Reflection

Free from sin

Lieutenant Chris Button considers the kind of freedom that Jesus offers us

AS members of a modern Western liberal democracy, we are perhaps used to freedom being a calling card of our society. The rhetoric of war, for example, is one of fighting to defend freedom. Questions of law regarding personal and communal freedoms have been prominent during the Covid-19 pandemic. Even the late-stage capitalism that dominates our consumerist society demands that the individual choice of the buyer is the foundational strength of a market economy. But is this the sort of freedom spoken about in the Bible? What kind of freedom should Christians claim?

Jesus told the disciples that the truth would set them free (see John 8:32).

Taking this literally they responded by saying that they had never been slaves – why would they need to be set free? You can almost hear the sigh as Jesus replied that whenever a person sins they make themselves a slave to sin, captured by its power over their lives. This is set out clearly in Romans 7:14–20. Paul says that, although he knows what is good because of the law of God, he cannot help but do evil by breaking that law – for even though he may delight in the law in his heart and mind, he still finds himself sinning because he is a slave to the power of sin.

Martin Luther described this as being ‘the heart turned inwards’ – the idea that our heart is like a curved bowl or barrel, so that no matter how much we try to do what is good for others, we cannot help but be directed back to our own self-interest. It’s like the episode of Friends when Phoebe is trying to do a selfless act but keeps on choosing to take actions that make her feel better rather than because they are good for the other person.

Being a slave to sin does not have to be about big things. It is frequently as subtle and quiet as selfishness and self-interest, even to the extent that we put our own personal purity and salvation before the needs of the people around us.

Paul needed something to break apart his heart, rescuing him from his slavery to sin, so that he could follow Jesus in the way he was meant to. So do we. Our ability to choose remains intact. We are free to choose whatever we want, but our will – that part of us which is the core of who we are and decides how we behave – is still in slavery to sin and so can only sin. We cannot be free from it simply by desiring it or working to achieve it, precisely because we are slaves to sin. We need to be set free.

Jesus tells us that the truth will set us free, and says he is ‘the way and the truth and the life’ (John 14:6). It is Jesus who can set us free from sin, having destroyed its power on the cross. The grace of God frees us from our sin and allows us to follow Jesus. We may then accept this grace, this salvation, poured out for humanity. We are able to accept Christ’s salvation only because of the grace already given to us through Christ’s work of salvation.

The freedom of a Christian is not freedom in the abstract, nor is it an expression of our capacity to decide between two different brands of cereal or even evidenced by our ethical decisions. Our freedom is the freedom from sin, in Christ. For when we are in Christ – willingly and actively participating in the salvation God has graciously granted to us through Christ – then we are made a ‘new creation’ (2 Corinthians 5:17).

This freedom is not just for ourselves. We are free from sin in Christ so that we can be free for the sake of others. We are set free from sin so that we can love other people.

That is Christian freedom. It is not about our choice, our capacity to act or even our ability to preserve our salvation. It is about being able to love and serve the people around us. Christian freedom is not about me it is about other people. Christian freedom is the kind of freedom Christ showed when he went to the cross. That is the kind of freedom we should claim.

LIEUTENANT CHRIS BUTTON LIEU

Corps Officer Wandsworth