Some Thoughts on "Freedom"

Last summer, with the Fourth of July quickly approaching, I wanted to throw out a few reflections on the subject of freedom. I didn't do it at the time. Then the holiday came and went and I got a little frustrated with myself. So if this seems a little early, it is. But I don't want to wait another year before getting these thoughts out of my head and onto my blog. . . . If you've read much of the Bible, then you've noticed already. Those distinctively-American concepts about freedom are very different from what Scripture assumes and emphasizes. For the most part, the Bible ignores the idea of political freedom. For example, nowhere does it teach that every person is inherently free and should be treated as such by the political state. Instead, it assumes that people, in their "natural" state, are not free. Rather, they are enslaved by two things that keep them from living the lives that God intends for them; namely, sin and what seems to be a kind of matrix for sin. In Greek, Paul calls it sarx. In English, we call it "the flesh" (KJV) or "the sinful nature" (NIV). According to the Bible, the central problem is that this primordial network has caught us all. It's power is such that it can use even the law of God, coupled with the best of human intentions, to bring about incredible ruin. Not only are people destroyed; the entire cosmos, which started out as "very good," is subjected to its corruption (see Romans 1:18-8:21). The Good News is, because of his unique authority as the Son of God, Jesus Christ also has the unique capacity to liberate people (John 8:35-36). When we open our lives to him, we are not only forgiven, we're also empowered by God's Spirit who comes to live within us (Romans 8:11). And wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom (2 Corinthians 3:17).