Saorsa

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. John 8.36

We look for freedom in so many places, so many ways. But so often we end up just as ensnared as before, or entangled in some other form of captivity, whether to habit, addiction or - in extreme cases - physical restriction. The freedom Jesus came to bring begins in our liberation from bondage to sin.

A crucial aspect of our corrupted humanity is our inability to save ourselves. Accepting our helplessness is the first step to liberation because it fosters that attitude of humility, opening the door to assistance - so long as we avoid acquiring a mentality of dependence or cease caring about our hopeless condition. Assuming we remain eager for a better alternative, the next step is to recognise Jesus as our liberator.

Only Jesus has the authority and power to forgive sins. His authority derives from his having entered creation, lived an exemplary human life and then offered that life as an atonement for our sin, thereby fulfilling the Jewish Law and breaking the stranglehold of sin and, indeed, of death. His subsequent resurrection was both vindication and an expression of the his power, which he exerts in the life of everyone who puts their trust in him.

What Jesus starts in freeing us from sin and death, he will fulfil at the end of the age, when he comes again, to judge the world and usher in the New Creation. Then all who believe in him will enjoy his resurrection to eternal life - free from pain and suffering, free to reign eternally with God in glory. That's freedom - complete and real and forever!