The Holy Spirit and Freedom

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”  2 Corinthians 3:17

Paul begins this section of the letter to the Corinthians by saying that he is the minister of a new covenant — a covenant not based upon following the laws but upon the Spirit of God generating faith within us.  The old covenant was good, but this one is better.  Under the old covenant, God’s glory was obscured by a veil — the people had only an incomplete understanding of the Messiah and what His coming would mean.   Now, the veil has been lifted and through faith in Christ we have eternal life and freedom from trying to save ourselves through perfect adherence to the law.  What a relief to have this burden lifted!

Does this mean we are free to do whatever we want?  Of course not.  Paul addresses this very question in Romans:

“What shall we say, then?  Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?  By no means!”  Romans 6:1-2

Once we have been united with Christ by receiving the Holy Spirit in our baptism, we are also free from the power of sin in our lives.  Yes, we will still sin, but we are no longer enslaved by it. Our desire will be to live holy lives, and through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, we will become increasingly Christlike.

Free at last!  Free at last!  Thank God Almighty we’re free at last!

For more on the topic of freedom see these posts:

The Freedom of Baptism

What Freedom?

The Freedom of Grace

 

Free From What?

In considering the topic of freedom in Christ, I asked myself, what exactly are we free from?  Here are just a few that I came up with:

We are freed from our bondage to sin.

“You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.”  Romans 6:18

We are free from being condemned by God for our sins.

“There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”  Romans 8:1

We are freed from the power of death.

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”  Romans 6:23

We are freed from anxiety.

“And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be of an anxious mind….your Father knows that you need them.”  Luke 12:29

We are freed from loneliness.

“….I am with you always to the close of the age.” Matthew 28:20

We are freed from the judgement of others.

If God is for us, who can be against us?  Romans 8:31

There are probably others.  What has God freed you from?