Most of us are very aware of what it looks like and feels like to be emotionally or physically oppressed in our humanity. Whether it’s spiritually, as in fear, stress, rejection, guilt, and bitterness; or physically, as in diseases, disorders, and infirmities. But what does true spiritual freedom look like? God provides truth in His Word that helps us overcome the enemy’s works and oppression in our lives and leads us into spiritual freedom as overcomers. Show
Spiritual freedom is an opportunity we’ve all been givenJesus came to offer an opportunity for us to be freed from oppression and from the curse of sin and death and to live in wholeness and spiritual freedom. He says this in His Word:
The word ‘Free’ in this scripture as defined from the original Greek text is this: unrestrained (to go at pleasure), i.e. (as a citizen), not a slave (whether freeborn or manumitted), or (genitive case) exempt (from obligation or liability):—free (person), at liberty. This freedom sets us in a position of being accepted by God, as a ‘citizen’ of God’s spiritual kingdom. God takes this position a step further in His Word, and says that not only are we citizens but accepted sons and daughters of God!
Submission to God is a key to spiritual freedomAs long as we serve sin or iniquity in any area of our life, in that area, we are in bondage to sin and death. However, when we choose to pursue God’s heart and His ways, we submit ourselves to His righteousness through obedience. This is a key to spiritual freedom.
What Spiritual Freedom is notWhen we hear the words “righteousness” or “obedience” we may be triggered into a pattern of drivenness and performance to do things “right” and “correct,” striving for perfection. This performance-based behavior is relying on ourselves and our own understanding, and does not operate by God’s leading and in submission to Him. It keeps us from being able to accept and receive Jesus’ free gift from the cross. The enemy can be tricky because he can use even godly principles and turn them into a form of bondage and oppression again through religious spirits and fear. God’s ways vs. our waysRomans 8 is a powerful example of the difference between walking in righteousness according to God’s Spirit or bondage to the law through works. A person can do the “right thing” yet be motivated by the wrong spirit and still be separated from God.
God provided a way to spiritual freedom through JesusGod knows, according to Romans 8:3, that as humans, we are weak in the flesh to fulfill the law. So rather than putting His foot down and rubbing our faces in our weakness, He provided a better way; a more excellent way. In Luke, Jesus defines His purpose for coming to the Earth by referring to a prophecy of Isaiah:
Jesus came to represent the truth to us and destroy the works of the enemy in our lives. He put the keys in our hands so that we could choose to walk away from the bondage and oppression of the enemy’s camp and back into our Father’s house where we can find peace and safety. He desires to lead us to spiritual freedom, yet He still gives us the option to make a personal choice to follow Him. This is not a single event but a journey of growing in our relationship, trust, and submission to God once we’ve received Him as our Lord and Savior. At Be in Health, we call this our overcomers’ journey. The Holy Spirit is essential for spiritual freedomWhen He left this Earth to go up to Heaven and sit at the right hand of His Father, Jesus said that He would not leave us comfortless. So Father God sent us His Holy Spirit. This was like Him giving us an open phone line straight up to the throne of grace to bridge the gap between our physical dimension and God’s spiritual reality. The Holy Spirit is our helper and our lifeline so we are never alone on our journey of walking into spiritual freedom.
The Holy Spirit is also the power of God living in us, giving us the authority in Jesus’ name to destroy the works of the devil in our lives and in the earth. Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Luke 10:19 KJV The enemy wants to sever our lifeline to spiritual freedomThe enemy desperately fears the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Therefore, he will do whatever he can to sever that lifeline to God and to pull us back into bondage. One tactic he uses is to keep us focused on our self and our personal, physical, or emotional issues. He will try to rob us of our hope and our joy and try to bring in accusation, fear, guilt, shame, bitterness, and whatever else he can. He will try to make anything and anyone other than himself seem like our enemy so that we will get caught up and be separated from God, others, and even ourselves. The fruit of righteousness is a key to spiritual freedomJohn 14:15 says that if we love Him, we will keep His commandments. So righteousness works by the leading of the Holy Spirit, and is fulfilled by the fruit of love in our hearts. If our agreement with the enemy causes separation from God, ourselves, and/or others, love is the glue that brings us back to spiritual freedom and holds us in the Kingdom of God. In fact, the Word says that by love the whole law is fulfilled.
