Happy Fourth of July!

Freedom does not mean being free from all restraints. Freedom is found when we’re bound to our purpose.

There is a Thomas the Tank Engine picture with Thomas on his side, having fallen off the train tracks.

He is shouting, “I am free! I am free at last! I’ve fallen off the rails and I’m free!”

The psalmist declared, “I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts” (Psalm 119:45).

Freedom is found when we bind ourselves to God’s truth found in God’s word. As absurd it is for Thomas the Tank Engine to think he is free when he has derailed, it is just as absurd for us to think we are free when we have abandoned God’s truth.

We are only free when we find ourselves in God’s truth.

“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36).

One of the “grippiest” cars I’ve ever driven is the Porsche 911. The way this car corners defies the laws of nature. It is scary how this car can corner. It is also one of the quickest and fastest cars I’ve ever driven. In the right hands, this car can truly do amazing things on a race track.

But, imagine the owner of a Porsche 911 using the car to pull his boat to the lake. A couple of things would happen:

• One, the Porsche 911 would be a terrible tower of boats. It would absolutely suck at it.
• Two, you would ruin the engine, transmission, the clutch, etc. on the Porsche.

It would be a diabolical shame to use the Porsche to tow anything! Why? That’s not what it was meant for. It was meant to race! It was meant to take corners like no car has a business taking corners!

If you want to tow a boat, get a truck.

That’s why it’s crucial to know what a thing is made for.

What is true of Porsches is also true of us. If you want to know how to truly be free to be what you were created to be, you have to go to the Creator. You have to go to the Son who has set you free. What did the Son set you free for?

The key to your freedom lies in knowing what the Creator created you for.

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1).

I was asked recently how sinners are saved. The person asking wanted to know if there was any other way than through Jesus Christ. What if a person didn’t believe in Jesus? What if a person didn’t know Jesus? Isn’t there some plan B by which God weighs the good and the bad and gives a person a pathway to salvation?

When it comes to salvation, there is only one way. Jesus declared, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

This is what the Apostle Paul was saying to the church in Galatia. There were those in the church who were teaching that a person needed to go through circumcision in order to become a Christian. In other words, there were things you needed to do in order to gain salvation. And that’s the thing – when it comes to salvation there is not a single thing in the universe we can offer up to God other than our sinful selves. We bring nothing to the table. Salvation is 100% the work and the gift of God.

That’s how Christ set us free from the bondage of sin. So, don’t take up any other laws or rules for salvation and be burdened again by the yoke of slavery to sin. Christ set us free.

We celebrate freedom from sin. That’s ultimately our Independence Day.