Because the way we see it in our society, Christians live a pretty hard life. They go to church every Sunday and miss out on other stuff going on at the weekend. They are excluded from the wild and dizzy heights of alcohol fuelled partying, because their Bible tells them they should not get drunk. They can’t fool around with different people and ‘explore their sexuality’, they can’t even date anyone they choose; it must be a Christian. And if they do eventually find that Christian boyfriend or girlfriend, they can’t have sex with them until marriage. And the list goes on...

{mosgoogle left} We’re so used to thinking of Christianity as a limitation, a kill-joy, a set of “thou-shalt-nots”. But is that really an accurate view of things? Could it be possible that Christians are actually freer than you might think?

Listen to the way James describes the message of the Bible; “The perfect law that gives freedom” (James 1:25). Now when you read those words, it initially sounds like a contradiction in terms, right? What is Law? A list of dos and don’ts, designed to control human behaviour; so how on earth can that give us freedom when it is by nature restrictive? Well, let’s think about the Bible for a bit. What is it about? The crucial message of the Bible is that 2008 years ago, Jesus – God’s son – came down to earth as a Saviour, to rescue a sinful, lost, broken and condemned humanity. He lived a perfect life, and then at the age of 33 was put to death on the cross, as a punishment for sin...not his sin (he didn’t have any) but our sin. The sin of the world was laid on his shoulders. God was willing to accept sinful people into a relationship with him because Jesus had paid the price. And anyone who admits to God they are sinful, trusts that their sin was paid for by Jesus on the cross, and accepts that free gift of forgiveness, can live forever in relationship with God and when they die, can continue that relationship of perfection face to face with Him in Heaven.

The only ‘law’ that will count at the end of our lives is whether we accepted Jesus as our Saviour or not. Those who accepted him will enter into an eternal life in God’s presence. Those who did not will be eternally cut off from God (the Bible calls this ‘hell’). Now that’s a big message. Maybe you are starting to see where freedom comes into it... you see Christians are free from the three biggest threats to human freedom in existence: Sin, death, and God’s punishment.

Free people

When you trust in God to forgive you because of what Jesus did in your place, you are released from the chains of guilt surrounding your past, present and future sins. Not only that, but you are free from the fear of the punishment from God that your sin deserves; Jesus took it on the cross, so you know you won’t have to! It gets better...once you know that God accepts you because of Jesus, and not because you are perfect, you are free from doing things for the sake of earning God’s favour. You don’t have to live a life of restrictive legalism, because you are free from that. Jesus lived a perfect life for you, so you don’t have to go round trying to be the perfect person in the hope that it will get you to Heaven. And what about death itself when it finally comes? Yes, free from the power of that too! When someone becomes a Christian, death is merely passing from this world to a far greater one in the presence of God. You have eternal life.

Suddenly, when you put the concept of freedom within this perspective, the rest of society doesn’t look so free. Sure, they can sleep with whomever; they can drink as much as they want, and they can ignore God in this life, but is that real freedom? Ultimately those things come at a price... they are not free at all. People who choose to live like that, in rebellion to God, must face consequences. Their life is lived in slavery to sin, and when death dawns on them one day, they will not be able to escape facing the punishment of a Holy God for a life lived in ignorance of and disobedience towards Him.

And here’s the other side of the coin. Not only are Christians free FROM all sin, death and hell, but they are also free TO DO a million other things. Ephesians 3:12 says: “In Jesus and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.” In other words, Christians are free to have an amazing relationship with the living God; they can talk to God wherever they are, about whatever is on their mind, and are free to give Him meaningful worship that He accepts unconditionally. They are free to share their faith with others, free to be brothers and sisters to millions of other Christians, free to serve God in whatever way they can, with whatever they have.