The third of March is the day of Bulgaria’s liberation from Turkish bondage. On this day in 1878, at San Stefano, the preliminary agreement was signed that brought an end to the Russo-Turkish War of Liberation. We thank God that on this momentous day our five centuries of Turkish bondage came to an end. Glory to God for the political freedom of Bulgaria! But this great national holiday is also an occasion to reflect not only on that freedom, but on the deliverance from spiritual bondage that Jesus Christ brought us — our spiritual Liberator-King.
JESUS CAME TO BRING US FREEDOM
In the Gospel according to Luke 4:14-21 we read how, after His baptism at the Jordan River and after His forty days of temptation in the wilderness, Jesus returned to Galilee filled with the Holy Spirit and ready to begin His ministry. He began to teach in the synagogues and very quickly became well known. When He returned to Nazareth, the town where He had grown up, He was invited to preach in the local synagogue. They handed Him the scroll of the prophet Isaiah, and He began to read (verses 18-21):
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:18-19)
Evidently Jesus read these words in a remarkable way, for by the time He finished, the whole audience was electrified, waiting to hear His interpretation. The eyes of everyone were “fastened on Him.” At that moment Jesus did something unheard of — He applied this prophecy about the long-awaited Messiah to Himself (verse 21).
21 He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:21)
In this way Jesus announced the beginning of His ministry, and from the text He chose it is plainly seen that it is a ministry of liberation. The gospel is a call to freedom. It is good news for the poor, freedom for prisoners, sight for the blind, and release for the oppressed. In the Gospel of John 8:36 it is written:
36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. (John 8:36)
From what does Jesus set us free? From many things, but let us dwell on at least three of them — the Law, Sin, and Fear.
FREEDOM FROM THE LAW
In Romans 7:1-6 the apostle Paul teaches the Jewish Christians of Rome an important lesson. The church there was made up of Jews and Gentiles, and they did not get along very well. Part of the reason for this was that at first the church had consisted only of Jews. Later the Gentiles came to outnumber the Jews. Then, in the year 49, the emperor Claudius expelled the Jews from Rome, but five years later, after his death in the year 54, they returned and found the Gentile church far too “worldly” by their legalistic standards. In fact, one of Paul’s aims in this letter is to show them that in Christ there is no difference between them and the Gentiles. We understand that Paul is speaking to Jews from the way he argues his points from the Law of Moses and addresses them as “those who know the law.” The Jews went on keeping the law, and this is not necessarily a bad thing. But it becomes a bad thing the moment they begin to behave as though keeping the Law saves them and makes them more righteous than the Gentiles. And Paul says to them: “Do you know what? You are behaving like a woman whose first husband has died and who has now married another, but who lives as though her first husband were still alive…” (verses 1-6).
1 Do you not know, brothers and sisters — for I am speaking to those who know the law — that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives? (Romans 7:1)
Right at the outset Paul lays out his thesis: “The law is in force over a person only as long as that person is alive.” Since in the previous chapter Paul had already established the fact that through baptism the believer is co-crucified and co-buried (crucified and buried together with) Christ, we can guess where his thought is going — that, since we are legally dead, we are free from the law.
Death nullifies the law. In verses 2-3 Paul illustrates this fact with the law of marriage.
2 For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him. 3 So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man. (Romans 7:2-3)
This example becomes even clearer to us if we know that, according to Jewish law, a woman did not have the right to divorce or to ask for a divorce. Divorce was the “privilege” of the husband alone. So the woman was indeed “bound” to her husband until death. Death, however, brings the force of the law to an end.
In verses 4-6 Paul moves from the illustration to its application.
4 So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. (Romans 7:4)
Notice: in the previous example it is said that a living woman is free if her husband dies. But now Paul turns things around and says that not only is the living one free from the law, but the dead one too — the dead one is also free from the law. Paul turns things around because he cannot say that the law is dead, for it is not, even though its role of bringing us to Christ has now been fulfilled (Galatians 3:19, 24, 25). But even though the law goes on living, believers do not go on living under it. Because, being identified with Christ, we have died to the law, we are free from it. Rising with Christ to new life, we are united no longer with the Law but with the one raised from the dead — with Christ — we belong to Him. And out of this new union flows an abundant and fruitful life unattainable through the law.
