Good News of Liberation

Gal 5:1, 13-26

 

1. The most important national holiday in any country is the Day of Liberation, because it is the birthday of the nation. It is July 4 in America and August 15 in Korea. Before the Day of Liberation, still the same land and same people existed. However, without liberation and freedom, they were in bondage of the others. Because only the liberated is free and only the free is possible to live meaningfully, Patrick Henry cried out: “Give me liberty, or give me death!” To live a life as slave is like a life of animal. We live in the so-called most free nation in the world. Political freedom is so precious, but with looking at the serious problems of American society, we have to ask a fundamental question: What is freedom? Is America really free? Are we really free? If we are free, when were we liberated and from what? Political freedom does not mean that everybody there is genuinely free. Even the politically and socially free could be the mentally and spiritually enslaved. The addicted in every form is a slave to the addiction. The pointless and wandering people also are not genuinely free and human. They lost freedom and became slaves to trends and popularity.

2. God declares that no man is free for every man is a slave to sin. Every human pursue something, which is sinful. Whether it looks noble or not, whether it is less selfish but more social or not, God sees that all are sinful in heart. So, God sent His only Son to liberate the human race from sin. Paul declares that “Christ has set us free” and “it is for freedom.”(1a) Christ died on the cross and liberated us from our slavery of sin. So, we are free again. When is your Day of Liberation? It is the day when you first believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior and you were born again, i.e., the Day of Regeneration. It is paradoxical that you became genuinely free when you gave up your freedom and called Jesus as your “Lord”, i.e., when you became a servant to God. Why? It was because your freedom was not freedom but slavery and you became not a slave but a free servant who finally overcome the endless desire of selfish life. In fact, genuine freedom was originally endowed by God, but when human rejected to serve others including God but oneself only we lost our freedom and became slaves to our selfish desires and fears. Satan controlled human race by deceiving that it is genuine freedom. Therefore, salvation is liberation and regaining our genuine freedom.

3. However, we have still old man inside and old habit of slavery. Like the liberated Jews in Exodus, we have a homesickness of slavery. Satan continuously tempts us to return to the old life of easy and simple slavery, and we are tempted to give up our freedom. Erich Fromm wrote a classic entitled Escape from Freedom, in which he insisted that human being are easily tempted to escape from freedom in three ways: (1) authoritarianism(submission to the power) , destructiveness(external and internal destructive behaviors), and automaton conformity(to mass culture as social chameleon). So, Paul discourages this easy escape and commands to keep this precious freedom for which Christ died on the cross: “Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”(1b)

4. The, how can we keep freedom? First of all, we have to live as servants of God and our neighbors. When we live a selfish life to serve ourselves, when we live a free life in selfish way, we lose our genuine freedom. What do you pursue in your life? When you get up in the morning, what do you plan a day and for what do you spend a day? Of course, we humans need to feed, exercise, and satisfy for healthy soul and body. But is it to serve yourself, or to serve others including God and those who need our love? If we use our freedom “to indulge the sinful nature”(13b), we lose freedom and become enslaved as much as we did. The right way to use our freedom and thus keep it is to “serve one another in love”(13c). Love is the way of life to live not for ourselves but for God and others. Freedom and love always go together. Either freedom without love or love without freedom does not make sense. Love and freedom is the will of God our Creator and Savior: “The entire law is summed up in a single command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’.”(14) It is God’s calling to us: “You, my brothers, were called to be free.”(13a) Especially when we not only do not love and serve others but also we hate and harm others, our freedom is seriously destroyed: “If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.”(15); “Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.”(25) This kind of serious damage needs significant time and effort of repentance and healing to recover the lost freedom. Therefore, be extremely careful and avoid hurting and even hating others. After all, it is your freedom to be seriously wounded, not others! And, it is the freedom given by Christ!

5. Another way to keep our freedom is to follow the Holy Spirit, because he is your helper inside to guide you for the right use of freedom. The Holy Spirit is invisible and hard to recognize. Then, how can we follow his guidance? Paul teaches a clear method of discernment: “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.”(16-17) The Holy Spirit is against the desires and acts of sinful nature, and therefore it is to follow him not to indulge our sinful desires and commit the obvious acts of sinful nature such as “sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.”(19-21) Such list of sin is found in the Word of God which the Holy Spirit inspired for our guidance. Therefore, to follow the teaching of the Scripture is to follow the Holy Spirit. He gives the holy desires in our soul: “what we want.”(17) And if some “fruits of the Spirit” such as “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control”(22-23) grow in our soul, we are following him. It is that “we live by the Spirit” and “keep in step with the Spirit.”(25) Genuine freedom as the gift of God yields holiness, which is overcoming our old spirit of slavery and imitating God who is endless love to be patient and serve others including us.

6. Remember that you are called for freedom. If you lose freedom that Christ recovered, your life is failure to meet the divine calling. Do not forget that when you use your freedom for yourselves your freedom is damaged and you are enslaved again that much while when you use your freedom to serve God and your neighbors in need your freedom is grown and strengthened. May God bless you to achieve your genuine freedom and live your life as truly free!