The good news Jesus brings declares both the possibility of freedom... as well as its certainty.
Unlike the freedom we celebrate as a nation every 4th of July, this freedom is more than just external liberty, as wonderful as that is.
The liberation Jesus came to give us is a soul-deep release from the grip of sin, shame, and brokenness.
Not only that… the gospel also has the power to liberate us from our broken psychology.
How often we live trapped in cycles of guilt, fear, anxiety, and people-pleasing, just to name a few.
Many are haunted by the belief than they are never enough... and never will be.
Self-help books will tell you how you can construct your way out of the kinds of tortuous beliefs and experiences stated above. Not likely.
Why? Because they fail to take into account a pivotal truth, one so pivotal in fact that we might call it the gospel truth:
Personal freedom is not achieved — it is received.
Liberty of this kind, soul-deep liberation, is “the gift of God, not of works,” as Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us.
When we surrender to Christ and turn the reins of our life over to Him, we are not “improved” — we are made new! The Savior breaks the chains we often don’t even know we’re wearing because we’ve worn them so long.
The Holy Spirit rewires our hearts and minds. He quiets our inner critic.
And glorious freedom —
He invites us to live from acceptance and not for it!
The presence of Christ within us anchors our worth, once-for-all established, and guides us into life abundant. Life liberated.
On this great day of celebration for our nation I would remind us all that a personal liberation is being offered us in Christ, right here, right now.
As A. W. Tozer put it, “All that Christ is, all that He has accomplished for us is available to us now if we obey and trust.”
Happy Independence Day!
