Freedom From Sin Or Freedom To Sin?

When Jesus died to pay for our sins, He also provided the way for us to be free from the entanglements of sin. But many see it differently.

Some think that Jesus came to set us free, but not from sin, but from the limitations that sin puts on us as well as from the consequences of sin. In the minds of some people, their understanding leads them to believe that we are free because the limitations or boundaries of sin around us are removed. But is this what the Bible teaches us?

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? (Romans 6:1,2 ESV)

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. (Galatians 5:1,2 ESV)

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,  and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”  They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”
 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever.  So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. (John 8: 31-36 ESV)

   So did Jesus die for us so we could do what we want, but without the boundaries and consequences? Like the verse above says, 'By no means'. 

   We live in a 'free' country. What does that mean though? Are we free to do whatever we want? Are the boundaries taken away so we can do anything that pleases us? What exactly are we free from?

   If you look down through History, you will see that it is extremely rare that people lived in countries that were 'free'. People did not elect kings. People had to do whatever the authorities said to do. That was how it was.

   Before our country came together, the king also presided over the church. There was a combination of royalty and clergy. No one could vote on this, whether they wanted to or not. There was no voting option. That is a big reason why our country got started in the first place.

   Throughout History, women did not have rights. Women, in many cultures even today, are considered like second class citizens. We have the privilege in America to vote. Voting is not only for white males either. Citizens who are of age can all vote. This is unheard of in most countries, at least the way it is carried out here.

   One reason people misunderstand freedom is because they feel 'entitled' to whatever they want or think they need. Freedom is costly for some. Think about the Cross. Jesus died on the Cross so that we could go free. It cost Him something, and He paid a grand price for our freedom. 

   There are boundaries with freedom too. We have freedom of religion in our country. But our freedom cannot violate someone else's freedom. For example, if our religion tells us to kill people who won't submit to our religion, then we cannot carry that action out. It would be like saying, 'I have rights but you don't, because your rights will end when I kill you, and I can kill you because we have freedom of religion here and my religion says I should kill you unless you submit to my religion."

   So the answer to the above question is, not freedom to sin, but freedom from sin. Sin traps us and is the weapon Satan uses to destroy us. We can't see all that is involved in sin, but we can see the affects of sin in the lives of many people, including ourselves, many times.

   We don't have freedom to sin, but we can be totally set free from the slavery of sin!

We so easily get tangled up in sin. Sin is a snare and will trap us