Freedom Not Independence

by Samuel Parrish, Campus Pastor, LHM Charleston, SC

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. (Galatians 5:1)

In the United States, we’ve just celebrated one of our most important holidays in terms of national identity. Born from the colonial system, we celebrate our independence, our right to rule ourselves. Over the holiday weekend, Downtown Charleston was full of families decked out in matching red, white and blue t-shirts with “FREEDOM!” written in bold lettering. Amidst the smell of hotdogs and sunscreen in the air and under fireworks over the very harbor the British invaded 240 years ago, it is easy for freedom and independence to become synonymous in the American psyche. While the fourth of July may be a strictly American phenomenon, this equating of freedom and independence is not. If we aren’t careful, we as believers will read independence into every mention of freedom in the New Testament to our spiritual detriment.

New Testament writers do not take our freedom in Christ lightly. In Ephesians and Colossians, Paul declares our freedom as one of the greatest blessings of being in Christ while simultaneously providing some of his strongest warnings against being taken captive again by sin and the snares of the enemy. In Romans 8, creation continues to groan awaiting its freedom from the ongoing effects of sin. In 1 Peter, we are called to live as free people and to also be conform to God’s holiness. We have been freed from sin. We have been freed to serve in the kingdom of light. In Christ, we are FREE! But we are not independent.

The New Testament attests to this mutual exclusion of freedom and independence in multiple places. In 1 Corinthians, Paul answers a charge against his apostleship by declaring himself a servant and steward of the words of God. For Paul, there is no distinction: Jesus is both savior and lord. The same blessing that sets us free from the bondage to sin compels us to obedience to Christ. In Jude, to reject authority is the same as taking sides with some of the most unsavory characters in the Old Testament and with it the judgment they received.

Christ’s blood was not spilled for my independence. Rather, it was spilled for my salvation and adoption—the ultimate example of our dependence on God. As glorious as the Gospel is, if we miss the beauty of Christ’s lordship, we miss the Gospel entirely. Yet, the work of the Holy Spirit is not complete merely when we see our need for a savior. Many of us grew up in families that were out of control and we were given broken tools for how to handle trouble in this life. Through choices of our own, we have made the path forward even more difficult, and are looking for a way to escape hardship. Beautifully, the Gospel promises a way out from our past—freedom through dependence. The same faith that asks us to trust in a Good Father who will save us from our sin also asks us to dependently trust in a Benevolent Lord who instructs us in our way forward. May we see our obedience as the sweet fragrance of incense the Psalmists promise it to be!

Where do you need grace to see submission as a beautiful thing?

Where do you struggle to believe that Christ has a better way forward?

What are some additional passages in scripture that address freedom, obedience, or lordship?

Are you Utterly Saved?

By Ricky Chelette, Executive Director

This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant.

The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. (Heb 7:22-25 ESV)

One afternoon I found myself talking with a young man who professed belief in Jesus. His parents raised him in the church. He regularly studied the bible. He believed Jesus was the son of God who died for his sins and as he shared more and more of his story, it was evident that Christ had indeed accomplished much in and through his life. He had experienced Jesus personally and powerfully.

However, there was one area in his life that seemed beyond Christ’s touch—his same sex attraction. For years he prayed these feelings would go away and he was convinced scripture taught against such behavior, but despite his beliefs and his diligence, his feelings prevailed. He was utterly frustrated.

As we continued to talk, it became apparent to me that his real dilemma was not about his sexual struggle or even his temptation to act out with other men. His real struggle was a matter of deep-seated belief. Though he indeed knew Jesus, he did not believe Jesus was powerful enough to save every part of his life. Of course, Jesus could assist him with his greed and his gluttony, his anger and his loneliness, or even his pride, but this struggle was just too much.

This young man fell into a trap common to all Christians. Namely, we believe Christ can get us into heaven, but we don’t really believe that He can transform everything about our lives, especially our most deeply felt desires.

As New Testament believers, we partake in a covenantal relationship that can transform all aspects of our lives. The Preacher of Hebrews highlights the limited nature of the old covenant by demonstrating that Jesus “is the guarantor of a better covenant.” With Jesus, there is a new empowerment given to believers. He is the Son of God who is eternally seated at the right hand of the Father. He is the one who is constantly making intercession for our sins with direct access to the Father. He is the one who “is able to save to the uttermost” (25). In other words, there is nothing Jesus can’t transform, redeem, and restore. But do we really believe that?

