I will walk about in freedom,
for I have sought out your precepts.

Psalm 119:45

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery

Galatians 5:1

This morning Patrina and I listened to a sermon on Freedom, but the idea of what freedom is was left to the imagination of the listener. So, without a definition, we are faced with a problem when we are left to determine what is freedom on our own because we will do just about anything to rationalize away our behaviors.

In the passage above, the Psalmist ties his freedom directly to his obedience to God’s principles for living. Chip Ingram refers to this as living life between the guardrails, but who determines the guardrails? Our culture is often delusional in its thinking regarding freedom with no guardrails and no source of truth and morality outside of the individual. In contrast, the Christian’s view of freedom is based on God’s view expressed through the Bible.

Marriage is the first and good example. God instituted the marriage covenant in the opening chapters of Genesis. Jesus reinforced the details in Matthew 19 when asked about divorce –

“He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

Matthew 19: 4-6

Jesus places two restrictions here. First, marriage is exclusively for a man and a woman. Second, the marriage covenant is intended to be a lifelong commitment.

So what about my freedom to live my life as I choose?

Freedom and the ability to thrive in life are found within the principles. God is for us and wants to see us flourish. We live in freedom when we live an obedient life within God’s boundaries.