Jen Jabbour
What Is Freedom in Christ and How Do I Obtain It?
Freedom means you have a choice. It means you are no longer restrained or controlled by the thing that once held you back.
All of us are born as slaves to sin (Psalm 51:5). Our sin nature separates us from God’s love and His freeing power of the Holy Spirit. The moment you decide to place your trust in God and follow Him is when sin loses the power to control you (Romans 6:6).
Freedom in Christ means that you are no longer controlled by sin. The power of the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:17) gives you the ability to resist your sinful desires, and instead of choosing the path of sin and death, you are free to choose life (Romans 6:22).
Does Freedom in Christ Mean I Can Do Whatever I Want?
Do not be mistaken. Freedom is not full, unhindered autonomy. Whether it’s earthly freedom or spiritual freedom, there are always going to be laws, rules, and guidelines we have to follow. There will always be right and wrong.
Freedom in Christ means we no longer have to satisfy our sinful desires.
“So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.” )Galatians 5:16-17( NIV.
The passage goes on to list all the types of sinful desires, or acts of the flesh, that we can still fall into if we are not careful, despite being free from the power of sin (Galatians 5:19-21).
The Bible makes it very clear that if we continue to live like this, we are still enslaved to sin, and thus, our future is not secure. “I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:21) NIV.
What Are Ways I Allow the Enemy to Control Me, Even After I’ve Been Set Free?
“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” (Galatians 5:1) ESV.
The enemy longs to keep you from experiencing and sharing the freedom you have in Christ by continuing to entice you with sin, and using guilt and shame to remind you of your sinful past. Even though you have been set free from the control of sin, he doesn’t want to lose his grip on you.
Being free in Christ does not mean we will never fall back into our sinful ways, but it does mean we are no longer under sin’s control. Before we Christ redeemed us, our only choice was sin.
Freedom in Christ not only means we are free from sin, but also that we are free from the burden of sin, or the guilt and shame of things we’ve done in the past.
“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:1-2) NIV.
Remember that one of the main characteristics of God and Jesus is that of love. “God is love” (1 John 4:16 NIV) and in (1 Corinthians 13:5), Paul says that “Love keeps no record of wrongs.”
How Do I Avoid Going Back to Being a Slave to Sin Once I’ve Been Set Free?
“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” (Psalm 73:26) ESV.
Once you have chosen to follow Jesus, the Holy Spirit floods your heart and your mind. You don’t have to fall into the temptations of sin any longer. Yes, you will be tempted, but thanks to the Holy Spirit, you now have victory over sin. All you need to do is keep your eyes fixed on God.
Look to Jesus as your example of what to do when you are tempted. After fasting for 40 days in the wilderness, the devil came to Jesus and tempted Him three times, and all three times, Jesus did not stumble into sin (Matthew 4:1-11). Instead, He turned to the Word of God and worshiped His Father.
Jesus called the Word of God our “daily bread” (Matthew 6:11). Just as we all need to eat every day to nourish and fuel our bodies, we also need to daily consume God’s Word to guard our hearts and minds from the enemy and from the temptation of sin (Ephesians 6:10-17).
