Free to Serve
July 1, 2002 - The United States of America is known as the Land of the Free. People around the world are fascinated by American liberty, influence, prosperity and power. Yet the freedom enjoyed by Americans is nothing compared to the freedom we have as Christians.
by Franklin Graham
Jesus said, "If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."(1) The Apostle Paul emphasized spiritual liberty and responsibility in his Letter to the Galatians, writing, "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free."(2)
Jesus and Paul were not talking about simply being freed from fear or sin or oppression, but being free to love and serve in the name of Jesus Christ. This freedom gives us purpose.
When we experience and proclaim true Christian freedom, our world can be transformed. When people are reconciled to God through Jesus Christ, they are drawn together. Church denominations, races, political parties, neighborhoods—all the categories into which people divide themselves—seem to become insignificant.
The Galatians were prone to distraction and disagreement, as many of us are. At the time that Paul wrote to the Galatians, their focus had shifted from Christ to other things. Paul reminded them, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."(3)
It is always a blessing for us to see that churches are strengthened and Christians are awakened and unified in the process of holding our evangelistic meetings and other ministries across the United States and throughout the world. And that blessing is eternal when we are faithful to Christ's instruction to "go and make disciples."(4)
That's true reconciliation; that's true freedom.
PRIVACY
