“To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, ‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’” (John 8:31-32)

In the promise of the Messiah, Isaiah writes, “The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.” (Isaiah 61:1) The good news which the Messiah will bring includes freedom. Jesus was in the Synagogue in His home of Nazareth when He read, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:18-19) After He closed the scroll, He sat down and said, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:21)

From the beginning, Jesus came to set those who would follow Him free from the wages of sin. This is Paul’s message, “There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3:22b-24) Jesus has now justified us before God by His grace and established a new covenant between God and those who come by faith, that we may live a life transformed by Him. “How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.” (Hebrews 9:14-15)

Our freedom in Christ is to be used to serve God pointing others to the freedom God has given us in Him. “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Galatians 5:13-14) Living our lives in fellowship with Jesus Christ helps us to use our freedom in Him to encourage each other and serve each other as Jesus has done for us. “If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” (1 John 2:6-7)

It is our walk in freedom where God continues to transform our lives and mold us more and more into the image of Jesus Christ. “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:17-18) After being in the presence of God on the Mountain, Moses had to cover his face after God’s glory had passed by. Through the Holy Spirit, God’s glory dwells with us. As we live in freedom following Jesus Christ, He shows His glory through our faithfulness and love expressed by His transformation in our lives.

In the Love of Jesus,

Michael Block