If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed (John 8:36, NIV).
If slaves could set themselves free, they wouldn’t really be slaves, would they? But Christ says, “I can set you free.”
Christ does not drag you, kicking and screaming, to follow him. We follow Christ because we want to. God shines his light into your mind and pours his love into your heart. What happens? The rockets of the will start moving in a new direction.
Christ sets the will free in regeneration so that, gladly and freely, you choose to follow Christ! Paul says, “We make it our aim to please him” (2 Cor. 5:9). Do you see how wonderful that is? It is the evidence of this miracle in your life.
Will we always choose what’s best after we become Christians? No. The freedom Christ promises is not freedom from the struggle with sin, but freedom from slavery to sin. You will fail, because the prevailing disposition of your soul is not the only disposition of your soul.
There may be times when you fall into pride or lust or lies or greed, but at the core of your being, you know that is not what you want. You want to honor Christ. You want to walk in purity and to grow in holiness. You want that because you are a new creation in Christ.
So be who you are! True freedom is when what God calls you to do and what you most want to do turn out to be the same thing. That is the freedom Christ gives. If you have this freedom you are free indeed!
Do you have this freedom?
