14. A Life of Freedom
14
A Life of Freedom
If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
John 8:31–32
God’s purpose for His people and His creation is freedom, what Paul calls “the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Rom. 8:21). The day will come when God’s people will have glorified bodies and live in a wonderful new environment, free from the forms of bondage that we endure in this life. But even today we may experience the freedom Christ gives us, for “if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:36).
But first we must consider the question, “What is freedom?” The usual answer is, “Freedom means being able to do whatever you want to do, or not do what you don’t want to do”—an answer that is wickedly wrong. Doing whatever you want to do or not doing what you don’t want to do is actually the worst kind of bondage and selfishness, and ultimately leads to the lowest kind of existence. Here is my definition of freedom: “Freedom is life controlled by truth and motivated by love, leading to ministry and maturity.” Pause and give that definition some thought.
Freedom Is Life . . .
Corpses, marble statues, and skeletons have no freedom because they have no life. I admired the artistry in Madame Tussaud’s Waxworks on Marylebone Road in London, but none of the wax statues spoke to me or offered to shake my hand. Unsaved people have no true freedom because they are “dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:1). Unsaved people may even be religious, but God calls their religion “dead works” because the people practicing them are spiritually dead (Heb. 6:1; 9:14). When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, He commanded, “Loose him, and let him go” (John 11:44), and they removed the malodorous grave clothes and dressed him as a living man, which he now was.
Millions of people are miserable because they have things backward. As we saw in chapter 1, eternal life is a gift that can be received only by trusting Jesus Christ. “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life, and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him” (John 3:36)—present tense, right now! British theologian P. T. Forsyth said it right: “The first duty of every soul is to find not its freedom but its Master.”1
If you want to be a great athlete, you put yourself under the authority of a great coach, trust him or her, and do what they command. Great musicians, artists, writers, and leaders are made the same way: find the right master and follow. The greatest Master of all is Jesus Christ, and freedom begins with submission to Him.
Freedom Is Life Controlled by Truth . . .
Life must be controlled by truth, for if it is controlled by doubts or lies, the consequences will be painful. Jesus is truth (John 14:6), the Holy Spirit is truth (1 John 5:6), the Scriptures are truth (John 17:17), and the church is “the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15). If we allow the Spirit to teach us about Jesus from the Scriptures, and if we fellowship in love with the people of God, the truth will become a living part of us and we will walk in truth (2 John 4). God’s truth will not just inform us but it will also transform us so that we become more and more like Jesus Christ.
Many of today’s so-called intellectuals deny that there is such a thing as truth. “What is truth for you may not be truth for me,” they protest. But Moses, the prophets, Jesus, and His apostles all affirmed that God has given us His truth; and the personal experience of faithful believers down through the centuries has affirmed it. Sir Winston Churchill said, “Truth is incontrovertible. Panic may resent it; ignorance may deride it; malice may distort it; but there it is!” Indeed, there it is! “Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven” (Ps. 119:89).
When it comes to measurements, even the unbelieving “intellectuals” accept them as absolutes: feet and inches, meters and millimeters, pints and gallons, feet and miles, pounds and ounces. Without these standards, we would be living in costly confusion. Whether an astronomer is gazing through a telescope at a vast galaxy or an oncologist is peering through a microscope at a tiny blood sample, both are depending on absolutes. Episcopal bishop Phillips Brooks said, “Truth is always strong, no matter how weak it looks, and falsehood is always weak, no matter how strong it looks.”
There is a false freedom that depends on lies and leads to disaster and defeat. The apostle Peter warns us against false teachers who infiltrate churches and schools and introduce ideas that are contrary to the inspired Word of God (2 Peter 2). During more than sixty years of ministry, I have seen various ministries get infected with false doctrines, divide, weaken, and then die. Paul compared false doctrine to yeast: let a small amount get into the dough and it will spread and infect the whole lump (Luke 12:1; Gal. 5:9; 1 Cor. 5:6–8).
Freedom Is Life Controlled by Truth and Motivated by Love . . .
Wherever you find an angry person, filled with hatred, malice, and a desire for revenge, you will find a person about to go out of control and destroy that which is precious. Someone has said that anger is like an acid that does more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to the person on whom it is poured. American humorist Will Rogers warned us that people who fly into a rage usually make a bad landing. “Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; do not fret—it only causes harm” (Ps. 37:8).
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love” (Gal. 5:22). I used to tell my ministerial students that 1 Corinthians 13 was not written to be read at weddings or funerals but at church board meetings and congregational business meetings. There are many people who get angry when they can’t have their own way, and some of them are church members. If our hearts are filled with love from the Spirit, then we will be able to obey James 1:19–20. “Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” Unrighteous anger is a vicious weapon from the devil, and we all need the self-control that is motivated by love.
Christian love is not something that we manufacture ourselves. It is fruit that grows from our hearts as we humble ourselves, meditate on the Scriptures, pray for God’s help, and walk in the Spirit day by day. We will be tested by what people say and do, and we will be tempted to get angry; but that’s when we must look to the Lord for “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding” (Phil. 4:5–7). If we find ourselves being tempted by the same people, we must examine our hearts to see if there is something there that the Lord wants removed. We cannot have freedom from anger until we are controlled by truth, and it’s very easy for us to lie to ourselves! Meditate on 1 John 1:5–10 and Psalm 139:23–24.
