Freedom. What does it actually mean? Am I truly free if temptation remains?
Spiritual freedom is most often portrayed as this easy concept of transformation that once you have it, it’s finished – the job is done, no more struggling. However, freedom doesn’t mean that you are free from all temptation and sin. In Romans 7:21-25 the Apostle Paul wrote “So I discover this principle: When I want to do what is good, evil is with me. For in my inner self I joyfully agree with God’s law. But I see a different law in the parts of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and taking me prisoner to the law of sin in the parts of my body. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this dying body? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I myself am a slave to the law of God, but with my flesh, to the law of sin (ESV).” Even Paul, who was completely saved and transformed by the Lord, still battled with his sinful flesh.
I have been struggling with the same temptation for the majority of my life. While my faith has grown, the temptation has remained. This situation has led me to question the Lord's love for me, His faithfulness to redeem, but most of all, what freedom actually means. I used to believe that in order to actually be saved, I had to be completely free from that sin. I also believed that the Lord would withhold good things from me to punish me for my sin. Neither of those beliefs portray the true freedom of the Gospel and the loving God that created us.
2 Corinthians 3:17 says that “the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom (ESV).” Two years ago, I would’ve read that verse and thought it meant that if the Spirit of the Lord was within me, then I would never struggle with specific sins again. As I’ve processed through this black and white concept of freedom, I now read that verse very differently. There is a gray area in freedom – a tension in freedom – that means you may still struggle, but you are free from the hold it has over you. So, if the Spirit of the Lord is within you, you are free. Free from the guilt that tries to turn you from the Lord. Free from the shame that keeps you from confessing to your community. Free.
Now I know it may be confusing or hard to hear that you will still struggle. You may ask yourself, “Well if the Lord loves me and wants what's best for me, why can’t He take this away?” But the Lord is sovereign over all and does have the power to do that. So the question then becomes, “Why won’t He take this away?” I have asked myself that same question every day for the last ten years. Have I gotten a crystal clear answer? No. But do I have an answer that is sufficient for me? Yes. In 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, Paul wrote: “So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong (ESV).” Now let me clarify. In no way am I saying that the thorn Paul references was a temptation, because the Bible does not clarify what the thorn was. I will also never claim it is okay to be content with temptation and sin; there is never any excuse for sin or for giving up in the battle against it. That would go completely against everything the Lord says. However, I wanted to reference this scripture to show you that the Lord’s undeserving love and grace He shows is the sufficient answer for me. Instead of viewing my continual temptation as something the Lord is refusing to free me from, I have to choose daily to see it as something that the Lord is using in my testimony to further glorify Himself. That sounds a little weird doesn’t it? How does the Lord glorify Himself by using my sin? 1 Peter 4:11 says “whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies — in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen (ESV).” The Lord is to be glorified in all things. To Him be the glory on the days that I am not tempted. To Him be the glory on the days when the temptation seems to be too strong for my weak flesh. When I share my testimony I will share that the temptation remains, but the Lord will still be glorified because of how His faithfulness has walked me through each battle. If the Lord grants me freedom from this temptation, praise Him because He is the only who can! But if not, I will praise Him because Jesus died on the cross for that sin. And I will praise Him because He will continue to use it to humble me before Him and deepen my faith. His will is the only will to be done, and there is freedom in knowing that He has the best will for my life, whether I understand it or not. But I will hold my hands open before the Lord and continue to hope and pray for the day that this temptation is gone.
All in all, I want to encourage you that it is very possible the Lord may free you from certain temptations in your life. But if not, it does not bring into question His sovereignty, love, or grace. Instead, the battle He has gone before you in, is an example of how He is sovereign, loving, and shows us immense grace in the midst of our failure.
I want to leave you with this. Romans 8:26-30 says, “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searched hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified (ESV).” Remember the verse at the beginning of this post? Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom. Not only that, but the Spirit of the Lord will intercede for you in your weakness according to His will. It is because of the Father’s gift of the Spirit that in our weakness we are made strong. If you take a step back and align your attention on the Lord, you will see that the Father has completely surrounded you. He has all of the control. And that, my friends, is freedom.
“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.” (Galatians 5:1 ESV)
“Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living servants of God.” (1 Peter 2:16 ESV)
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