5 For when we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death. 6 But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code. (Romans 7:5-6)
In these verses Paul draws an analogy with marriage. His aim is not to teach about the family, but to illustrate his point. Imagine a woman who has married a second time — let us call her Eleanor. Her first marriage was not a good one. In truth it was terrible. She could never please her husband or satisfy his expectations. No matter how hard she tried, nothing worked — she never managed to do the right thing or to be good enough to meet her husband’s demands. In her relationship with her husband she carried, without ceasing, the burden of trying to please him, trying to be what he would accept, trying to be worthy in his eyes. Eleanor was forever trying “to do something in order to be something,” but somehow it never came off, and she felt forever empty and unfulfilled.
Such is the condition of the lost sinner who is not in Christ and is not under His grace — he is bound to the law and subject to its demands. In summary, what the law teaches is: “you must do something in order to be something.” If you want to be justified by keeping the law, then you have to do certain things. And do you know what? No one can be justified by keeping the law, for as the apostle James also says (James 2:10):
10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. (James 2:10)
It is like hanging over a bottomless abyss while holding on to a long chain. If just one of the links in the chain is defective and breaks loose, it can cost you your life. Only one sin is enough for us to be condemned by the law. In and of ourselves, apart from Christ, we can never be good enough or do enough good works to be justified in God’s eyes.
But let us return to the example of Eleanor. Her husband dies and she marries a second time. And now things are different. Her new husband truly loves her, spends time with her, encourages her, and delights in everything she does. Her life undergoes a complete reversal. She stops carrying the heavy burden of “doing something in order to be something.” Her husband accepts and loves her just as she is. Now she experiences freedom and lives a life she never even imagined could exist. The newfound joy in her heart is written on her face. And that is wonderful.
But would it not be foolish for Eleanor to decide to go on living as though she were still married to her first husband, to go on feeling unworthy, rejected, and unsuccessful in her attempts to meet his impossible standard? It is precisely such behavior that a return to the law resembles in a believer who has been set free from it in Christ. Through Christ we, Christians, are free from the burden of the ritual law, which requires us to fulfill certain demands in order to be accepted by God. For us the Law of Moses is dead; our marriage to it is over, and it no longer has authority over us. Now we are betrothed to Christ and His grace. We are free, we are valued, we are accepted, just as He is. Christ died for us just as we are. He loves us unconditionally. There is no need to prove anything. We are accepted, and nothing else matters. Therefore, let us defend and stand firm in the freedom Christ has given us! On this point Paul says to us in Galatians 5:1:
1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. (Galatians 5:1)
Spiritual freedom, however, does not mean license. In that same fifth chapter of the letter to the Galatians, in verse 13, Paul immediately supplies the balance.
13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. (Galatians 5:13)
The apostle Peter says the same in 1 Peter 2:16:
16 Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves. (1 Peter 2:16)
Those who abuse their spiritual freedom Peter describes this way (2 Peter 2:17-22):
17 These people are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. 18 For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of the flesh, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. 19 They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity — for “people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.” 20 If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. 21 It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. 22 Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.” (2 Peter 2:17-22)
Even though we are set free from the law, we are not lawless. In 1 Corinthians 9:21 Paul says:
21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. (1 Corinthians 9:21)
What is “the law of Christ”? “The law of Christ” is the law of love. This is stated in Galatians 6:2:
2 Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. (Galatians 6:2)
The apostle James calls the law of love, the law of Christ, the “royal law” (James 2:8).
8 If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. (James 2:8)
Interestingly, this law is not enslaving. On the contrary, a little further down in the same chapter James calls it “the law that gives freedom” (James 2:12).
12 Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, (James 2:12)
Freedom does not mean irresponsibility. Notice, however, that this is not a law that enslaves. It is not “do something in order to be something,” but rather “Since you are a saint, a child of God, a citizen of the heavenly kingdom, then live and act as such!” This is not required for your salvation or for your relationship with God, but flows out of them.
FREEDOM FROM SIN
Jesus sets us free not only from the law. He also sets us free from sin. The way to be set free from sin is to submit to the “pattern of teaching in which we were instructed” and, through God’s grace, to become slaves of righteousness. In Romans 6:12-22 Paul says:
12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. 14 For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace. 15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! 16 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey — whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. 19 I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. (Romans 6:12-19)
Do you notice how Paul speaks here as though everything depends on us? It depends on us to whom we offer the parts of our body — to impurity and wickedness, or to righteousness and holiness.
20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:20-23)
Notice: if we offer ourselves into the service of sin, it will pay us back — and the wage it gives us for our slavery to it is death. God will also repay us for our service — He will give us eternal life. But this eternal life is not a “wage” but a “gift.” Why a “gift”? Because it will not be given to us by merit, but by grace.
