DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- TRUE FREEDOM

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- TRUE FREEDOM

"Jesus answered them, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.' " (John 8:34-36)

Do you remember the revolution in American society during the '60s and 70's? It was a time of liberation – freedom from rules, freedom from traditional (and biblical) morality, freedom from the taboos of the past, freedom to do whatever people wanted to do.

So there was freedom to smoke marijuana, free sex, freedom to rebel against authority, whether it was parents, university administrations, or the government.

But where did that freedom lead them? It led them into anarchy, into bondage, into addiction, into lawlessness.

Sin is like that. It promises freedom, but it ends up in slavery. The Apostle Paul picked up on this teaching of Jesus in Romans chapter 6:16: "Do you not know that to whom you present ourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?" We are slaves to whatever we submit ourselves, whether to sin leading to death, or to God leading to righteousness.

As Christians, we have been set free from the law of sin. We are no longer under its dominion. As Paul continued to write, "But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life" (Romans 8:22).

The hymn-writer put it this way: "Freedom from sin, O wonderful story, all of its stains washed whiter than snow. Jesus has come to live in His temple, and with His love my heart is aglow. " There is a "glorious liberty of the children of God" (Romans 8:21). And we can live in that freedom.

Love, Dad