whatever we want. It is embracing the right restraints and aligning our wants with God’s will, so we can pursue what is true and good and beautiful.
Modern freedom is often defined as individual autonomy—the ability to choose without external constraints—but this vision is ultimately empty. True freedom isn’t about the absence of limits but about embracing the right ones, as every meaningful relationship requires sacrificing some freedoms for the sake of love and commitment.
The Bible presents a deeper vision of freedom, not as mere self-determination but as alignment with God’s will, seen in how Israel was freed from Egypt to worship God and how Jesus came to liberate us from sin. In his first sermon, Jesus declared himself the long-promised Liberator, giving up his life so we could be truly free—not for self-indulgence but for a life led by the Spirit. Real freedom isn’t doing whatever we want; it’s wanting what’s good, true, and beautiful, and walking in the freedom Christ supplies.
The Christian life is one of death to self and rising to “walk in the newness of life” (Romans 6:4), and that new life is characterized by thoughts about Him who saved us, not thoughts about the dead flesh that has been crucified with Christ. When we are continually thinking about ourselves and indulging the flesh in sins we have been freed from, we are essentially carrying around a corpse, full of rottenness and death. The only way to bury it fully is by the power of the Spirit who is the only source of strength. We strengthen the new nature by continually feeding on the Word of God, and through prayer we obtain the power we need to escape the desire to return to the old life of sin. Then we will realize that our new status as slaves to Christ is the only true freedom, and we will call upon His power to “not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires” Romans 6:12
“You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:32
HT: Trevin Wax
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