Independence Day

Each year on July 4th our nation observes its annual celebration of Independence Day. Festivities of all kinds are held which serve to remind us of the freedom that we enjoy. This freedom is not to be taken for granted and ever since the terrorist attacks of 9/11 a new appreciation for freedom has been felt by many resulting in a wave of patriotism that has not been witnessed since World War II. Many have considered, perhaps for the first time, the tremendous cost to procure this freedom, realizing that freedom has come at the price of many precious lives being offered on battlefields throughout the world. I trust that every United States citizen reading this cherishes the freedom we have, not only on July 4th, but every day of the year.

The Bible has much to say about freedom, not so much the kind of freedom mentioned above, but the freedom we can have from sin and its consequences. Consider the following dialogue between the Lord Jesus and some religious Jews of His day recorded in John 8:31-36, "If ye continue in My Word, then are ye My disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. They answered Him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant [slave] of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." It is interesting to see that as soon as the Lord Jesus broached the subject of freedom, His hearers immediately thought of being free from the tyranny of other men. Thus their response was that they were free from men (which was actually not true, for they were in bondage to the Roman Empire). But the Lord's reply ("whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin") revealed to them a much deeper form of bondage that enslaved them--the bondage of sin.

These words, though addressed to religious Jews 2,000 years ago, apply equally to all men at all times. The Bible clearly states, "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). Since all have sinned, and whoever commits sin is the servant of sin, we must conclude that all are in bondage to sin. You cannot escape this conclusion, for the Word of God declares it. If you are honest with yourself you will admit that your own experience agrees with the testimony of the Word, for you know that you have sinned and that there are particular sins that enslave you. Add to this bad news the truth that sin has terrible consequences beyond this life, for we read in Romans 6:23, "The wages of sin is death" and in Hebrews 9:27, "It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment." God is holy and hates sin, and as the divine Judge of the universe, this is the two-fold penalty that He has passed because of sin.

Were we to end this article at this point, all would be doom and gloom. But did we not read of the Lord Jesus speaking of being made free? We most assuredly did! He stated clearly and emphatically that "the truth shall make you free" and "if the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." What did He mean by those words spoken as He was looking on to Calvary's cross where He would lay down His sinless life for us and bear the two-fold penalty of sin in our stead? The Bible says, "Christ died for our sins" (1 Corinthians 15:3) and that "Christ also hath suffered once for sins, the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God" (1 Peter 3:18). Yes, dear friend, in love for you and me the Lord Jesus allowed wicked men to put Him on a cross and on that cross He suffered, bled and died for our sins. It was there that God "made Him sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:21). God treated His Son as if He were the sinner, executing His divine justice by pouring out His wrath against sin. After three hours of awful judgment, Jesus cried out, "It is finished: and He bowed His head, and gave up the ghost" (John 19:30). The two-fold penalty against sin (death and judgment) was paid!

That wondrous day, when the Son of God laid down His spotless life for sinners, is the true Independence Day. Because of what happened on that day, you can be set free from sin's bondage and its penalty by claiming the Lord Jesus, by faith, as your Saviour. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved" (Acts 16:31). The moment you trust in Christ and His finished work at Calvary you will be redeemed, which means to be "set free by a purchase price." Then, and only then, will you experience true freedom from sin, and you will gladly give Christ all the glory for your new-found freedom, knowing that "Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold ... but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot" (1 Peter 1:18,19). We mentioned the many lives offered on battlefields to procure our nation's freedom, but salvation brings with it the knowledge that Christ "put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself" (Hebrews 9:26). Such is the infinite value of the Lord Jesus, and the work He did to put away sin!

I would like to relate briefly the conversion of Jesse, a middle-aged man who is now serving a life sentence for murder in a State Penitentiary. I met Jesse at a Bible study which I conduct in a county jail. I found him to be very remorseful for what he had done, so much so that he entertained committing suicide. It was a privilege to point Jesse to the Saviour of sinners and within four weeks he turned in true repentance and faith to the One who said, "If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed" (John 8:36). He found true freedom in Christ and on the day of his sentencing (six months after he trusted Christ) I was able to say to his parents what Jesse had intimated to me many times, "Your son may be spending the rest of his natural life behind bars, but he is truly free." In my correspondence and visitation with him since then, his freedom through Christ has been manifested again and again. May this freedom, dear reader, be yours also!

--Dennis J. Oberg