Coffeeville First Baptist Church By Craig Baker, Pastor
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The Declaration of Independence ends with these words, “And for the support of this declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor!” History has proven time and again the old saying that freedom is not free, and most of those 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence and thousands of others who stood with them for freedom would be called to live up to that pledge for they did indeed lay down their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. Not surprisingly, the Bible has a lot to say about freedom and its price. The Apostle Paul had much to say about it in his letters to the churches. Paul knew about freedom. He had been a man of status, of wealth, of influence among his people, but he was willing to lose everything to do what God called him to do (1 Corinthians 9:19-23).
In Paul’s day people often were subjected to considerable persecution and hardship when they became Christians. This was especially true for Jews who became believers in Jesus. Jews spent their lives learning and practicing the Old Testament and Jewish religious laws as the standard and burden for having a right relationship with God. This transition from being bound to the religious law to being free from it was a huge adjustment for the Jewish believers and caused tremendous confusion and contention within the church. This happened in a lot of places as Jews accepted Jesus and became part of the church, but it was especially a problem in Galatia. Knowing the issues in the church, Paul wrote to the church in Galatia telling them, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with the yoke of bondage” (Gal. 5:1). The bondage Paul told them they were free of is the bondage of the Jewish religious law. They were no longer under the law but had freedom from it through Jesus. Even with men such as Paul teaching them, this newfound freedom in Jesus was still hard to understand. Remember, the Jews grew up having their religious law engrained in them. Their entire lives and system of society revolved around their religious practices. Paul told the church they were free from religious laws, but then there were Jewish leaders in the church saying the Jewish believers must still follow the religious law.
Part of the reason for this was that the Jews saw themselves as superior to Gentiles, especially when it came to their religion and relationship with God. In many cases Jews did not even associate with Gentiles. This was a problem because the church was made up of Jews and Gentiles, and as Paul wrote in Galatians 3 and Romans 10, there is neither Jew nor Gentile in the church. We are all equal and one in Jesus. Some Jews did not like the idea that the Gentiles could suddenly be religiously equal to them, so the Jews tried to use their knowledge and practice of their religious law to regain their perceived religious authority and gain control over the church. They tried to convince the church that faith was not enough to be saved, more had to be done than just believing. People had to do things the Jewish way, and the Jewish way said that salvation required following their religious law. This pull between the bondage of the law and freedom in Jesus was such an issue that Paul tells us in Galatians 2 that even Peter and Barnabas would separate themselves from the Gentile believers and practice the Jewish religious law when Jews from the church in Jerusalem came to visit them at the church in Antioch. This was something Paul says he confronted them about.
When we hear all this, our immediate thought may be, “Well, we don’t have that problem today,” but the fact is we do have that problem. Such happens all the time today. It has just gotten a lot more complicated than following Jewish laws and customs. We have come up with the prosperity gospel, the progressive or liberal gospel, the legalistic gospel, the works gospel, the lgbtq+ gospel, and the list goes on. We add to and take away from the gospel until it is what we want it to be.
To make matter worse in the church, on the other extreme there were some in Galatia who took Paul’s teaching on Christian freedom to mean they did not have to obey God at all. They could claim faith in Jesus, be part of the church, and keep on living how they had always lived. There did not have to be any repentance or conviction of sin in their lives. The Bible teaches that our faith in Jesus covers all our sins, so what do a lot of us do? Like those Gentiles, some take that to mean we can say we are saved but still live however we want with no true repentance or conviction of sin in our lives. When it comes to people believing like that, the modern church has not done itself any favors for we have failed to teach people what Jesus meant when He said, “Take up your cross and follow me.” Christian freedom is not a free pass to do whatever we want. Surrendering our lives to Jesus frees and empowers us not to be who we want to be, but to be who God wants us to be, to love our neighbor as ourselves, to support and encourage one another, to give up our own comforts and securities to share the love of Jesus with others. To be sure the church at Galatia, and you and I understand this Paul wrote in Galatians 5:13-15, “For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!” Do you think Jesus died on the cross for us, so we can keep living an immoral and sinful life? Of course not. Our freedom, our salvation, is not a free ticket to do whatever we want. It comes with great responsibility.
As it is said, freedom certainly is not free. As we celebrate the freedoms we have in this country, let us remember that while our physical freedom may have been won through the efforts and sacrifices of men, our true freedom, eternal freedom, comes only through our faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior.
Unfortunately, there are many who are like the spy I read of who was captured and sentenced to death. The general who captured the spy had a practice of giving condemned criminals a choice between the firing squad or going through a big, ominous looking door. When it came time for his execution, the spy was given the choice. “The firing squad or the door,” asked the general.
The spy hesitated a while before choosing the firing squad. Moments later, shots rang out confirming his execution. With the deed done, the general’s new assistant said, “I’m curious. What is behind the door?” “Freedom,” replied the general, “It’s freedom, but I’ve only known a few brave enough to take it.”
Jesus offers us freedom from sin and the liberty to be who God has called us to be. It is life-changing freedom. The question is, “Are you brave enough to choose it?”
