“Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.” Galatians 5:1
There is a liberty which belongs to the believer in Christ which is not known, or cannot be known, by the unbeliever. The Apostle Paul spoke of this liberty, a higher liberty than that which is experienced among nations, peoples, and individuals. Paul wrote of this liberty in his letter to the Corinthian believers: “Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” (2 Cor. 3:17) What is Paul saying here? When addressing the issue of liberty he begins with God, the Holy Spirit. Why? It is because God alone can set the standard and true meaning of liberty, and then has the power and authority to manifest or realize it, specifically in a life, people, or world. If we begin where Paul begins on the subject, we begin with God who is perfectly free in His goodness and mercy, to do that which He wills. Because of His elevated position as God, sovereign in power and authority, pure, good, and just in all of His ways, words, and works, He is far above the sin, sins, and sinners of this world, with all the confusion, lies, and hopelessness, …FREE to give Life, hope, truth, light and strength to the lost soul to be saved, but also to the believer in Christ, though still a sinner, in order that he also know something of the “free Spirit” of God.
In the Song of Solomon, which is in some respects a picture of the spiritual relationship of Christ with the believer, we find the “Beloved,” (Christ) portrayed as one who comes “…leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.” (2:8) And yet, this Blessed Shepherd, so accustomed to the freedom of His mission, ministry, and means to seek the lost sheep, and care for all others, is free in His Spirit to fulfill the desires of His heart, and that of the Father, to minister life to His own. He is that One whose “…head is covered with dew, (His) locks with the drops of the night.” (5:2) Never ceasing to be the perfect Shepherd, He is ever about the Father’s business to save the lost, and sanctify all that are found. His liberty is in His calling as the Son of God, and the equipping by the Spirit given by the Father, for the fulfillment of that calling. There is no resource, or means, that the Father has not put at His disposition to do this. And so it is with the believer in Christ, the Father having put him INTO Christ at the moment of the new birth, to live by the faith of the Son of God. The believer’s liberty is wrapped up in that of Christ, with regard to His mission, His ministry, and His means.
So, true liberty begins with Christ. However, it must be said that for the individual soul, if there is to be the experience of Christ’s liberty in communion and service, there must first be the experience of liberty from the bondage to sin, that “…law of sin and death.” (Rom. 8:2) The point of initial freedom for the soul comes when, according to the words of the Lord Jesus, “…You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” (Jn. 8:32) The realization of that freedom comes when God gives grace in His mercy to repent and believe. There must be the intervention of God, and there will be, for Jesus said: “If the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” (8:36) Freedom is declared by God to be His standard of living, but a freedom first of all from sin, self, Satan, and the world, in order to love God, and to serve God. It is all by the power of the Spirit of God.
The man lame from birth (Acts 3:8,9), whom Christ healed, was set at liberty from his infirmity responding to it by “walking, leaping, and praising God.”
Dear Father, Grant us Thy liberty. In Jesus’ name, Amen.