You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

–-Parallel verses:
‭‭John‬ ‭3‬:‭31‬-‭36‬
The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. Whoever has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit. The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.

Freedom is something very precious to many in America. It is more precious to some than others. Those who have been oppressed in dictatorships or communist governments, I venture to say, probably in most cases value it more than I do. So also the soldiers who have fought for our freedom, some captured and tortured, others losing comrades in arms. It is not that I don’t hold it in the highest regard, I do. But I don’t fully comprehend the extreme hardship and pain that those who have suffered at its loss do. Freedom is best understood out of oppression and loss and sacrifice.

We celebrate this freedom in life to make our own decisions in our US Constitution: freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion, and freedom to enjoy life. But this freedom only goes so far. It is not eternal freedom, it is but a poor reflection of that.

Eternal freedom involves a grant of freedom to live as we were created to live, in spite of our corrupt hearts. Many would say, “I think I am a pretty good person. I do lots of good things.” But the reality is, God sets the standard of perfection for us, for it is the only way he can dwell with us. And he knows that to realize our true purpose and calling in life, this is critical. We were designed to be indwelled by God.

So our eternal freedom required a sacrifice just like our freedom in this country required sacrifice. We needed a different kind of sacrifice though — we needed a perfect sacrifice. This perfect sacrifice needed to remain alive for all of time. And that perfect sacrifice was Jesus Christ. He was around before creation, as a human a few thousand years ago, he is still here today, and will be forever into eternity. He stands as our once and for all sacrifice for sin. At the same time he stands as our Redeemer, Lord, Brother, and Friend.

In order to receive this eternal freedom, we have to commit our life to follow Jesus — to truly decide with our whole hearts that we will sacrifice all to follow him. This is God’s one requirement. Why? Because otherwise we are rejecting the sacrifice Jesus made to redeem us. We must turn from our sin, from the fear and oppression of this world, and fix our eyes on and run to Jesus once and for all.

Paul strongly commands us to not go back to our old ways of indulging our flesh or living selfishly for ourselves first. Instead, he says we are on the right track to following Jesus when we humbly serve each other. There is no condition on this service: in the good and bad times, we serve. In the times of ease and the times of immense life-load. When we are happy and when we are sad. When life is good and when life is threatened. All the time!

How can I do this? I can’t do it by myself. But the beauty of following Jesus is he gives his Spirit to us WITHOUT LIMIT to do those things we cannot possibly do on our own.

So I must ask, do I really believe I have access to God’s Spirit without limit? If I do, why would I ever hold back on trusting him in any and every situation? If I do not, I must examine my heart and see what I need to give to him, what else I need to commit at the foot of the cross to be 100% sold out for the cause of Christ.

Lord, you long to see us sold out and fully empowered by your Spirit. You are worthy of my complete devotion. Examine my heart and search out, root out, and destroy any sinful way in me — that I might be wholly committed to and completely filled by your Spirit!