“Freedom isn’t free.” The interim rector (pastor) at the Episcopal church I work for said that the week before Veterans Day. I have worked for the same church for almost seven and a half years and Veterans Day was the only federal holiday we did not observe by closing the office. However, this year was different. The interim rector, who is a veteran herself, decided we should close the office. After our conversation, I couldn’t help but ponder the deeper meaning behind her phrase “freedom isn’t free.”
I am not a history buff, this sometimes makes my job harder since I work for a historic 1746 church. Many people ask historical questions about the church which I cannot answer. However, I do know a smidgen about the history of our country, enough to know that war has not always been an occurrence on foreign soil. Even the small community, where our Highland church is located, experienced some battles during the civil war and neighboring areas also played a part in the revolutionary war including at the church where I work. Many people who came to the new world were searching for religious freedom. Ironically, they didn’t seem to want to give that freedom to anyone else. Across the globe, people have lost their lives fighting for what they believed in whether for religious or economic reasons or for independence. Many people have died to secure the Word of God for you and me. As residents of the United States, we have freedom to obtain that Word and read it at our leisure. I praise God that I have been granted an education and am able to study His Word freely. I realize how little I truly appreciate these blessings and privileges.
“Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, ‘If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.’ They answered Him, ‘We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, “You will be made free”?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed’” (John 8:31-36). “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage” (Exodus 20:2).
Jesus has freed those who believe in Him from the shackles of sin but at what cost to Himself? “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit” (1 Peter 3:18). In 1 Corinthians 6 at the end of verse 19 and the beginning of verse 20, Paul says we are not our own for we were bought at a price. And Peter tells us what that price was: “you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold… but with the precious blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:18-19a). Freedom from sin is expensive, so expensive we don’t have the ability to buy it ourselves, but as the hymn goes “Jesus paid it all.” God has always desired for His people to be free both spiritually and physically. However, from the time of Adam, humanity has always chosen the path of slavery to sin which has brought both spiritual and physical slavery.
Freedom from sin is true freedom, and Jesus promises to help anyone achieve that freedom through Him. True freedom is knowing the truth and having the freedom to act on it. Once the Israelites came out of Egypt, out of physical slavery, God gave them His law to promote spiritual and physical freedom, not bondage. The laws of truth promote the worship of the one true God and ensure we treat each other as we wish to be treated. Once we accept Jesus Christ into our hearts, He makes changes in us, and as long as we are willing to let Him rule over us, He will guide us safely through the trenches until we arrive in the promised land. He only asks that we believe the truth of Jesus’s sacrifice and live like we believe it. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8).
Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross was a onetime event. “But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified” (Hebrews 10:12-14). Freedom isn’t free but the gift of the salvation of God was purchased for you and for me and for every single other person you will ever meet. Those who accept the gift of God’s salvation are no longer slaves of sin, “and having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness” (Romans 6:18).
Freedom isn’t free. There are those among us who are earthly veterans, be sure each Veterans Day to thank those people for protecting the freedoms we enjoy as a country. However, none of us are spiritual veterans as we are all still in active duty, serving the Lord as best we can no matter our age or occupation. So encourage one another as we are all under the assaults of the enemy. I look forward to the day when there will be the biggest veterans day celebration ever seen, and Jesus Himself will lead the parade. I pray we will all be there to celebrate together in the new earth!