Set Free
A New Way Of Living
SET FREE
Do we sometimes feel surprised and very uncomfortable when we meet someone who has really been set free in Christ? When we meet someone who has been liberated from the bondage of sin and not yet bound by the bondage of man's religious traditions of today; are we surprised? That person is someone who is really free indeed. I am thinking about Jesus who was really "set free" from man's religious traditions. In Luke 1 1:37-54 Jesus shows the contrast of someone who is bound by man's religious traditions and someone who is set free. Jesus is the one who is set flee. He was not compelled to keep man's religious laws. The Pharisees and the experts in the law were examples of those who were in bondage to man's religious traditions.
When Jesus went into the house of the Pharisee to eat a meal, he did not first wash before the meal. This surprised the Pharisee. He had never really seen anyone who was set free of man's religious traditions. He never thought that a fellow Jew (as well-known as Jesus was) would have ever violated the traditions that were accepted as law. The Pharisee was surprised because he unknowingly thought he was accepted and approved by God by what he did.
What had happened through the process of time was that the experts in the law (verse 52) had so misinterpreted and misapplied God's teaching that they had "taken away the key to knowledge" (to be free) and had "hindered those who were entering" into this freedom by the knowledge in God's law. The basic reason why this was able to happen and to continue to happen was because they were "full of greed and wickedness". (Luke 11:39) This greed and sickness had so corrupted their thought and sight that they completely misapplied God's law. They completely lost sight of what God really wanted and expected. They turned things around because they had lost sight of what God said was important. They did not know God so they did not really know the thoughts and intentions of God.
Their greed and wickedness was evident in their selfishness. It showed in their neglecting justice, not loving God and their pride. Their pride caused them to want to be seen as righteous so they made their traditions say what they wanted the law to say. Their greed caused them to neglect showing justice or having the love of God toward others. Inside they were full of wickedness while making a show of righteousness on the outside. Their greed and wickedness caused them to disregard the truth as is seen in their "killing the prophets". They did not want to know and did not want anyone to try to tell them what their sins were. (Luke 11:53-54)
Now, how does all this apply to us? The religious traditions of today can be a hindrance of our being set free in Christ. We have to be very careful that the "key to knowledge" is not taken away from us. We have to be very careful that we don't let temptation and sin keep us from entering into the complete freedom that is in Christ Jesus. This complete freedom is seen in being a slave to Christ. This complete freedom is found in being true to the intent of his teachings. Complete freedom will be lacking when we allow temptation to blind us as to what is truth. Sin, then, can cause us to make for ourselves traditions and hold onto man made traditions that satisfy our temptations toward sin.
To be free indeed from man's religious traditions, we need to make sure we are free from sin. We need to be open to God's word and the workings of his Spirit in our life. We need to let the Word of God be effectively rooting out every trace of sin – pointing them out to us so that we can be SET FREE INDEED. Being free includes not buying into today’s religious traditions.
Written on an unknown date.
Copied to new hard drive on 10/31/2018
Larry E. Whittington
Well said, Larry. It's not that traditions are necessarily bad; it's just that they are not laws and we are not to be bound by them.
Perhaps we have also lost sight of the fact that without Jesus we are slaves to our sin ... to the appetites of the flesh, the empty and false promises of the world, and the temptations that come from Satan himself. Jesus offers us an alternative to remove ourselves and our selfishness from the throne of our lives and instead put Jesus in the place of prominence and control. In the process we become servants of His - but are no longer controlled by sin. Now we know sin when we see it and can choose to say "No" through the power of the Holy Spirit living in us. To be a servant of Jesus is to be free from the controlling and empty nature of sin. Praise God - I'm free! ... and once we know Jesus and have an ongoing relationship with Him through His word; religious rules can help us, but not hold us.