Freedom in Christ
(Bible Study - July 2000) Victor Frankl, an Austrian psychiatrist, was one of the millions of Jews brutally confined in concentration camps during the Holocaust of World War II. Unlike many who perished, including all of his family, Frankl maintained his life and sanity in the most dreadful conditions, as he could see beyond the horror of daily life. He had a purpose and meaning of life. After the war he became a well-known writer, lecturer, professor, and clinician. He had many academic appointments in this country, and wrote until the end of his long life just three years ago. A poll conducted by the Library of Congress rated his book, Man’s Search for Meaning (a personal psychological account of life in the concentration camps) as one of the most influential books in the U.S. [1]
Responsible freedom
Having survived three years in imprisonment, oppression, utter deprivation, and
dehumanization, we would expect that he would have more than a few thoughts on the subject
of freedom. He might have championed totally free and unrestricted human destiny, but not
so. Rather, Frankl mused that "the Statue of Liberty on the East Coast should be
balanced by a Statue of Responsibility on the West Coast" [2]. Entirely
unrestricted freedom does not lead one to any higher purpose in life, nor does it give any
meaning or usefulness. Responsible freedom gives our lives value and meaning.
When we become free in Christ, we become slaves to personal responsibility. We do not shed our bondage, rather, we exchange it for a new kind. But the new bondage is self-imposed. It doesn’t have rules set by a master who owns our lives against our will. It has the rule of personal responsibility given by a master who loves us, and to whom we have voluntarily pledged our will.
More than any other definition, freedom in Christ means the voluntary subjugation of free choice for the sake of our brothers and sisters. Only when we come to know this dynamic can we truly say we are "free at last."
As long as we struggle with our flesh, we live in bondage to our flesh. As long as we erect laws and rules, we live in bondage to those rules. When we seek the fullness of the sacrifice of Christ, we find the freedom that allows us to sacrifice our own wills back to the Father, and to all of His children. Only free-will sacrifice avails any benefit; hence, freedom is the basis of a meaningful discipleship in the Lord Jesus.
The exact wording "freedom in Christ," a common enough phrase, doesn’t occur in scripture. However, Galatians 5:1 provides its source: "For freedom (liberty, AV) Christ has set us free; stand fast therefore and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery"(RSV). The Greek word translated "liberty" in the AV is the word for "free," shows up twice in v. 13 and several times in the analogy of Sarah and Hagar (4:21-31). Jesus declared directly: "The truth shall make you free" (John 8:32). The truth of grace in Jesus gave freedom to those who lived in bondage to law and sin (John 1:17). Our study this month will explore the facets of this freedom.
No works? No controls?
We will soon see that freedom from law means liberty in service, so we will start by
addressing the issue of works under the covenant of grace. How can we say we are free if
we still have an appointed service to perform? The issue at hand is not one of works
versus faith. It is, rather, an issue of attitude. A slave to the law has a belief system
which says, "I must follow certain rules and rituals to please God and earn
salvation. If I do the right things, God owes me eternal life." This, as we
noted in earlier articles, is self-centered, and relegates God to a secondary role in the
process of salvation. Conversely, a servant of Christ has the belief system which says, "Christ
has freed me from law, sin, and death. Therefore, I acknowledge this great gift by
voluntarily enslaving myself to his work."
Thus, the works of freedom come from an entirely different perspective. But never think that freedom in Christ somehow means freedom from any restraint or works. Paul wrote to the Ephesians, "For by grace you have been saved…not because of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works" (Eph. 2:8-10). Immediately after writing that we are not saved by works, Paul stated we are created in Christ for good works. Titus 2:11-14 has the same remarkable message, placing good works immediately in the context of being saved by grace. Thus, freedom in Christ plainly does not preclude freedom from works -- the change we make is the attitudinal basis of the works.
Nor does freedom imply freedom from law. We have a law of the highest order. "For the love of Christ controls us" (II Cor. 5:14). "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you." We do have controls and commands, but they come from the love of Christ.
Again we make the point: freedom does not mean license, nor freedom from restraint or morality or law. It is the voluntary transference of our affections to the principles of God that free us from slavery to ritual and self that we might be free to be useful to God.
Freedom from, or freedom to?
Recently, a brother wrote to me posing the question, Does freedom in Christ mean "freedom
from," or "freedom to?" I replied, "Ultimately it
must mean both, as we are both freed from the law and freed to use whatever resources we
can, as long as we do it with the aim of building up the body of Christ. Gal. 5:13 really
answers the question. Paul exhorts us to use our freedom in service, not in
self-indulgence."
Christ freed us from the law (Rom. 8:2,3) so that we could be free to serve others without a yoke or burden of legalistic restrictions. Christ also freed us from the sin which the law magnified. Paul taught that one purpose of the law was the manifestation of sin (Rom. 3:20, 5:20, 7:7-11, Gal. 3:19); therefore freedom from the law also expresses freedom from sin. However, hardly any believer of today has had the experience of living under the law and its Pharisaic complications. But many of us have experienced liberation from some sort of religious legalism, and this liberation reflects the same principle. Freedom from any system of law represents freedom from sin, because we now have grace. Rules magnify sin, but grace annuls sin.
Freedom from sin is always an issue for anyone, at any time. The Pharisees, who had more laws than anyone, therefore also had the greatest reminders of their sin. They tried in vain to achieve righteousness -- with yet more laws! Like trying to slay the Hydra, the more they made laws which they thought would protect them, the more they became enslaved to sin without remedy. Jesus told the Pharisees that every one who commits sin is a slave to sin, but the Son makes us free (John 8:34-36). They had no "freedom from." We live without the constant vigilance that the law-impounded individual has. Jesus lifted the burden of the law (Mt.11:28-30), but yoked us to his way of life.
