The price of Freedom
The word “freedom.”
is quite literally, tossed about these days. When we mention this word
“Freedom”, it come with individual rights and choices. Some in our culture will
use this word, “freedom’ to imply there should be no limits, no restrictions,
not cost for autonomy and liberty.
Some associate “Freedom,”
with license, assuming that self-determination and independence implies no
responsibilities or accountabilities.
On this Reformation Sunday, there is a sense of Freedom
purchased for us by the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Today, we consider the
price of Freedom.
1. Freedom comes at a cost – Freedom is not free. It is bought with a price.
And the precious blood of Christ paid for the cost of freedom. And the price that was paid to redeem you;
set you free from the wrath of an offended God, to cover the cost of the
penalty of your sin, to reconcile you back to God was the cost of the precious
blood of Jesus.
The Savior paid for you redemption with His own blood. “You were bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your Spirit, which are God’s” thus St. Paul teaches. – 1 Corinthians 6:20
Yes, you were bout with a price. It cost the Savior something
with which to redeem you. The price that was paid to redeem you set you free
from the wrath and penalty of sin. The price to reconcile you back to God was
the cost of blood, which was shed by Christ at Calvary.
The writer to the Hebrews explains,” Neither by the blood of
goats and calves but by His own blood entered in once into the holy place,
having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and goats
and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctifies to the purifying of
the flesh; how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal
spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead
works to serve the living God. “
2. The price Christ’s blood came ironically with the kiss of betrayal.
Thirty pieces of silver was the price for which Judas
Iscariot betrayed Jesus. Yet in His innocent suffering and death, the blood of
Jesus will cleans you of all sin. This the Scriptures teach us; “In him we have
redemption through his bold, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to
the riches of his grace. “ -Ephesians 1:7
“Knowing that you were
ransomed from your futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with
perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of
Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. – 1 Peter 1:18-129
He himself bore our sin
inn his body on the tree that we might die to sin and live unto righteousness. By
His wounds, you have been healed. – 1Peter 2:24
For our sake, He made
him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness
of God. – 2 Corinthians
5:231
3. That freedom is forgiveness in Christ.
In Christ, all sin is forgiven
period, its freedom from paying an unpayable sin debut and so much more- You
receive freedom from evil’s allure. Freedom from hell. Freedom from guilt.
Freedom from lying, cheating, steeling.
The freedom of clarity when the fog
of faulty thinking is lifted.
And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and
to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people
for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.” – Revelation 5:9
But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our
iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds,
we are healed. -Isaiah
53:5
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for
us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— -Galatians 3:13
For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give
his life as a ransom for many.” -Mark 10:45
The Savior grants you freedom to forgive yourself and the freedom to forgive others.
The Savior’s forgiveness allow you to
walk out of the jail cell that is your pride into the freedom to forgive
others. Christ forgives you so you are now free to forgive others around you
and to walk in that forgiveness which brings you true freedom.
By grace through faith in Jesus, the
Father forgives you. Joyfully you receive this forgiveness. Then you offer
kindness, compassion, and mercy to others forgiving as Christ has forgiven you.
Christ’s forgiveness is a cycle of freedom. The freedom you find in forgiveness
is the freedom to love others, to forgive more freely as Christ has set you
free.
Words-895
Passive Sentences – 13%
Readability – 75.2%
Reading Level -6.8