When the preacher says Jesus “is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him,” I think he implies these three specific truths:

1.    Jesus can utterly redeem our past. Jesus is able to redeem the terrible moments and early childhood wounds of our lives. Too many of us live as victims of our history, always being defined by what has happen to us rather than embracing who we now are in Christ.

2.   Jesus can utterly rescue our present. Each day we experience a plethora of temptations, trials, and difficulties. Each day we are given opportunities to submit to our inclinations to sin or submit to our Savior who has ransomed our soul. When we face that decision, Jesus promises He will make a way of escape, redeeming the moment and exhibiting His power in us (1 Cor 10:13).

3.   Jesus can utterly fulfill His promises. Often, we believe His Word is true for others, but we doubt it for ourselves. Why? All of the Bible shows that He is faithful. Not always are His promises revealed as we expect and not always in the time frame we hoped for, but He is faithful, even when we are not (2 Tim 2:13).

Do you believe God can utterly save you? Are there places in your life you refuse to let Him enter? Are there things you believe are simply too much, too horrific, too terrible, or just too difficult for Him to heal? Those are the very places He wants to enter to bring healing and wholeness. But He will not heal what you are not willing to reveal.

Jesus wants to utterly, completely, and unrestrictedly save us, redeem us, and restore us as His sons and daughters. Will you trust Him to do what only He can do?

Meditate, Memorize, and Memorialize

By Samuel Parrish, Campus Director, LHM Charleston, SC

“… by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.”

2 Peter 1:4

As a young man, I needed braces to straighten my teeth. Consequently, many foods were off limits to me because they would ruin the detested metal attached to my face. The burden of abstaining from all candy broke my young heart. To ease this load, my dad agreed to take on the challenge with me and not eat the foods I couldn’t eat. I was ecstatic…until the afternoon I walked in and found him eating a bag of Laffy Taffy.

In that moment, I didn’t remember the second job he took on so I could own an oboe instead of renting one. I didn’t remember the hours he spent with me building Lego castles when I didn’t want to play outside. Instead, I remembered a promise I was watching him break.

Everything we do is the result of promises made and promises broken. And I’m very good at remembering broken promises. We have selective memories as it is, but suffering seems to make it even worse. This mindset even pervades our spiritual lives. We say things like,  “It doesn’t matter what God has done for me in the past. If this circumstance does not change, He isn’t good.”

In his second letter, Peter tells the early church—during a time of great suffering—that we can endure precisely because we have a Father who never breaks His promises. Paul says in verse 3 that the knowledge of Christ, the very truth He has shared about Himself with us, assures us “precious and very great promises.”

These eternal promises offer escape from the dark shadow of a lifetime of broken promises:

Every promise for protection where we ended up wounded.

Every promise for relationship where we ended up alone.

Every promise for acceptance where we ended up rejected.

In Christ, we are partakers of the divine nature, a wondrous and mysterious union with God as our Father, Jesus as our Lord, and the Holy Spirit as our Comforter and Guide! We are no longer bound by the corruption of this world, or even the sinful desires of our own hearts.

Yet we will hurt again, be betrayed again, or fall to sin…again. How do we remember that we are the benefactors of new and glorious promises?

We meditate on them.

Joshua commands the people of Israel to think on the law of the Lord night and day in chapter 1 of the book that bears his name. As simplistic as it may sound, the best way to not forget the promises of God is to think about them on purpose. But how do we keep the truth from devolving into cliché if we are thinking about it all the time?

We memorize them.

Difficulties in life and the sudden attacks of the enemy easily tear down Christian platitudes and nebulous truisms about God. The first temptation was to doubt God’s words, and our first parents fell because they didn’t remember them precisely. How much easier will it be to fulfill the command to meditate on them night and day if you have large sections of scripture committed to memory?

Lastly, we memorialize them.

It can be as simple as a list you keep of what God has done in your life since you started following Him. If you can’t see the hand of the Lord on your life, ask Him for eyes to see it! The Holy Spirit brings clarity, not confusion, and works in our lives for us to see God as most glorious!

So what broken promises continue to define you? And what might a purposed pursuit of God’s promises change in how you see Him, your life, and your struggles with sin?