We Know We Are Free

“When he ascended on high he led a host of captives.” — Ephesians 4:8 ESV

Published in 1955, Milton Mayer’s nonfiction, They Thought They Were Free, explores how people in WWII-era Germany did not recognize fascism’s increasingly erosive impact on their own freedoms. His interviews with 10 working class residents exposed their tendency to compromise their own value systems and to consider themselves “free,” as long as their own personal needs were being met. History, however, shows they were not free.

Speaking to a crowd one day, Jesus said, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”¹ They had been a “friendly” crowd to this point — “the Jews who had believed him”² — but now the people took offense at Jesus. They replied, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”³ They, too, thought they were free. And they, too, were not.

For Jesus spoke not of a political freedom, but a spiritual one. Centuries prior, Isaiah foresaw Him and foretold His mission: “to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.”⁴ And indeed Jesus has. Teaching in Antioch’s synagogue, Paul declared, “Let it be known to you . . . that through this man [Jesus] forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.”⁵

Then from what shackles are we now free? What prison doors swing meaninglessly in the wind? What sentence is expunged? “We were held captive under the law,” writes Paul, “imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed.⁶ The apostle continues, “The law was our guardian until Christ came . . . But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.”⁷ Moreover, we live in Christ and He lives in us, so His death becomes our death and His resurrection is our own. “Our old self was crucified with him,” writes Paul, “so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin.”⁸ In all of this, Jesus “delivers us from the wrath to come.”⁹

We know we are free. Then what do we do? First, stay that way! Paul, to the Galatians: “Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.”¹⁰ Then return to servanthood, but this time in the release of forgiveness, the joy of liberty, and the assurance of love.

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. — John 8:36 ESV

Father, Thank You for freeing us from sin and making us Your own. We savor this. Send Your Spirit to lead us in “the obedience that comes from faith.”¹¹ In Christ we pray. Amen.

¹ John 8:31-32 ESV
² John 8:31 ESV
³ John 8:33 ESV
⁴ Isaiah 61:1 ESV
⁵ Acts 13:38-39 ESV
⁶ Galatians 3:23 ESV
⁷ Galatians 3:24-25 ESV
⁸ Romans 6:6-7 ESV
⁹ 1 Thessalonians 1:10 ESV
¹⁰ Galatians 5:1 NLT
¹¹ Romans 1:5