Celebrate independence!

No, not that independence...

Many in America will today celebrate independence day. It is a day of independence from tyranny and oppression, from a burden that was difficult to bear. It is an independence that was won by the deaths of many in battle. There is another independence that was won, that all (not just Americans) can celebrate, that was won not by armies, but by an individual.

That individual gave His life to set many free. As He Himself stated, “you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (John 8:32). Yes, that individual was Jesus, the only man ever to live a life completely free from sin, the only one able to be, therefore, an unblemished sacrifice to reconcile us to God. And that reconciliation brings us freedom as well.

“The truth” of which Jesus spoke was not some esoteric concept - it was Jesus Himself. As He told Thomas, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me” (John 14:6, emphasis mine). Jesus is the truth who sets us free. Free from what, you ask?

“Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin’” (John 8:34). He sets us free from sin. Jesus continued, “So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36). And it is not just sin from which Jesus frees us, it is bondage under the Mosaic law.

Jews still try to earn their freedom by obeying ceremonial laws, as well as moral laws, set out by God in the Old Testament. Jesus brought us a new covenant, one that frees from those laws, and frees us from our slavery to sin so that the moral law may be upheld without needing the letter of the law. As Paul wrote to those who receive this gift:

Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.

Romans 6:16-18

Now, you may believe that, in order to receive this gift you must first change yourself, turn your life around, perhaps even to “stop sinning.” That is not the case. God saves you where you are; until then, it is not even possible to stop sinning. To try to do so, or to tell someone who has not received Jesus to stop sinning, is akin to telling a blind man to watch where he is going. It is simply not possible.

So what must you do to receive this gift, this freedom, this independence? Jesus Christ lived a life free from sin to be an unblemished sacrifice to God. He was sacrificed by crucifixion, and His death paved the way for you to have new life. So then, “if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation” (Romans 10:9-10).

No one can do this for you. It is only your own faith that God counts as righteousness. Therefore, I will tell you as Paul told his own jailer, “believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household” (Acts 16:31). Then, when you are saved, you can work on being holy as He is holy. Remember then, He does not set you free to continue in sin. On the contrary, “For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another” (Galatians 5:13). We receive our freedom, our liberty, our independence, not to serve ourselves, but to serve one another and God.

Let us celebrate this wonderful independence which only Christ can bring!