Freedom in Christ is a popular christian phrase but what does it actually mean? John 8 verse 36
says this, So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. In John, Jesus had been addressing
a group of jews who had just started believing in him. People who had come from a place where
freedom had to be earned through offerings and deeds. The idea of being set free just because
was quite foreign. But Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice, and like the Jews, many still struggle with
this truth.
Before Jesus came, we were slaves to sin, but his death and resurrection set us free from sin. The
enemy knows he cannot keep us captive to sin anymore so he tricks us with lies that we are still
slaves. Guilt and shame are the devil’s most powerful tools to hold us hostage. Romans 8:1 says
there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, this means because we are now
saved, we get to have a clean slate. We get to live a life free from condemnation. All the power
sin had over us was taken away on the cross. Jesus Christ gave us the licence to live a life free
from shame and guilt. The enemy knows this so he tries to convince us with lies that we are not
worthy, that we should stay in a place of shame. Whatever you have done, there is now no
condemnation for you because you are in Christ Jesus.
Another tool that the enemy uses to hold us captive is pride. Pride doesn’t always look like what
it is and that is why it is so easy to fall into it. Grace is a gift that we have but we do not deserve
it and can never do anything to earn it. So when we try to do works, serving in church, giving to
charity for the purpose of paying God back for his forgiveness and grace, its pride and we have
fallen for another of the enemies tricks. We get to serve, we get to give, we get to live a life free
from sin because of a grace that was given to us for free, we are privileged with Grace.
So what then does freedom in Christ mean? I love how it was put in Colossians 2 verse 13 -15 ;
You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then
God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the
charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. In this way, he disarmed the
spiritual rulers and authorities.
Grace is a wonderful gift that allows us to live a life of freedom in Christ. This does not mean we
should deliberately sin for grace to be at work because that gives sin its power again. I love how
Paul puts it in Romans 6; Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more
and more of his wonderful grace? Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue
to live in it?
May we live a life of freedom in Christ, may we enjoy our privilege of Grace and may we never
give sin its power back.
By Josephine Sakala
