Investigating the Bible: Freedom neglected

By David Carlson Pastor

Alice Day wrote in the Reader’s Digest about her state trooper husband who stopped a motorist for speeding. The man quickly admitted he had exceeded the posted speed limit, but still insisted on a court hearing. On his day in court, the state trooper was present and watched as the man pled guilty and then happily paid his fine. Outside the courtroom, the puzzled officer asked the man why he had requested the hearing. “I came to this country from Yugoslavia a few years ago,” he explained. “I never had the freedom to ask for a hearing. Now I do.” In the New Testament, many who listened to the teachings of Jesus failed to recognize and accept the freedom he offered in the gospel.

“So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, ‘If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.’ They answered him, ‘We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever, the son remains forever. So, if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.’” (John 8:31-36, English Standard Version used throughout).

Before he was an apostle, Paul was an exemplary Jew. “If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more; circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.” (Philippians 3:4-6) Later he recognized the emptiness of his former life; “…whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” (Philippians 3:7-8).

The late bishop Fulton J. Sheen was speaking to an august group of politicians, including then President Jimmy Carter. He began his remarks by saying, “Fellow sinners,” then he paused and brought the group to laughter by looking directly at President Carter and said, “And that means you too!” “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Even the great apostle Paul had his struggles with sin. “So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand…Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from the body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:21,24).

Some see no possible freedom from the sin and difficulties in their life. Pastor Jim Cymbala, of the Brooklyn Tabernacle, noticed police outside his downtown church. They were looking up at a building across from the church where a jumper was poised on a ledge high above. The minister felt he might be able to help, so he ran up the stairs to where the officers and a therapist were trying unsuccessfully to talk the woman back inside the building. He asked if he could talk with her. They said yes, but to be careful to not get too close; the woman could grab him if she jumped and take him with her. He learned her name was Donna. She was living with a man who abused her. The only other place to stay was on a friend’s couch. In twenty minutes, Pastor Cymbala wrote, “God helped me bring her off the ledge into my arms.” They helped her find temporary housing and she decided to trust in God. A few weeks later, Donna came into the church excited. “Pastor Cymbala, I got my first studio apartment – a place of my own!”

David Carlson Pastor (yes, that is his last name, not his profession) is a Polk County resident and graduate of Bethel Theological Seminary in Minnesota (M.Div., M.Th.).