The freedom of the flesh quickly turns to dependency,
despair, disease, separation and loneliness. What was perceived as freedom
becomes manifest in bondage and literally traps one in his or her body, or
worse leads to eternity separated from God.
In Galatians 5:13, Paul says believers were called to
freedom. We who are in Christ are called to be free. That freedom is manifested
in the fruit of the Spirit that is spoken of in Galatians 5:22-23. The freedom
the believer possesses manifests itself by the power of the Holy Spirit who
resides in all who accept the message of Christ.
A rock singer of the 1960’s named Janis Joplin sang,
"Freedom’s just another word for nothin’ left to lose." That is the
typical cynicism of the world. Freedom is not understood because it is looked
at through fleshly eyes; eyes that only see freedom as something that is
granted by men for our own fleshly desires. Quite the contrary, freedom is another
word for everything to gain.
Twenty-first century America equates freedom with the
ability and opportunity to possess the good life. However, it is much more than
that. It is the opportunity to obtain freedom from the trappings of the world
around us and embrace the world of eternal life offered through faith in the
only one who can make such an offer; Jesus Christ. Christ is the only one
authorized to give freedom.
Freedom must be defined by more than circumstances or
surroundings in which one finds him or herself. It must encompass more than
what a person knows as reality of the moment. It must be a state of mind. It
must be how one can see their surroundings in the future. Otherwise, no one
would venture out of the present situation he or she resides in.
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