with God.’ That makes sense.
The Reformation of the 16th century was about Martin Luther turning the Church on its ear because the foundational biblical truth, free salvation as a gift of God’s gracious mercy and love through Jesus Christ, had been compromised. Luther took the Church back to the bedrock of the Good News: we could never save ourselves or earn favor with God. We sin. It’s our nature. But God came down and saved us by offering himself on the cross as payment for our sins. Trusting in Jesus we are declared forgiven, clean, righteous, pure.
And it’s free.
The difference that makes is freedom. For free, God gives us life through Christ and that life is a life of freedom. I want to use this third of our Reformation series to give a few of my thoughts on Christian freedom. There is a “freedom from” and a “freedom to” in the Christian faith. How about freedom from first.
Freedom From
“This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Timothy 1:9-10). Freedom from death? You bet! Now that’s what I call freedom!
Our eternal life with God began on the day of our baptism, when the grace of Jesus was poured out on us. Death was destroyed for us. The moment I close my eyes for the last time is the moment I simple pass through a doorway to a whole new kind of life with God. Jesus told us that if we believe in him, we will never die (John 11:25-26). Death is a cruel task master, but cannot touch us. We’re free!
Because the gift of eternal life is freely given for Christ’s sake, and not by something we’ve done to earn or deserve it, we are also free from doubt. Have you ever felt uneasy going into a fancy restaurant, wondering if you’d have enough cash to pay for the meal? What a dreadful feeling. If we must do something to deserve God’s love, we’ll always wonder if we’ve done enough, but since God says that the gift of Jesus is enough, we never have to doubt. Our account already says, “Paid in full!” We’re free of debt and free of doubt.
And because in the Good News of Jesus the battle has already been fought and won n our behalf, we are free of fear from the attacks of the enemy, Satan. Luther’s great hymn, “A Mighty Fortress” reminds us, “Though devils all the world should fill, all eager to devour us, we tremble not, we fear no ill, they shall not overpower us. This world’s prince (Satan!) may still scowl fierce as he will, he can harm us none, he’s judged the deed is done; one little word can fell him.” What’s the little word? Jesus! (He hates that name!) God set us free for free and we’re free from the devil’s power. If trouble or disaster should come our way, we are in God’s care, in life and in death, forever.
Freedom To
When we’re called into Christ, we’re called into service and made servants, slaves, according to St. Paul. But it’s a different kind of servanthood. It’s the glad and willing servanthood of slaves whose Master is greater to us than imaginable!
My dad had a tractor and when I was younger I simple agonized over the desire to hop on and drive that thing! When I finally got big enough, you couldn’t keep me off of it. I love Sunday games at Busch Stadium because it’s “Run the Bases” day for the little children. If you jump on the field during the game, you’re subject to arrest. But on Sundays, they let the kids on the field to run the bases, just like the big leaguers.
Christ set us free to serve God. We serve God by serving others, not because we have to, but because in the mystery of his goodness, God has made us worthy of following him and serving him, of doing his own work here on earth. It’s like driving God’s own tractor, or running the bases where we were never allowed before. The freedom to serve is not a burden, but a remarkable privilege to participate in the he work of God through our own humble efforts, made holy and powerful by our faith in Christ, who works in us and through us! Knowing God’s pure grace is freedom to join in his army, his labor force.
And living as Reformation Christians who know the free gift of forgiveness means we are free to forgive.
In the old system, the way of thinking that belongs to this world, if someone hurt or harmed us in any way, we are deserving of retribution. The hurt must be made up somehow. An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth was the old way of thinking.
When we think that way, we’re not free, but enslaved by the desire for pay back. There’s no greater weight in the world than the burden of a grudge. It can paralyze and bring life and joy to a complete halt.
But in Christ, because we have been forgiven such a great debt, we have the freedom to forgive others. When we “forgive as the Lord forgave [us],” we let go of the terrible burden of being judge and executioner against all who have offended us. We are able instead to bring love and joy and peace into relationships that would otherwise be stretched and strained beyond what we could bear. Free forgiveness is the freedom to forgive!
Two more left, real quickly.
Freedom in Christ is the freedom to tell the Good News to others. If you know a great secret, about a new place to eat barbecue or a movie theater with really short lines, you might hesitate to tell others because of the risk of there not being enough to go around. Freedom in Christ has been won for everyone for Christ died to save the whole world. This mystery that was kept hidden for ages, that God was bringing the whole world to himself in the Savior is now revealed. There’s no need to let anyone go without the great Good News. We’re free to share, free to tell, free to share in the joy of others who will believe and join us forever!
And finally, freedom in Christ’s free salvation is the freedom to sing, to celebrate even in times of sadness, freedom to thank God in every circumstance, because there is no hardship that is greater than the measure of God’s goodness to us in Christ. Reformation Christians know and believe how good God has been, and so we have something to sing about. Any day. Every day.
And knowing the truth, we are free! Enjoy the freedom God has given you in your free salvation!