34 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
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.
13 You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. 14 The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
4 So, my brothers, 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 to God. 5 For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, 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.
16 So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17 For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. 19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
13 Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. 14 Do everything in love.
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
“Satan woos us with pleasantness to seek our bondage (as if self wasn’t enough) and then bites us with guilt and shame. Indeed, his desire is to entice us towards a conduct that would ruin us. He is our enemy not our friend. God, on the other hand, lovingly woos us from “the jaws of distress” - which is every form of sin and captivity holding us tightly, to seek our freedom. Christ came to set us free. We are not to be yoked again to slavery. Make no mistake about it – sin harm’s. Indeed, it is a death sentence. Satan wants us to believe that God is holding out on us, that He does not have our best interest at heart while all the while, through the blood of Jesus, all God seeks to hold out on us is our death and destruction.” BHY
“The only perfect freedom is serving God.” Malcolm Muggeridge
“Never dread any consequence resulting from absolute obedience to His command. Never fear the rough waters ahead, which through their proud contempt impede your progress. God is greater than the roar of raging water and the mighty waves of the sea. ‘The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord is enthroned as King forever’ (Psalm 29:10). A storm is simply the hem of His robe, the sign of His coming, and the evidence of His presence. Dare to trust Him! Dare to follow Him! Then discover that the forces that blocked your progress and threatened your life become at His command the very materials He uses to build your street of freedom.” F. B. Meyer
“But in the Kingdom of God there is no shortcut to freedom. There is no resurrection without the cross. There is no life without dying to self. But this is true life we’re talking about, true freedom we are after, and the self-help gospel cannot provide it. The only one who can grant it is the one who actually possesses it, so we must wrench our focus off of self, and fix our eyes, unflinchingly, on Him.” Sharon Hodde Miller
“You were born for freedom. You deliver into it through obedience. No one ever entered into the full rest of God by giving Him only half of themselves.” Ann Voskamp
“When you are interiorly free you call others to freedom, whether you know it or not. Freedom attracts wherever it appears. A free man or a free woman creates a space where others feel safe and want to dwell. Our world is so full of conditions, demands, requirements, and obligations that we often wonder what is expected of us. But when we meet a truly free person, there are no expectations, only an invitation to reach into ourselves and discover there our own freedom. Where true inner freedom is, there is God. And where God is, there we want to be.” Henri Nouwen
“Jesus was truly free. His freedom was rooted in his spiritual awareness that he was the Beloved Child of God. He knew in the depth of his being that he belonged to God before he was born, that he was sent into the world to proclaim God's love, and that he would return to God after his mission was fulfilled. This knowledge gave him the freedom to speak and act without having to please the world and the power to respond to people's pains with the healing love of God. That's why the Gospels say: ‘Everyone in the crowd was trying to touch him because power came out of him that cured them all’ (Luke 6:19).” Henri Nouwen
“Just as there are always blessings to obedience, conversely there will always be consequences to sin. Every sin carries with it a death sentence – death to trust, death to relationship, death to freedom, etc. etc. We do not sin merely as unto ourselves either, sin’s tentacles are far reaching and devastating – like a ripple in the water when you cast in a stone. We get to choose to sin or not but God chooses the consequence. Just read about what happened to King David after his encounter with Bathsheba and how it affected the rest of his life. God is severe in His judgments because He knows what sin does to a life and the lives of others. This is not a winking, joking matter with Him. It cost Him the life of His Son. He doesn’t want us to go there (to say the least) – He has far greater, pleasing and perfect plans for us than that. Also, it is all too important to note, that while a believer in Jesus is forgiven for sin that does not mean there will not be consequences. Just saying....” BHY
“‘There is no fear in love’, writes the apostle John, ‘but perfect love drives out fear...’ He goes on to point to the source of that perfect love: ‘We love because He first loved us’. In other words, the cure to fear is not a change in circumstances, rather a deep grounding in the love of God. I ask God to reveal His love to me directly, or through my relationships with those who also know Him—a prayer I think God takes great delight in answering. When I get depressed about my present failures, I ask God to remind me of my true identity: one who will be made perfect and has already been forgiven. ‘You’ve got to go deeper’, said the nun to my burned-out pastor. ‘Sink the well into a water table that never runs dry’...Thomas Merton conceded that everything in modern city life conspires against such surrender. We worry (fear) about money, about what we need to have and to know, about whom to compete with and what is slipping out of our control...(he) found the secret to true freedom: If we live to please God alone (the One who loves us), we set ourselves free from the cares and worries that press in on us.” Phillip Yancey
“Scripture permits us to broaden the definition of idolatry so that includes anything on which we set our affections and indulge as an excessive and sinful attachment. Therefore, the idols that we can see are certainly not the whole problem. Idolatry includes anything we worship: the lust for pleasure, respect, love, power, control, or freedom from pain. Futhermore, the problem is not outside of us....the problem is in us....the heart’s instinctive plotting in this idol construction is amazing. We know we are called to imitate God. This means we are to live for His glory, not our own. We are to make Him famous, not ourselves....the purpose of all idolatry is to manipulate the idol for our own benefit.....but (we) need the power of God, the message of Christ crucified and risen. Other therapies can offer sobriety, but only this good news is powerful enough to liberate the soul.” Ed Welch
“The Gospel is the only solution to find approval, comfort, and security. Jesus, as our Prophet, has given us the only approval we need. We are completely accepted by the Father through the satisfactory work of Jesus. He has declared us forgiven and accepted as sons and daughters. As our Priest, He provides us with the true comfort our hearts and lives need. When we are hurting from our own sin or from sins committed against us by others, we can go to our Priest Jesus and find renewal and care. As our King, He has purchased our complete security and freedom, both here and into eternity. There is no one else, no other hero to our story than King Jesus”. Tom Wood
“We sin because our longings are so strong at the operational level—not at the verbal level, where we confess ‘Jesus is Lord’—we feel that something in addition to Jesus is necessary for our happiness and well-being. We will never find the full freedom promised in the gospel if all we want from Jesus is relief.” James Wilhoit
“Redemption does not only look back to Calvary. It looks forward to the freedom in which the redeemed stand.” Leon Morris
“Mind if I pray for you? Jesus, I pray for the dear person reading this prayer. Would you woo them to Yourself? Would You bring peace into whatever chaos they face today? Would you show them how deeply and widely (and wildly) You love them? Remind them in this sweet circle of two that you are there. You are available. You offer grace to approach you—no stern looks, no sighs of disappointment, no tsking or shaking of the head. Your arms, they are wide open, and Your embrace is always available. Take my friend on a journey to deepen their relationship with You. Empower them to run to you when life careens or hope wanes. Invigorate their prayer life. Move mountains. Unleash freedom. Heal wounds. Restore what’s been lost. Demonstrate Your love in them-shaped ways. Thank you that you’re the empathetic Savior who understands what it’s like to walk this dusty earth, clay-footed. Thank you for making a way for them to be safe, forgiven, and welcomed—all because You left the glory of heaven for earth’s sin-scarred shore. Oh, how You love them. Oh, how they need You. Do something new in the heart of the one reading these words. May spiritual growth and freedom spring forth, a new river through a wild land. Amen and amen.” Mary DeMuth