The word ‘charity’ directly translated from the Greek is the English word ‘love.’ The phrase, ‘faith unfeigned’ means undisguised or sincere faith. We cannot always lean on our own understanding of what this freedom looks like or feels like. God’s love is not something that we can force or fabricate, but it is a work of the Holy Spirit that lines our heart up with God’s love and His Word. This verse encompasses the completeness of spiritual freedom in God our Father. How do we get a pure heart?God helps us purify our hearts through submission to Him. If He exposes a work of the enemy we can be diligent to repent for our agreement with it and remove it, and we also need to remain teachable and open to God’s leading and guidance.
What does God’s love look like?Love is not a mere emotion. According to the Word of God, love is God’s very nature; it’s who He is. When we understand His nature, we will have a better point of reference to understand who He is in us and through us as a work of the Holy Spirit. God’s character and nature are clearly defined in Galatians 5 and 1 Corinthians 13.
If the Word says that God is love, that’s what we should be too. 1 Corinthians 13 defines for us what that love really is. This is the love that God already has for us that He wants us to believe and receive, and then He wants to form it in us so that we can represent Him to others. By abiding in His love, we will receive the wholeness of spiritual freedom in our lives. Discernment is essential for true spiritual freedomWe need not let fear, guilt, shame, and condemnation have power in our lives. We need to learn how to recognize them and know how to overcome them. We must also learn how to pick ourselves back up again if we fall because we know that God does not define us according to our failures but according to the person that He created us to be from the foundation of the world. Psalm 103 is a beautiful glimpse of how our Father in Heaven sees us and deals with us:
Can we receive the fullness of forgiveness from Him?Can we receive forgiveness from God, leave the past in the past, and move forward into our future in Him? Can we have that same sort of mercy for ourselves and for others that our Father has for us? True spiritual freedom is not perfection. It’s being open and pliable to the Holy Spirit to shape us and form us more and more into the image of our Father, moment by moment. Spiritual freedom is not a feeling, emotion, or event. It’s a state of being. It’s not passive or something that happens once and we’re “good enough.” It’s a journey of actively pursuing our Father’s heart and overcoming those areas in our life that are not from Him, yet still being at peace with ourselves and loving ourselves where we are at in our current state. Being spiritually free is our most normal state of being in lifeSpiritual freedom is having a firm foundation of the truth from God’s Word established in our hearts so that we can stand our ground against the enemy and overcome him in our own life. Spiritual freedom is being who we were truly created to be, receiving God’s love and, in turn, loving God, loving ourselves, and loving others. True freedom is the joy of experiencing the unfeigned fruit of the Spirit as it flows from our heart that has been made pure by the washing of the water of the Word. What is spiritual freedom? Spiritual freedom is a treasure!Spiritual freedom is a treasure to be pursued. Yet it is not just a moment that happens overnight. We have to allow God to help us grow up into it; He can strengthen us and mature us in our spiritual growth. We need to develop strength and endurance in this race. We may run through different levels of spiritual freedom as we walk out of more and more of the enemy’s bondage. Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. Hebrew 12:1 KJV Spiritual freedom is part of your personal story and journey through life.So, dear brothers and sisters, will you choose at this moment to grab hold of your Heavenly Father’s hand in meekness and allow Him to lead you as His child so that you can grow up in Him? If spiritual freedom is your desire, will you pursue His heart and His righteousness with your whole heart?
Blessings, The Be in Health® Team If you found this article or any of our other articles helpful, please share this link with your friends and family!Would you like to read more articles like this?
Here are some resources on this topicHis Ways Versus Our Ways – a Teaching by Dr. Henry W. Wright Pin this article to share it with others and save it for later!Where your Spirit is there is freedom?Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
What God says about freedom?“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.” "For one who has died has been set free from sin." “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.”
What did Paul mean by freedom?Whereas the first sentence of Galatians 5:13 calls Christians to “be free,” and whereas the second sentence warns against allowing freedom to promote sinfulness, the same verse concludes with the exhortation to “serve one another humbly in love.” Freedom, for Paul, is freedom to serve, through love.
What is the difference between physical freedom and spiritual freedom?Types of Freedom
Physical freedom - the possibility for a person to go where he/she wants and do what s/he wants. Spiritual freedom - the privilege of being able to express one's thoughts or to live according to one's outlook.
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