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In Deuteronomy 30:15-20, the Israelites came upon a major crossroads as they neared their entry into the Promised Land. With it being littered with countless idols and inhabited by wicked individuals who had no regard for the Lord and His laws, the Israelites were faced with a monumental challenge to their devotion to Him. Before they entered the land, Moses shared God’s ultimatum: choose life through submitting to His laws or choose death through yielding to lawless living. Unfortunately, because the people believed freedom came from living as they pleased, they chose sin over submission, thus causing them to receive repeated judgments from God until they eventually succumbed to captivity and destruction.
Today, this same pursuit of a "freedom" apart from God’s provision is at the forefront of our culture. Mirroring the Israelites, most people pursue sinful behaviors and lifestyles because they believe their rebellion will liberate them to experience true joy, fulfilment, and pleasure. However, as the Scriptures clearly warn, the pursuit of sinful desires does not produce these benefits, nor does it bring true freedom.
This is due to sin’s severe consequences and deadly nature. Although our flesh believes indulgence in sinful behaviors brings freedom, multiple verses describe the bondage and destruction such living brings. For example, Galatians 5:17-21 reveal that persisting in the works of the flesh--from misusing human intimacy to displaying hateful conduct and more--robs us of God’s blessings and opportunities. Also, sin destroys our relationship with God by hindering us from living in the Spirit. Furthermore, John 8:34 notes sin’s addictive consequences, with Jesus warning how sin steals our freedom by making us slaves to our wicked lusts and behaviors. Finally, when we become bound to habitual sins, they inflict us with mental, emotional, and even physical damage, thus producing death as James 1:15 notes. The short-term pleasure of sin only produces the illusion of freedom, for living continually in it only brings spiritual destruction, emotional and mental damage, and even physical death.
Fortunately, deliverance from sin into true freedom is freely available to all through Christ’s salvation and the Holy Spirit’s sanctification. First, Romans 6:23 notes how the spiritual death that sin cursed all humanity with can be overcome through trusting in Christ as Savior and Lord. Also, when we are saved, wholly submitting our lives to Christ and abiding in Him allow us to trade sin’s rot and destruction with Christ’s peace, blessings, and fruitfulness, as John 15:1-11 state. Furthermore, John 8:31-32 note how studying God’s Word and living as His disciples bring us freedom through enabling us to discern the lies of this world and live in His perfect truth. Finally, freedom and victory over sin come when we walk by the Spirit and submit ourselves to His work of sanctification, as Galatians 5:16 notes. Thus, true freedom comes not from living as we choose, but choosing to live according to God’s Word and will for our lives through receiving Christ’s salvation and submitting to the Holy Spirit’s sanctification.
Although lawless, sinful living is heralded as true freedom by our culture, the destruction and death it has succumbed to clearly indicate otherwise. In seeking fulfillment for their fleshly lusts, countless people have driven themselves away from God, have become slaves to their sin, and are suffering from its mental, emotional, and physical consequences. Thankfully, God has equipped His children with His perfect love, liberating Gospel, and empowering Spirit, giving us all we need to lead these lost souls to the true freedom solely found in the loving arms of our chain-breaking Savior, Jesus Christ.
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