Bible Study with the Cincottis – Freedom Enjoyed – 03/29/2026
Today’s Bible Study, Authored by Arthur Cincotti.
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Freedom Enjoyed
“I will walk in freedom,
For I have devoted myself to your commandments.”- Ps 119:45 NLT
When we use the word “conservative” Christian, we are speaking of a type who embraces and adheres to the basic principles of the gospel, receiving them as truth and seeking to govern our lives accordingly. Yet, the term is confusing because, as believers, we enjoy liberality, which is typically held in stark contrast to conservatism. We are the most liberal people on the planet because Jesus said, “if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” Jn. 8:36. The trouble is that we often fail to set necessary parameters for this freedom. Like many words, freedom requires qualifiers in order to be fully understood. No one is entirely free in the purest sense of the word. Even in the natural world, we are shackled to death, taxes, gravity, temperature, air quality, and many other elements that sustain life and ensure happiness. To a great extent, freedom is a fallacy.
Today, we are going to explore some of the parameters of the freedom that Christ won for us on the cross, for He says, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Jn. 8:32; remembering that He is the Truth. Truth is not a concept or a laundry list of statutes. Truth is a person whom we are invited to know intimately, and by this relationship, we find freedom.
Sounds complicated. Let’s try to unpack this with more clarity.
First, it is important to know, and admit that before knowing Christ, we were in bondage, and bondage is the opposite of freedom. God gives us an amazing word picture in the saga of the children of Israel under the yoke of slavery in Egypt. Exodus 1:11 says, “Therefore they (the Egyptians) set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh supply cities, Pithom and Raamases.” Interestingly, Pithom, derived from the Egyptian “Per-Atum” which means “House of Atum,” is an important deity in the Egyptian pantheon. Wherever you see bondage, you will find a god.
The New Testament expression of this is freedom, or deliverance, from the bondage of sin. That is to say, from our propensity to live our lives contrary to and even in defiance of God’s created order. Sin is a hard taskmaster, as many of us know, and just as assuredly as Egypt was wooing the children of Israel back, sin likewise beacons us to re-engage with the pleasures our distorted memories tell us were there.
This is a description of what we were saved from. It begins to color in our notion of freedom. Bondage, harshness, control, and punishment are not necessarily hallmarks of freedom, but Paul did say, “when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.” Rm. 6:20. There is value in examining the opposite of a thing in order to better understand the thing itself.
Just as assuredly as the children of Israel were taken to a new address, our call to freedom involves repentance, which is a new direction and manner of thinking. We are called from one place to a place. Freedom is never a nebulous state of nothingness. Creation is purpose-oriented, and the discovery of purpose is one of the central endeavors of life. Though the Israelite’s initial release was dramatic and substantial, wandering around in the wilderness was not exactly much of a promotion. Even though all their needs were met, there was a substantial lack of purpose, other than getting to some imaginary “promised land.”
Two noteworthy observations about the wilderness are: one, the intent, expressed by God through Moses, was to worship.
Exodus 7:16 says, “And you shall say to him (Pharaoh), ‘The LORD God of the Hebrews has sent me to you, saying, ‘Let My people go, that they may serve Me in the wilderness.’” The word “serve” (abad) is also translated “worship.” This is an important point because the purpose of our lives is to worship God. So, the children of Israel were being released into their purpose. Secondly, it is important to note that the giving of the Law happened in the wilderness. Worship is not an endless state of singing, dancing, and celebration. The Law, also translated as “right practices,” is given as a pattern and framework of how to live in between celebrations. When we are intentionally keeping God’s precepts, we are actively engaged in worship, but it is necessary to know His precepts in order to keep them.
The freedom that we have in Christ is a freedom to do and be all that we were created to be. The “doing” part is by works of the law. But, again, Paul says, “a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ…” Gal. 2:16. This coincides with the wilderness. Israel never got it right in the wilderness, and neither do we. Striving to keep the law is a hopeless task. The law is also a hard taskmaster; therefore, in a sense, the exodus was from one taskmaster to another. Is the law bad then? Well, Paul covers that too: “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, ‘You shall not covet.’” Rm. 7:7. Also, he adds, “For Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given. As a result, all who believe in Him are made right with God.” Rm. 10:4 Jesus said, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.” Jn. 6:29
This leads us to the “being” part of the equation. Remember, we are human beings, not human doings. The being part speaks of a freedom that flows from identity. That identity is sonship, with all its privileges. This sonship is a state of being, not a manufactured arrangement based upon some rules. “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!’ Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.”
Gal. 4:4-7.
This is the kind of freedom that one may experience in their parents’ house – hopefully! You can go into the fridge, take a nap, and peek in all the rooms, because you are the heir to the house. There are no secrets to what is yours. Paul says, “Therefore let no one boast in men. For all things are yours: whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or things present or things to come – all are yours. And you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.”
I Cor. 3:21-23
This leads us to an awkward conclusion in what I have already called the fallacy of freedom. We are not exactly free because we were bought with a price which was the precious blood of Christ. We are bondservants (more accurately translated “slaves”) of Christ, and our ownership is transferred from slavery to sin, which brings forth death, to slavery to Christ, which brings forth life, and life more abundantly. “whosoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.” Jn. 11:26
We must, however, be circumspect regarding our freedom. Paul said, “But you must be careful so that your freedom does not cause others with a weaker conscience to stumble.” I Co. 8:9.
Os Guinness book, A Free People’s Suicide, has a subtitle that says, “The greatest enemy of freedom is freedom.” For this reason, we must keep our notions of freedom in right parameters. Freedom is not freedom if it is abused. We, like Israel, will tend to wander back to sin apart from the Spirit. Thus, the necessity to walk in the Spirit and hear His voice: “For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” II Cor. 3:17
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