Of course, our love for others is an outflow of our love for the Lord. To the Christian believer, loving others means treating them the way God treats us. Paul’s prayer for his friends in Philippi is a good example for us to follow.
And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. (Phil. 1:9–11)
Christian love is not only to abound in fullness in our lives, but it should also be to grow in knowledge and discernment. Romantic love may be blind, but Christian love is not blind. We love with our eyes wide open! We must distinguish the things that differ, for love and truth go together (Eph. 4:15). Love without truth is hypocrisy and truth without love is brutality, and we must be balanced.
Whenever we serve others, we do so not only because we love them but also because we love Jesus. Paul calls this “the affection of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:8). “Assuredly, I say unto you,” said Jesus, “inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me” (Matt. 25:40). Whenever we help Christians, we must remember that Christ dwells in them; and whenever we help unsaved people, we must remember that Christ loves them and died for them. Christ must be at the heart of our loving. Furthermore, whatever service we render must bring glory to the Lord because we want Christ to be magnified (Phil. 1:20). The microscope makes small things large and the telescope makes distant things near. Most lost people think Jesus is very small—not as important as their favorite athlete or TV star—and very far away, but when we magnify Christ in serving others, Jesus becomes big and near!
Freedom Is Life Controlled by Truth and Motivated by Love, Leading to Ministry and Maturity
We are not truly free until we put Jesus first, others next, and ourselves last. If we are not careful, even our Christian ministry can be used to glorify ourselves instead of glorifying our Father in heaven (Matt. 5:16). If people see only us but not Jesus, we have failed. If God’s servants deserve it, there is a time and place for the Lord to honor faithful service (1 Thess. 5:12–13), but we must not be constantly promoting ourselves. While driving to minister at a conference, I was listening to a preacher on a Christian radio station, but finally turned him off. He was saying very little about Jesus and very much about himself. He had forgotten the concern of John the Baptist: “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30).
Our freedom in Christ must lead to ministry that glorifies Christ. Peter tells us that we must not use our liberty as a cloak for sin, but to serve the Lord (1 Pet. 2:16). If ministry does not help produce spiritual maturity in the servant, something is wrong. Nature has determined that we grow old, but our own decisions and goals determine whether we grow up. Maturing servants of God have several characteristics, the first of which is they know themselves and accept themselves. I have had to serve with Christians who were living on illusions and not reality. They thought they had certain gifts, but they didn’t, and this error created serious problems. I learned very early in life that I had no athletic, artistic, or technical ability, but that I was a good student, a fast reader, a patient listener, and a capable speaker. I focused on my strengths, learned to live with my weaknesses—a sense of humor helps—and by the grace of God managed to find God’s will for my life.
Maturing people improve themselves. They don’t settle for a comfortable, easy place in life but accept challenges and keep growing. I knew a man who, when he was in grade school, deliberately failed the third grade because he didn’t want to go to the fourth grade and have to write with ink! I wonder how he would have handled computers! I like the attitude of Caleb: “Now therefore, give me this mountain” (Josh. 14:12). Each task we accept prepares us for the next one, if we are willing to pay the price of moving on. Give me this mountain!
With the help of the Lord, maturing people discipline themselves. They submit to authority and stick to the assignment until it’s finished. They avoid costly shortcuts and refuse to make excuses. (Evangelist Billy Sunday said that an excuse was the skin of a reason stuffed with a lie.) The worker who one day wants to give orders must first learn to take orders. That was our Lord’s philosophy of work: “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord” (Matt. 25:21). Disciplined workers go from few things to many things, from servants to rulers and from toil to joy—if they are faithful.
In short, the maturing servant becomes more and more like Jesus Christ. During His earthly ministry, He was a faithful servant, approved by the Father and filled with the Spirit. He loved those to whom He ministered. He willingly suffered, sacrificed, and died. In every way, He is the perfect example of servant, leader, and victor. As our high priest in heaven, He ministers to us, in us, and through us that He might perfect us in character and make us effective in ministry.
While working my way through the Epistle to the Hebrews, I noticed three parallel verses that taught me an important lesson about spiritual maturity: under the old covenant, the priests made nothing perfect (7:11), the law made nothing perfect (v. 19), and the sacrifices made nothing perfect (10:1). No matter how helpful preachers, teachers, and spiritual leaders may be, only Jesus can keep us in the will of God and produce maturity. No matter how many disciplines or systems of religious rules we may adopt and try to follow, they will not change us, for only the Holy Spirit can do that (2 Cor. 3:18). No matter how much we willingly sacrifice and suffer, only the grace of God can make us more like Jesus. We are not transformed by saying so many prayers, or giving so much money, or obeying so many rules, but by coming to our great High Priest at His throne of grace and worshiping Him so He can meet our needs and give us the grace that only He can bestow. The life that is free depends not on the things of this earth but on the glorious resources of heaven, what Paul called “His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:19).
Because we willingly give ourselves to Jesus Christ and obey Him, we are free.
Because we believe God’s truth and obey it, we are free.
Because we love Christ and share that love with others, we are free.
Because the Spirit enlightens and empowers us, we are free.
“Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free” (Gal. 5:1).
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1. P. T. Forsyth, Positive Preaching and Modern Mind (New York: Eaton & Mains, 1907), 28.