In Romans 8:1-2 Paul writes:
1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 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)
The word “condemnation” in verse 1 actually means the verdict handed down at the end of a trial. In Christ, God’s verdict over us is “justified.” On the day of judgment we will not be sent to spend eternity in the fiery pit. Christ paid our debt at the price of His own blood. Glory to God for the freedom we have in Christ!
FREEDOM FROM FEAR
Besides freeing us from the law and from sin, Christ also sets us free from fear. Many people live their lives in constant fear. They are always afraid of something — of crisis, of the dark, of problems, and who knows what else. To such people, in Luke 12:4-7, Jesus said the following:
4 “I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. 5 But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. (Luke 12:4-5)
How does Christ set us free from fear? By commanding us to fear God. If we truly fear God, we will not be afraid of anything else. When we fear God, we come to Him and love Him. Then His divine love in us drives out every fear (1 John 4:18).
18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. (1 John 4:18)
The author of the letter to the Hebrews 2:15 says that the purpose of Christ’s incarnation is the destruction of the devil and the salvation of believers from the fear of death.
14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death — that is, the devil — 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. 16 For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. (Hebrews 2:14-16)
Every fear, whether it be fear of hunger, of unemployment, or of sickness, ultimately comes down to the fear of death. But Jesus came and died on the cross so that through His redeeming work He might deliver us from the slavery of fear. Notice, however, whom He helped — Abraham’s descendants. Who are Abraham’s descendants? The answer is given in Galatians 3:7, 9:
7 Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. (Galatians 3:7)
9 So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. (Galatians 3:9)
THE EXAMPLE OF BARABBAS
In the Gospel according to Matthew 27:15-26 we read about Barabbas — the prisoner who was set free instead of Jesus.
15 Now it was the governor’s custom at the festival to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd. 16 At that time they had a well-known prisoner whose name was Jesus Barabbas. 17 So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you: Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?” 18 For he knew it was out of self-interest that they had handed Jesus over to him. 19 While Pilate was sitting on the judge’s seat, his wife sent him this message: “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.” 20 But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed. 21 “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” asked the governor. “Barabbas,” they answered. 22 “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” Pilate asked. They all answered, “Crucify him!” 23 “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!” 24 When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “It is your responsibility!” 25 All the people answered, “His blood is on us and on our children!” 26 Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified. (Matthew 27:15-26)
When I think about Barabbas, a certain resentment and displeasure rises up in me that he was unjustly set free, while the innocent Jesus was undeservedly condemned. But when I reflect a little more deeply I say to myself: Why should I condemn Barabbas? Am I not just like him — a sinner who deserves death, but to whom, by undeserved mercy and grace, eternal life and freedom from the law, from sin, and from fear have been given as a gift? Did not Jesus suffer on the cross for me too? There was, however, one remarkable thing about Barabbas, and it was that, unlike so many people in this world, he in no way resisted his own liberation.
In one of his books Max Lucado writes: “It happened too quickly. One minute Barabbas was in his cell on death row, playing tic-tac-toe on the dirty walls, and the next he was outside, squinting his eyes at the sunlight. ‘You’re free to go!’ Barabbas scratched his beard. ‘What?’ ‘You’re free. They took the Nazarene instead of you.’”
Barabbas has often been compared to humanity, and rightly so. In many ways he is like us — a prisoner who is set free because someone he has never seen takes his place at the place of execution.
Barabbas is an example to us in that he received his unexpected freedom for what it was — “an undeserved gift.” Someone threw him a life ring and he grabbed it without asking questions. You simply cannot imagine him setting up any of our artificial obstacles. We take our gift and then try to earn it, to classify it, or to pay for it, instead of simply saying “thank you” and receiving it.
As paradoxical as it may seem, one of the hardest things a person can do is to be saved by grace. There is something in us that reacts against God’s gift. We have some strangely obsessive impulse (or inner compulsion) to create laws, systems, and rules that will make us worthy of our gift.
Why do we do all this? The only reason I could point to is pride. To accept grace means to accept the need for it, and most people do not like that. To accept grace also means to realize one’s desperate and hopeless condition, and most people are not so discerning as to grasp it.
Barabbas, however, knew very well that he was hopelessly doomed to death, and he had no intention of asking unnecessary questions. Perhaps he did not understand the mercy, and he certainly did not deserve it, but he had no intention of refusing it.
Our plight is no different from that of Barabbas. We too are prisoners, condemned to death with no right of pardon. And why some prefer to stay in their cell when its door stands open is a phenomenon that deserves our astonishment. The door of the cell of the law, of sin, and of fear stands open. You are free to walk out into freedom. So do not hesitate! And do not stay inside any longer! Be free in Christ!