The Declaration of Independence ends with these words, “And for the support of this declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor!” History has proven time and again the old saying that freedom is not free, and most of those 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence and thousands of others who stood with them for freedom would be called to live up to that pledge for they did indeed lay down their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. Not surprisingly, the Bible has a lot to say about freedom and its price.
The Apostle Paul had much to say about it in his letters to the churches. Paul knew about freedom. He had been a man of status, of wealth, of influence among his people, but he was willing to lose everything to do what God called him to do (1 Corinthians 9:19-23).
In Paul’s day people often were subjected to considerable persecution and hardship when they became Christians. This was especially true for Jews who became believers in Jesus. Jews spent their lives learning and practicing the Old Testament and Jewish religious laws as the standard and burden for having a right relationship with God. This transition from being bound to the religious law to being free from it was a huge adjustment for the Jewish believers and caused tremendous confusion and contention within the church. This happened in a lot of places as Jews accepted Jesus and became part of the church, but it was especially a problem in Galatia. Knowing the issues in the church, Paul wrote to the church in Galatia telling them, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with the yoke of bondage” (Gal. 5:1). The bondage Paul told them they were free of is the bondage of the Jewish religious law. They were no longer under the law but had freedom from it through Jesus. Even with men such as Paul teaching them, this newfound freedom in Jesus was still hard to understand. Remember, the Jews grew up having their religious law engrained in them. Their entire lives and system of society revolved around their religious practices. Paul told the church they were free from religious laws, but then there were Jewish leaders in the church saying the Jewish believers must still follow the religious law.
Part of the reason for this was that the Jews saw themselves as superior to Gentiles, especially when it came to their religion and relationship with God. In many cases Jews did not even associate with Gentiles. This was a problem because the church was made up of Jews and Gentiles, and as Paul wrote in Galatians 3 and Romans 10, there is neither Jew nor Gentile in the church. We are all equal and one in Jesus. Some Jews did not like the idea that the Gentiles could suddenly be religiously equal to them, so the Jews tried to use their knowledge and practice of their religious law to regain their perceived religious authority and gain control over the church. They tried to convince the church that faith was not enough to be saved, more had to be done than just believing. People had to do things the Jewish way, and the Jewish way said that salvation required following their religious law. This pull between the bondage of the law and freedom in Jesus was such an issue that Paul tells us in Galatians 2 that even Peter and Barnabas would separate themselves from the Gentile believers and practice the Jewish religious law when Jews from the church in Jerusalem came to visit them at the church in Antioch. This was something Paul says he confronted them about.
When we hear all this, our immediate thought may be, “Well, we don’t have that problem today,” but the fact is we do have that problem. Such happens all the time today. It has just gotten a lot more complicated than following Jewish laws and customs. We have come up with the prosperity gospel, the progressive or liberal gospel, the legalistic gospel, the works gospel, the lgbtq+ gospel, and the list goes on. We add to and take away from the gospel until it is what we want it to be.
To make matter worse in the church, on the other extreme there were some in Galatia who took Paul’s teaching on Christian freedom to mean they did not have to obey God at all. They could claim faith in Jesus, be part of the church, and keep on living how they had always lived. There did not have to be any repentance or conviction of sin in their lives. The Bible teaches that our faith in Jesus covers all our sins, so what do a lot of us do? Like those Gentiles, some take that to mean we can say we are saved but still live however we want with no true repentance or conviction of sin in our lives. When it comes to people believing like that, the modern church has not done itself any favors for we have failed to teach people what Jesus meant when He said, “Take up your cross and follow me.” Christian freedom is not a free pass to do whatever we want. Surrendering our lives to Jesus frees and empowers us not to be who we want to be, but to be who God wants us to be, to love our neighbor as ourselves, to support and encourage one another, to give up our own comforts and securities to share the love of Jesus with others. To be sure the church at Galatia, and you and I understand this Paul wrote in Galatians 5:13-15, “For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!” Do you think Jesus died on the cross for us, so we can keep living an immoral and sinful life? Of course not. Our freedom, our salvation, is not a free ticket to do whatever we want. It comes with great responsibility.
As it is said, freedom certainly is not free. As we celebrate the freedoms we have in this country, let us remember that while our physical freedom may have been won through the efforts and sacrifices of men, our true freedom, eternal freedom, comes only through our faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior.
Unfortunately, there are many who are like the spy I read of who was captured and sentenced to death. The general who captured the spy had a practice of giving condemned criminals a choice between the firing squad or going through a big, ominous looking door. When it came time for his execution, the spy was given the choice. “The firing squad or the door,” asked the general.
The spy hesitated a while before choosing the firing squad. Moments later, shots rang out confirming his execution. With the deed done, the general’s new assistant said, “I’m curious. What is behind the door?” “Freedom,” replied the general, “It’s freedom, but I’ve only known a few brave enough to take it.”
Jesus offers us freedom from sin and the liberty to be who God has called us to be. It is life-changing freedom. The question is, “Are you brave enough to choose it?”
