Staying Free

by Maurice Pujol
Published June 26, 2006

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. (Galatians 5:1)

Time and time again, we must return to this classic declaration the apostle Paul made to the believers at Galatia. In a few powerful words, this statement summarizes both the new life we receive in Jesus Christ and the means by which we can keep possession of it.

We celebrate freedom in a special way during this time of year. On July 4, 1776, the Founding Fathers signed a document that not only birthed a new nation, but also defined freedom for nations around the world in the 230 years since then. They defined a principle that has been our nation’s greatest export, “. . .that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. . .”

The source of this principle was Christianity, mixed with 18th century rationalistic philosophy. It was the Bible that established the idea that each individual is important, with a right to life and freedom.

But Paul was not talking about political freedom. He was talking about the genuine kind, the kind that frees men from the limitations of the human condition, no matter what their material situation may be. It’s the kind that comes only from a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Of course, Paul was taking it a step further with the Galatian believers. Those of Jewish descent were having trouble accepting new Gentile believers unless the Gentiles agreed to follow Jewish religious customs. On its basic level, Paul’s statement was a declaration that religious ritual could become just as insidious a form of bondage as the sin from which God’s grace had delivered them.

Paul’s message about God’s grace was that nothing we do can earn us a spot in heaven. We can’t work our way, climb our way or buy our way into God’s presence. Salvation is a free gift from God, offered to us in the perfect atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Real freedom comes when a person accepts this truth by faith and agrees to a complete turnaround in his or her life.

Staying free means allowing the Holy Spirit to complete the process started in this turnaround.

Ironically, though, many people are uncomfortable with freedom. Leaving God in control of one’s life runs counter to the human tendency to make oneself “master of my fate, the captain of my soul” (from Invictus by English poet William E. Henley). “Invictus” is the Latin word for “unconquered,” but the Bible tells us we must surrender ourselves to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in order to be free.

This means we have to overcome our tendency to control everything. We have to fight against the idea that we have to “do” something to earn God’s favor. This tendency can cause us to lose the freedom Jesus offers us, the freedom to be the people God originally designed us to be.

Salvation through Jesus Christ has nothing to do with religious rituals. Salvation causes a basic transformation within one’s being, a change of outlook, a total alteration of a person’s wants and perceived needs. Salvation frees us from being “merely” human, but everyone must struggle against that part of human nature that would have us go back to that state.

For what is the most common excuse people give for sinning? “After all, I’m only human.”

I heard an excellent illustration of what it takes to remain free in the freedom we receive through Jesus Christ. It goes like this:

“There are two dogs inside every human being, a white dog and a black dog. These two dogs are very territorial and want to take total possession of a person. They hate each other and are engaged in a constant struggle to destroy the other.

“The job of every person who walks with the Lord is to feed the white dog and to starve the black dog. Only then can we be free of the battle each individual faces every day.”

How do we feed the “white dog”? By walking in the Spirit, breathing in the Spirit and living out the new life in Christ that we accepted on the day of our salvation. Those who are saved don’t go good works to get to heaven; they do good works to share the life of Christ that’s already within them.

Those who are saved praise and worship God with others of like faith not to earn good grades on some cosmic report card but to express their complete and utter thankfulness for being delivered from the bondage of sin and its penalty, death. There are no “ritual points” to earn in true worship.

So, feed your “white dog” today. Stand firm in the freedom you have been given by Jesus Christ, and don’t go around looking for new things to weigh you down.

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