This time every year we celebrate the Fourth of July. On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was agreed upon and the thirteen colonies were declared free, independent states, and no longer under the rule of King George III. But there is also another kind of freedom I think about as well. I am reminded of the great freedom there is in Jesus. Let’s see what Romans 8 has to say about this:
“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh,” - Romans 8:1-3 NIV
In a couple of posts from the “Jireh” series, we talked about this very thing [*]. God sent Jesus to Earth to live a perfect life so He could become the sacrifice (payment) for sin. When Jesus died on the cross, all of the sin of the people - past, present, and future - was paid for in full. This is why Paul says that there is “no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”. If we accept the gift of God, believe that Jesus died on the cross and that God raises Him from the dead - we are in Christ Jesus (Romans 10:9). We are saved. We are free. We are no longer condemned because we are in Jesus and Jesus didn’t come to condemn the world (John 3:17). If Jesus didn’t come to condemn the world while He was walking on the Earth, then He is not going to change and start point the finger of condemnation now. Jesus doesn’t change (Hebrews 13:8).
A good example of Jesus not pointing the finger of condemnation is in John 8 when a woman is brought before Him. Jesus was at the Temple and a crown began to gather and Jesus started to teach them. Shortly after He had begun to teach the people, the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They asked Jesus what should be done to the woman because the law says to stone her. They demanded an answer from Jesus. Jesus told them if they have never sinned they can cast the first stone at her. Then He started to write in the dirt. One by one the crown started to leave [3]. Jesus then says to the woman:
“Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, ‘Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?’ ‘No, Lord,’ she said. And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I. Go and sin no more.’”- John 8:10-11 NLT
When we hear condemnation (shaming, guilting, and accusing just to name a few) in our life, it is not coming from the mouth of Jesus. The Devil is the one that speaks condemnation. The Devil is one the one that points the finger of guilt and shame. The Devil wants us to think that we are not enough and that Jesus doesn’t want anything to do with us. But that is where the freedom in Jesus comes in. We don’t have to listen to that voice of condemnation any longer. We are free from it. In Jesus, we now have a voice that speaks love into our life. Jesus cares about us. Jesus loves us. Jesus doesn’t point out our faults as the enemy does. In Jesus, there is no condemnation.
As freedom does, our freedom from sin came at a great price. Jesus was rejected by the people He came to save. Jesus was arrested and taken away. He was put on trial, faced judgment, and sentenced to be crucified. No one spoke up in defense of Jesus. Jesus was beaten, mocked, had a crown of thorns shoved on His head, and nailed to cross so that we could be free. [1][2]
We are free from the payment of sin. We no longer have to take that on our shoulders because it was put on Jesus’ shoulders. Jesus made the payment that God required so that we don’t have to anymore. We are free from that.
We are free in Jesus. Free indeed.
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[*] * See posts “God Provides Love” and “God Provides A Way” from the “Jireh” series at thepointoffocus.com
[1] Isaiah 53:3-8 (NIV)
“He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished.” - Isaiah 53:3-8 NIV
[2] John 19:1-6+14-16 (NIV)
Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe and went up to him again and again, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” And they slapped him in the face.
Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews gathered there, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.” When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!” As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!” “Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews. But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!” “Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked.
“We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered. Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.
[3] John 8:1-11
“Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, but early the next morning he was back again at the Temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them. As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd. “Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?” They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust. When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?” “No, Lord,” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”
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