Hallelujah! Christ has set us free. Until Jesus sacrificed Himself for our sins, we were slaves to sin. As slaves, we were far removed from our Master, our Father in Heaven. We had no hope. We did not have the Holy Spirit living within.
Now that we have all of these wonderful blessings as a result of Christ’s perfect sacrifice, there are people who want to take advantage of that blessing and continue to live in their sin. This grieves the Holy Spirit. We wonder if people like that are truly saved. Only God knows for certain. But, if we have doubts about a person’s salvation, we should attempt to talk to them. Maybe they’re having a momentary lapse in judgment, but maybe they aren’t truly saved and need direction and prayer.
Being free is often viewed as being able to do whatever one wants. That’s just not true. Being free is a privilege. We need to be responsible citizens and not take advantage of our freedom and not succumb to temptation.
Paul writes in Galatians:
For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1 ESV
Commentary
David Guzik wrote in his commentary on EnduringWord .com:
i. Significantly, it is Christ who has made us free. We don’t make ourselves free. Freedom is a gift of Jesus, given to us and received by faith. When we struggle to free ourselves, we just become more entangled again with a yoke of bondage.
ii. Paul also made it emphatic: the liberty. Today, people live in the headlong pursuit of “freedom,” which they think of as doing whatever they want to do, and never denying any desire. This is a kind of liberty, a false liberty; but it is not the liberty. The liberty is our freedom from the tyranny of having to earn our own way to God, the freedom from sin and guilt and condemnation, freedom from the penalty and the power and eventually freedom from the presence of sin.
Similar thoughts from Peter:
For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. 1 Peter 2:15-16 ESV
Prayer
Father, we come to You truly humbled that You have given us freedom from sin. We are beyond thankful that You would send Your only Son to die on the cross and then be resurrected so that we could live free. Lord, we lift up our brothers and sisters who use that freedom as a cover-up for evil. Lord, please open their eyes to what they’re doing and stir the Holy Spirit to their attention so that they will heed His guidance. We pray for the misguided people who think they’re saved but have not made the commitment. Please give us the boldness to approach them in loving faith and truth and guide them to You. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
