This Fourth of July, Celebrate Your Freedom in Christ
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”
Today let’s celebrate freedom in Christ! It’s July 4 in the United States, when we celebrate our country’s independence. I’m grateful for that, but grateful too for freedom in Christ.
Look at some of the freedoms Christ brings:
Sins forgiven
Place in the family of God
Perfect in God’s sight
Filled with the Holy Spirit
No barriers between us and the Heavenly Father
Ushered into the life of Christ
Given every spiritual blessing and inheritance
Given gifts of the Spirit and growing fruit of the Spirit
Seated with Christ in heavenly places
Set apart for good works as a response not a qualification
Freedom from condemnation
This is an incredible list and there’s even more! But having freedoms doesn’t mean always living in freedom.
The Apostle Paul writes in Galatians 5:1:
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”
The slavery he is talking about is slavery to the Law. How easy it is to become slaves again after being set free.
Advice from Ben
I scan the newspaper headlines and one pops at me. I read the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article about Three-time Super Bowl Winning Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
He spoke for a Christian men’s conference (via video) and talked about his struggles with alcohol and pornography, then went on to say:
“You can get out of it because of the grace of God and him saying, ‘Listen, you’re good enough for me the way you are. You don’t have to be perfect.’”
Powerful words: You don’t have to be perfect. You’re good enough for me just the way you are. You’re good enough because of Christ.
Quarterback Ben reminds me of a question I asked friends of mine: “What do you find yourself doing to make yourself ‘more acceptable’ to God? If the Gospel is salvation by Jesus alone, what is your “Jesus plus?”
Jesus Plus
I hear from 20 of them, some of their responses:
Jesus + my piety seen by others
Jesus + my good performance
Jesus + having the right beliefs
Jesus + payment for my failures
Jesus + me fixing myself
A tinge of sadness hits me for my friends—what a burden for them to carry, when the cross that Jesus carried was enough.
Exhausting to maintain high piety as seen by others
Exhausting to always perform well
Exhausting to believe the right things
Exhausting to pay for your failures
Exhausting to fix yourself
And even exhausting for Strapping Superbowl Ben, whose Jesus plus may be “being perfect.”
Earning in the Early Church
But this tendency to “earn rather than receive” isn’t a new phenomenon. It’s why the Apostle Paul wrote so strongly to the Galatians:
Christ paid it all
they could never observe all the points of the Law
the Law could not save them
The Apostle Paul was trying to return them to the Gospel. The Law or piety or performance or approval cannot save us either. Quarterback Ben is right—we’re good enough because Christ was good enough for us.