Free Indeed

 "If the Son has set you free, then you are free indeed!" So Jesus tells us. Hallelujah and amen.

But what does he mean by "free"?

Not free from troubles and trials. He makes that quite clear later in the same gospel. "In this life, you will have many trials." Many of them.

Free from condemnation, yes -- and hallelujah for that. "There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus," Paul tells us in Romans 8, one of the greatest chapters in the Bible. When we are in Christ, we are deemed no longer guilty. Amazing grace there, people -- because Lord knows, not a one of us deserves that acquittal. 

But too often, we take advantage of this grace. Case in point: me and sugar. I've discussed my sugar addiction here; it's been a life-long struggle. But these last couple months, with all the stress of my school moving to a new location -- and an added admin role I've taken on at the same time -- and the loss of sleep resulting from both . . . sugar has become my refuge. When I come home exhausted or frustrated or desperate for a break from the responsibilities I feel piled on me, I pour myself a bowl of chocolate chips. And then another. And sometimes even another on a really bad night.

And I KNOW I shouldn't. I know that the sweets really don't make anything better . . . in fact, they probably ultimately make it all worse. But in that moment, I feel better, and so I justify it. God knows where I'm at, right? He understands. He loves me anyway because he's a good and loving Father who forgives all my sin. Hallelujah and amen.

But that's when I have to come back to this promise of freedom that Jesus gives me and remember that what he's talking about here is not about freedom from condemnation. Here's the context, friends: 

    "Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." (John 8:34-36)

Did you catch that? He is setting us free from SIN. He's making us no longer a slave to SIN. Not just to the resulting condemnation of sin, but to the slavery of sin itself, the power and control that sin has over us.

Now, if you're like me, you gotta wonder at that one because I am so absolutely still sinful. And I know I will be sinful until the day I die. 

But the point is, we have been given the means of fighting that sin if we choose to use it. The door to the jail cell has been opened. We can choose to walk out and walk free. We just don't wanna.

And sometimes we do want to, but our transformed desires are still housed in weak bodies. My system is now used to a certain level of sugar and rebels when that changes. We create mental and physiological ruts when we run our lives over the same sinful paths again and again, and our brains and bodies have a hard time driving a different route.

But if the Son has set you free, he intends for you to drive the new, hard paths and feel the strain and pain and discomfort and do the right thing anyway -- because he has provided the means for you to do so: his indwelling Spirit. I truly don't think the church teaches enough about the Spirit. The idea that the God of the universe chooses to take up residence within me is beyond comprehension. 

And we are so rarely taught how to live in the power of the Spirit. I mean, even those of you who have experienced this kind of living -- could you explain it? Can you tell someone how to make that happen for themselves? I have yet to hear an explanation that I find satisfying.

But that's probably intentional. If we had a four-step process to get there, we'd be relying on the process and not on the Spirit. We'd trust in our efforts and not in our Savior. We'd be seeking answers and not a relationship.

Because it's all about the relationship, friends. The God of the universe dwells within us because he wants a relationship with us. A relationship that makes us free indeed. Even free from the sweets.

Hallelujah and amen.