To understand the true meaning and value of our freedom, we must realize what it cost God and what He gave for it. A proper understanding does not come at once, and not everyone considers what would have happened if Jesus had failed to withstand the temptations of this world and had fallen by making even one small mistake. Our deliverance from slavery depended upon the freedom of choice exercised by the Man Jesus Christ. It was not without a struggle that He chose to drink the mysterious cup of immeasurable suffering that was meant for me. He was free to act as He wished, and no one would have condemned Him. The plan of Salvation for our world depended upon the choice of one Man, Who, while battling the forces of darkness in Gethsemane, could have decided to return to Heaven and leave sinners to bear the punishment for their own sins. Christ’s human nature recoiled from the trials before Him, and the mysterious cup trembled in His hand. Three times He asked the Father to provide another way to save sinners. For example, a religion could have been devised in which such a sacrifice was unnecessary and people could attain holiness through reincarnation or pilgrimage. But Jesus knew that there was only one Way, only one Plan, and only one Man Who could save the world—He Himself. The Lord chose death in order to give me life. It was a free choice, and all Heaven waited to see what Jesus’ final decision would be and where the culmination of God’s plan would lead.
The angels who had accompanied Christ throughout His earthly life and ministered to Him, protecting Him from harm, were forbidden to intervene in the course of events or prevent the forces of evil from carrying out their intentions. All Heaven watched with profound interest and pain the scenes of the trial, the abuse, the sentencing, and the crucifixion of their beloved Commander. A single word asking for help could have set the entire heavenly army in motion, and in one instant the angels would have destroyed every enemy and mocker of the Son of God. But Jesus prayed for the forgiveness of those who tormented Him and drank the bitter cup of our sins in complete solitude. The agony of the eternal second death tore at Jesus’ heart, and He was free to refuse it. The most terrible trial—being forsaken by God—proved immeasurably difficult for the pure heart of my Savior. Enduring unimaginable suffering, the Lord could not see the glorious outcome of the travail of His soul. The only thing He understood at that time was that the wages of sin is death, and He was dying that death without any hope. In the end, the full weight of it broke Jesus’ heart. But just before His final breath, He placed His trust by faith in His Father’s love and cried out loudly and triumphantly, “It is finished,” committing His spirit into God’s hands.
The salvation of sinners was accomplished. The way to God’s throne was opened to everyone who would accept this Great Sacrifice by faith and allow the Lord to set them free from the slavery of sin. Although the plan of Salvation has not yet been completed and is passing from one phase to another, God’s grace is working in all its fullness and power to save everyone who believes and accepts God’s Son as his personal Savior. Yet even within this plan of Salvation, the Creator’s actions depend upon the sinner’s free choice. Despite the immense price paid for me, God waits for my decision before acting in all His strength and authority. He has limited Himself by my choice.
Love cannot act otherwise. As you come to know its depth and power, each of you, my friends, will encounter an insurmountably strong and high wall called the freedom of choice of the one I love. I have neither the authority nor the power to violate that freedom, or even to impose wonderful things upon someone who does not want them. You see and feel this, and it always hurts when, filled with God’s Spirit and ready to love and give all of yourself, you encounter the rock of human choice and see yourself rejected by another person. You realize that you are powerless to change anything, yet you gently try to convince that person that you are genuine, that your intentions are pure, that your motives are steadfast, and that God’s Spirit is leading you. Sadly, the enemy of souls tries to oppose God’s agape love and convinces those you love that you are not genuine but merely one of many who want to force their way into the soul and defile it. Satan succeeds in planting these suggestions. Therefore, one must wait a very long time and try different approaches to open deceived souls to love.
The very fact that Satan is still alive is the clearest evidence that God respects the freedom of choice of each of His sons and daughters. He allows all His enemies to follow their own paths and choose for themselves the direction in life that appeals to them.
We read in Ecclesiastes 8:11: “Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.” God gives people the right to become settled in their choice, yet He never ceases drawing them to Jesus as the One Who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. How great is God’s love for our world and for every sinner!
Love brings me to absolute freedom of choice and waits for a decision of my will. The distinctive feature of God-given freedom is that I can always choose evil, return to darkness, and become a slave to sin, and no one will prevent me from doing so. But I choose life; I choose Jesus; I choose the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
A person can be delivered from the power of sin and Satan when Jesus intervenes in the process and sets the soul free. This is beyond human power, but it is not beyond God’s power. Yet God’s deliverance depends upon my choice. If a person who has been set free decides to return to the filth because he does not wish to live in purity and light, no one will stop him. He has the right to live that way.
I am free. This freedom came at a very high price, and it is valued exceedingly highly in Heaven. We should not deprive ourselves of this heavenly gift merely to live like everyone else and enjoy sin for a season, imagining ourselves free within the limits of a chain with which we ourselves have bound our lives to Satan’s chariot.
Satan knows how to steal, kill, and destroy souls. It is utter foolishness to surrender ourselves to the power of such a master, who can give us nothing but the right to die and languish in spirit.
But I am free to choose love, friendship, and happiness. I invite Christ into my life. I choose freedom in love, freedom in friendship with God, and freedom in making decisions.
I am free. What freedom this is, and what an endless prospect of doing good forever, loving and being happy, and filling everything around me with my delight and joy!
Only a person who is free—free from the power of sin—is capable of being truly happy and loving from a pure heart. The mind of a free soul can always choose its path and always place itself in God’s hands.
Love and freedom are two sisters who support one another and never part to labor alone. Wherever one is invited, the other comes as well. Try forcing someone to love you. It would look utterly absurd. Love accepts no violence. It dwells where there is freedom, and wherever freedom reigns, love comes. This is the truth: whoever the Son of God sets free will be free indeed and able to choose the path he will follow.
Bible verses for this chapter:
Psalm 33:12; John 8:34; Romans 6:6–12, 16–18; Isaiah 53; Matthew 26:36–44; Luke 23:33–34, 46; John 19:30; Romans 5:6–10; Acts 4:12; Luke 4:18–19; Hebrews 3:12–14; John 17:2–3; Proverbs 8:34–36