Austin Bible Church
Spiritual freedom is the utilization of God's grace resources in the application of epignosis Bible doctrine from the right lobe of the soul empowered by the enabling power of the Holy Spirit. The filling of the Holy Spirit is the means of living the spiritual life. The Holy Spirit also provides the teaching and empowerment for the believer to fulfill God's plan for their life. 2 Cor. 3:17-18; Gal. 4:19; Gal. 5:16.
“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:17-18, NASB)
“My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you—” (Galatians 4:19, NASB)
“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.” (Galatians 5:16, NASB)
The believer has been called to freedom, but the believer is not to use their freedom for an occasion of the old sin nature, but for unconditional love toward others, serving the Lord, and serving one another. The believer has been called to honor and glorify the Lord Jesus Christ in their life to produce divine good from the edification complex in the soul. The believer is now free to reflect the glory of God. This is the greatest freedom in the world.
The spiritual life provides many choices for the believer every day. Many choices involve temptation to sin while others involve what we will make as our daily priority. For the believer that makes the intake of the Word of God their daily priority, the Holy Spirit begins to change their thinking and they begin to think more like Jesus Christ did while on earth. Their motivation becomes their love for God and all that He has and continues to provide in grace.
The believer is free to have the greatest happiness that has ever existed. This is true happiness that is independent of the circumstances in which we find ourselves. Through growth and maturity in the spiritual life, we can gain the greatest happiness that God has ever given in the history of mankind. This is way beyond any happiness we might gain from prosperity. This happiness depends on the daily use of the spiritual freedom that God has provided for us. This is gained by the consistent intake and application of epignosis Bible doctrine. This produces the ultimate spiritual freedom. John 8:32; Eph. 3:20-21.
“and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."” (John 8:32, NASB)
“Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20-21, NASB)
God provides each of us the greatest freedom possible - spiritual freedom. We are free to learn about God's plan for our lives. He provides His grace resources to support us. He provides the filling of the Holy Spirit to empower our spiritual life. By doing this for each of us, we are free to fulfill the plan of God for our lives through the renovation of our thinking. Eph. 4:23-24.
“and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.” (Ephesians 4:23-24, NASB)
There is nothing more important in this life than the spiritual life. God loves us regardless of what we do. His love cannot change, grow, or diminish in any way. It is absolutely unconditional. Once we understand all that He has and continues to do for us in His grace, the more we will gain a personal love for God. This is learned through His Word and spiritual growth.
God has given us the freedom to make the right decision or the wrong decision. Our decisions determine the life we live. We are responsible to God and will either be miserable or content regardless of the circumstances of life.
Spiritual Freedom and the Mosaic Law
The Mosaic Law provided spiritual and human freedom in the Age of Israel. In the Church Age, the Holy Spirit provides spiritual freedom. 2 Cor. 3:17; Rom. 8:2-4.
“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” (2 Corinthians 3:17, NASB)
“For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” (Romans 8:2-4, NASB)
Freedom is not a license to sin, but through the filling of the Holy Spirit and the erection of the edification complex, we are to keep serving one another. This is produced in all kinds of believers. The Law is made perfect in love. Gal. 5:14.
“For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.”“ (Galatians 5:14, NASB)
Spiritual freedom is not to do as we please, but we are free from the Mosaic Law, which keeps us from honoring the Lord. Any merit system is a hindrance to the Christian way of life. Gal. 5:7.
“You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth?” (Galatians 5:7, NASB)
Only Jesus Christ fulfilled the Law because He did not have an old sin nature and remained sinless. However, when the believer stays in fellowship and controlled by the Holy Spirit, he fulfills the Mosaic Law in practice. In other words, believers have fulfilled the Law positionally because they are in Jesus Christ and can fulfill it experientially by the filling of the Holy Spirit. If the old sin nature is allowed to control the believer, it will not produce anything but dead works. Gal. 5:15.
“But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.” (Galatians 5:15, NASB)
Human good and human works (the wood, hay and straw of 1 Corinthians 3:11-15) will never stand the test of fire. The old sin nature can be vicious or it can be nice. Anything from the old sin nature is not acceptable to God.
“For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man's work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work. If any man's work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.” (1 Corinthians 3:11-15, NASB)
Personal Responsibilities in Spiritual Freedom
While human freedom cannot function properly without each person taking responsibility for their decisions, so also spiritual freedom cannot function properly without the believer taking responsibility for their positive or negative volition to the intake and application of the Word of God. To gain spiritual freedom, we must first believe in Christ. To make use of that grace provision and freedom, we must daily decide to learn Bible doctrine and to remain under the enabling power of the Holy Spirit. Spiritual freedom only exists inside the spiritual life.
Spiritual freedom provides the environment for believers to live the spiritual life. The believer is commanded to use their spiritual freedom to advance in the spiritual life. 2 Peter 3:18.
