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. Gal. 5:1
Dear Lord Jesus, it’s a Fourth of July weekend—a holiday set aside to remember and revel in the freedom we enjoy as citizens of America. Two things immediately come to mind as I think of the Fourth. I thank you for our country—broken as she is, and for the liberties and privileges we enjoy as citizens of the United States.
But the freedom for which I’m most grateful, as I think of the Fourth, is the consummate freedoms we enjoy as citizens of heaven—grace-made members of God’s chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, set aside that we may declare his praises for calling us out of darkness into his wonderful light (1 Pet. 2:9). There’s no freedom like the freedoms we have in the gospel.
Indeed, to be set free by you, Jesus, is to be really free (John 8:36). We praise you for freedom from the demands of the law and the paralyzing guilt of our sin, for you took our place on the cross, exhausting the judgment we deserve. We praise you for freedom over the insidious power of sin, for you’ve broken its dehumanizing dominion in our lives. We praise you for freedom from the ever-present fear of death, for you domesticated its sting and pillaged the grave of its victory.
We praise you for freedom to obey God from our hearts, no longer out of pride, pragmatics, or pretense. We praise you for the freedom to come boldly to the throne of grace—into the eternal Holy of Holies, for you’ve secured this “new and living way” for us. We praise you for the freedom of repentance, for you’ve borne our shame and we don’t have to pretend or pose anymore. We praise you for the freedom to take gospel-risks, instead of rusting away the rest of our lives in self-protection and self-indulgence. For life is no longer about our performance, but your praise; not about our security, but your glory; not about saving face, but saving grace.
Jesus, by the power of the gospel, we’ll seek to stand firm in these and many more freedoms you’ve won for us. And in those moments (regretfully, sometimes longer) when we’re seduced back under the joy-robbing yoke of legalism or other demeaning slaveries, restore us quickly to gospel-sanity. Hallelujah, what a Savior you are! Hallelujah, what a salvation you freely give us! So very Amen we pray, your liberating and loving name.