Now slaves to love
We must also consider "freedom to," as the two ideas – "freedom
from" and "freedom to" -- inevitably interpenetrate each other.
Paul wrote, "You have been called to freedom, brethren, only do not use your
freedom as an indulgence of the flesh, but through love be servants one of another"
(Gal. 5:13). We do not have to limit ourselves to living under any set of conditions that
would hinder our utility to God. Unlike the priest and Levite who had to bypass the fallen
traveler on the Jericho road (Lk. 10:31, 32), we have no restrictions on whom we can
serve, and when and how we can order our lives of service and good works. Yes, Jesus freed
us from the law and any ritualized worship or morality. But this does not make us free
from the eternal principles of God. We have traded slavery to law for slavery to love. The
key word "love" replaces the restrictions of the law. We are freed "from"
so we can be free "to."
Those impounded by a system of law have their primary service in fulfilling the law. Those whose only law is love have their primary service as fulfilling the precepts of love. Love requires interpersonal awareness; one must think outside of self. Love of God requires we think of God. Life under the law requires that we think only of the law and of self, in our fulfillment.
Freedom to serve, not anarchy
It is an entirely different framework of service and morality. Being freed from law is
not just freedom from the behavioral burdens of ritual and avoidance; it is freedom of
mind so that we can develop ourselves in love. Freedom "from," only,
leaves us in theological and moral anarchy. Freedom "from," without
freedom "to," results in license, not freedom at all. Hence, we have
these two ideas immediately adjoined in some of the principal passages concerning freedom
in Christ (e.g., Mt. 11:28-30, Gal. 5:13, I Pet. 2:16).
We have noted we have no external laws of limitations. We have the internal law of love, which comes from the heart. The law of love says, "I will only use my freedom insofar as it helps others." True freedom does not authorize licentiousness; it offers widened opportunity. It gives permission to remove restrictions in service.
We do not find people who correctly apprehend freedom in Christ using this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. We do find those immature in Christ often justifying their actions by this dictum. One might choose, for instance, questionable entertainment or employment venues, and justify such as part of their freedom. After all, no one has a law against such. But we have a more powerful law than that which externally decides our morality. It is the law of love.
Freedom of service
Under the Pharisees version of the law, holiness came from doing less and less. The
more one avoided, the more holiness one had. Even good works had limitations: not on the
Sabbath, not to lepers, not to Samaritans, not with sinners, not if it meant eating with
Gentiles. The freedom we have is the liberation from those social restrictions which limit
our usefulness to others. This therefore allows us to work on the Sabbath, eat with
Gentiles, preach to Samaritans, offer balm to lepers and sinners. This is freedom, the
only freedom enjoined under the New Covenant.
It is a novice mistake to take any course of life and declare this as part of one’s "freedom in Christ." The freedom of which Christ spoke was a "yoke." Take my yoke upon you, he asks of us. I touched lepers, talked with Samaritans, ate with sinners, let a prostitute anoint me, and fed the Gentiles. That’s freedom -- freedom of service, not freedom of self-indulgence. This freedom means that in Christ, as long as we orient our lives to good works, preaching, serving, and holiness, we can do so in any fashion, without fear of "the unclean."
The conclusion in Galatians
Continuing on from Paul's declaration of freedom in Galatians 5:1, Paul has a
parenthetical section in verses 2-12 where he again warns the Galatians of falling back
into the law. If you establish one law, says Paul using the example of receiving
circumcision, you have bound yourself to keeping the whole law, because you have exchanged
the principle of grace for law.
Then, in verse 13, Paul returns to the subject of freedom. Here he exhorts us "through love be servants of one another." The word for servants means "slaves;" Peter used the same word when he wrote, "live as free men…but live as servants to God" (I Pet. 2:16). The Interlinear Greek-English New Testament [3] renders both instances as "slaves;" it is the word doulos normally used to describe slaves or bondservants, not serving brothers (diakonos). New Testament usage often has the connotation of willing bondslave, (e.g., Romans 1:1) [4]. That should put an end to anyone going out of bounds with their freedom issues, at least if they listen to God on the matter.
Freedom in Christ means slavery to service.
Finally, we come to the works of the flesh and fruit of the spirit (5:19-23). These two lists show the outcome of living under law vs. living under grace. Law begets no faith, and therefore no basis of morality. The fruit of the spirit, however, teaches the development of morality and character in the absence of law. Freedom from law allows faith, and faith grows morality. Hence, those who are truly free in Christ achieve the highest levels of spirituality and service. Freedom in Christ means personal responsibility, free-will slavery to righteousness, and the highest development of morality. Any other definition of freedom only retains servitude to the indulgences of the flesh.
Freedom and legalism
So how does this contrast to the covenant of works and laws? Slavery to law means
directing the mind to things, self, and rewards. We can misuse freedom and miss all of the
benefits of spiritual growth that it offers, but life under law gives us no chance at all
to develop spirituality. Slavery to freedom means directing the mind to God’s
principles, service, others, and selflessness. One is the way of death, the other is the
way of life.
Next: The New Covenant Paradox
David Levin
Footnotes:
1.Viktor-Frankl-Institut, 2000. http://logotherapy.univie.at/indexE.html
2.Yalom, Irwin D.,1985. Page 245, The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy,
New York: Basic Books.
3.Marshall, Alfred, 1958. The Interlinear Greek-English New Testament, Grand
Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
4.Vine, W.E. 1966. Page 139, An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words. Old
Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell Co.
Also: Frankl, Viktor, 1963. Man’s Search for Meaning: An Introduction to
Logotherapy, New York: Washington Square Press.