07/05/2025
What does it really mean to be free?
In the American sense, freedom is the ability to pursue one’s self-determined happiness with minimal constraints imposed by others or by the state. Tyranny is any external force that inhibits the pursuits of one’s internal desires.
Christian freedom is very different. According to Scripture, the worst tyranny is one’s errant, self-determined, internal desires and the greatest freedom comes from submitting to an external force: God. Here’s how Jesus said it:
“Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:34–36)
Internal sin is the worst tyrant and the external Son is the most wonderful liberator. True freedom is the Christ-bought freedom from the guilt of sin and the Spirit-empowered freedom from the governance of sin. But this is not the freedom of personal independence. It is liberation from the tyranny of sin and Satan (Romans 6:12; John 8:44) so that we may live joyfully under the loving servant-king that is Jesus Christ (John 15:13–14). —John Bloom, Desiring God.
