Freedom

Introduction According to the prophet Isaiah, liberty and freedom would be hallmarks of the Messianic age (Isa. 61:1-3). At the beginning of His ministry, Jesus quoted Isaiah, and said, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:16-21).

Biblical Usage In the New Testament, several related Greek words communicate the idea of freedom: The noun eleutheria signifies “the state of being free, freedom, liberty” The adjective eleutheros describes one who is “free, i.e. not a slave or not under restraint” The verb eleutheroō means “to make (or set) free” or “to exempt one from liability”

Definition The Greek noun eleutheria signifies “liberty, freedom” [Thomas 1657]. BDAG say it refers to “the state of being free, freedom, liberty.”

Occurrences This word occurs 11x in 10 NT verses (Rom. 8:21; 1 Cor. 10:29; 2 Cor. 3:17; Gal. 2:4; 5:1, 13; James 1:25; 2:12; 1 Pet. 2:16; 2 Pet. 2:19).

Spiritual Freedom Present Freedom in Christ Future Freedom in Eternity

Present Freedom in Christ In Jesus Christ and the revelation of the gospel, there is liberty, especially when compared to the Old Covenant (2 Cor. 3:12-18). Therefore, we must submit to the perfect law of liberty, being not merely hearers but doers of the word (James 1:21-25), knowing that we will be judged by this self-same standard (James 2:8-13).

Present Freedom in Christ In matters of liberty, believers enjoy freedom of conscience. Discussing the issue of eating meats, Paul balanced the freedom that we enjoy in matters of indifference with the influence that we exert upon one another, especially upon weaker brethren (1 Cor. 10:23-30).

Future Freedom in Eternity God’s spiritual creation, the church, longs to be set free from its slavery to corruption into the future freedom of the glory of the children of God (Rom. 8:18-21).

Spiritual Slavery Threat of Error Threat of Carnality

Threat of Error Attempting to bind the Law of Moses, Judaizing teachers sought to enslave believers to a false standard (Gal. 2:1-5). Accordingly, Paul urged his readers to keep standing firm in the freedom that Christ affords, and be not subject again to a yoke of slavery (Gal. 5:1-6).

Threat of Carnality Fleshly desire also poses a threat to the freedom that we enjoy in Jesus Christ (Gal. 5:13-26). Offering a similar admonition, Peter said, “Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God” (1 Pet. 2:13-17, esp. v. 16).

Threat of Carnality False teachers promise freedom, but in reality they are slaves of corruption, along with all who become entangled with the yoke of sin (2 Pet. 2:17-22).

Conclusion Through obedience to the gospel, we enjoy present freedom in Christ (John 8:31-32; Rom. 8:1-2). Submission to God’s will is required if we are to enjoy future freedom in eternity (Rom. 8:31-39; Gal. 3:26- 29). Furthermore, we must recognize that the spiritual freedoms we enjoy in Jesus are threatened by religious error & moral carnality (John 8:34-36; 2 Pet. 2:18-19).