ELMIRA BAPTIST CHURCH

“Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”  
1 Corinthians 10:31
 

The Garden of Eden
It was in the Garden of Eden that God first extended the grace of religious freedom. God gave Adam and Eve the full freedom to believe, trust and obey Him or, to doubt Him. What some call the God-given and God-blessed "freedom of the human will," is God's gracious extension of religious freedom to every person in every time and place.

The Bible records that in exercising their religious liberty, Adam and Eve sinned. That first fall has led to all kinds of evil, but God was more interested in our freedom than in conformity to His will. That's an amazing reality. God loves us enough to let us " have our own head," as an equestrian might say. No bit in our mouths, no oppressive yoke; in fact, in Christ, the yoke of God is easy and the burden light. So, real freedom begins in the Garden and the freedom is then restored on Golgotha. In between is the realty of slavery to sin that cannot be escaped. God, by grace, gives His people the Law as a counselor, tutor and guide, but ultimately there is no effective or lasting righteousness achieved. Atonement was only possible through One perfectly submitted in perfect sacrifice. And only God could do that. So He did.

Freedom is not free and never has been
The all-sufficient atoning sacrifice of Christ for freedom from sin and liberty from the Law is what Paul is talking about in Galatians 5. For liberty we have been liberated; for freedom we have been set free. Nothing need be added to Christ for salvation: no deeds, no circumcision, nothing but Christ. To add anything of our works to Christ is to put ourselves again under the unbearable yoke of slavery to the Law - and ultimately slavery to sin.

Freedom, within bounds
Current examples of using freedom for license abound as our culture has devolved into moral relativity. We are not accurately described as "one nation under God" as too many pledge their allegiance to identities apart from God. To our peril we have disconnected the independence as a people from our dependence upon God. Everyone does what is right in his own eyes. We have forgotten that to be liberated from the tyranny of sin also means we joyfully submit to the full authority of the Lord who died that we might live. The yoke of Christ is real - not burdensome, but real. He is our King and Lord, and He has very real expectations for our lives. That is the nature of discipleship: a person set truly free by Christ and freely enslaved to Christ. So we are called, so let us live.