“but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.” (2 Peter 3:18, NASB)
Spiritual Freedom Without Human Freedom
Whether a believer lives under a government of freedom or tyranny, they are still saved, they are in union with Jesus Christ, they share His destiny, and they share His eternal future. They have something much higher than human freedom - spiritual freedom. They have the enabling power of the Holy Spirit in the spiritual life. They can still grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. They are still able to fulfill the plan of God for their lives. God’s grace resources keep them alive to execute His plan. Therefore, any one of us can fulfill the plan of God for our lives whether we live in a nation and environment of human freedom or tyranny. 1 Cor. 7:20-23; Gal. 3:28.
“Each man must remain in that condition in which he was called. Were you called while a slave? Do not worry about it; but if you are able also to become free, rather do that. For he who was called in the Lord while a slave, is the Lord's freedman; likewise he who was called while free, is Christ's slave. You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men.” (1 Corinthians 7:20-23, NASB)
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28, NASB)
This is why Paul told believers under slavery to not try to break out. The slaves were still in God’s plan and could serve Him. Those that were free of slavery could also serve God and fulfill God's plan for their lives. For positive believers living under limited or no human freedom, God will provide His grace resources and He will provide the spiritual information of Bible doctrine. Some of the greatest believers in the Roman Empire were slaves with very limited or no human freedom. But inside the spiritual life, they advanced to spiritual maturity under spiritual freedom and became great believers in the Roman Empire.
Most believers today do not make use of their spiritual freedom to grow spiritually. They are negative to Bible doctrine and too preoccupied with themselves, their own great intellect, and gaining stature or wealth for themselves than to seek the Word of God and to grow in the spiritual life and glorify God in doing so. They have no time for God.
Spiritual Freedom Versus Human Freedom
Only spiritual freedom can fulfill the plan of God. Human freedom depends on human works and human good. Spiritual freedom depends on God’s grace and the resources He provides under the filling of the Holy Spirit. Many good things have been done to protect our human freedom. This includes our police officers who enforce the written laws of our cities, states, and country. This includes those serving in the military to protect us from external enemies.
Although they serve honorably, their work is still human works. They provide the ideal environment for spiritual freedom to function. However, they do not provide spiritual freedom. Only God provides spiritual freedom.
The Constitution of the United States is one of the greatest documents in all of human history. It guarantees our “religious freedom,” but religious freedom is not the same as spiritual freedom. Religious freedom is the freedom to worship as you please, to accept and believe in Christ or to reject Him. This means you are free to be involved in any religious sect or organization. All this is actually a part of human freedom. Spiritual freedom cannot be guaranteed by the laws of your nation. Spiritual freedom can only be guaranteed by your own positive volition toward Bible doctrine and by your spiritual growth.
The Role of the Believer’s Spiritual Freedom in a Nation
Bible doctrine in the right lobe of the soul and the enabling power of the Holy Spirit frees the believer from the slavery to the old sin nature and to live the spiritual life. When you serve the Lord in the spiritual life, you must have freedom from the old sin nature even though the old sin nature is still in you. John 8:32; Rom. 6:16-20.
“and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."” (John 8:32, NASB)
“Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification. For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.” (Romans 6:16-20, NASB)
The spiritual freedom enables the believer to serve and to glorify God in their advance to spiritual maturity. Gal 3:13; Gal. 5:1.
“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, "CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE"—” (Galatians 3:13, NASB)
“It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.” (Galatians 5:1, NASB)
In James 1:25 and James 2:12, the Word of God is called the law of liberty because it defines the believer’s freedom to glorify God through Bible doctrine.
“But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.” (James 1:25, NASB)
“So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty.” (James 2:12, NASB)
That means that every believer ought to understand the laws of divine establishment and the freedom that they bring to a nation. See category on The Laws of Divine Establishment.
Believers with epignosis Bible doctrine in their souls and operating in the filling of the Holy Spirit are the basis for human freedom in a nation. Gal. 5:13; 1 Peter 2:16; Psalms 119:45.
“For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” (Galatians 5:13, NASB)
“Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God.” (1 Peter 2:16, NASB)
“And I will walk at liberty, For I seek Your precepts.” (Psalms 119:45, NASB)
Legalism in the believer enslaves the believer’s soul and destroys liberty. The teaching of legalism is from false teachers and even though they are in soul slavery themselves, they always promise freedom to those that they lead astray. Gal. 2:4; 2 Peter 2:19.
“But it was because of the false brethren secretly brought in, who had sneaked in to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to bring us into bondage.” (Galatians 2:4, NASB)
“promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved.” (2 Peter 2:19, NASB)
Spiritual freedom provides stability of soul for the spiritual life and is a measure of that spiritual maturity.