True Freedom

God’s will is exactly what you and I would always do if we knew all the facts. This is why the full knowledge of the truth leads to godliness, which is true freedom. Freedom is defined as “the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint.”  That’s why freedom cannot be defined as doing whatever you want. I’m not free to do whatever I want while enslaved to some corruption in my soul that holds me to lies and keeps me in bondage.

This is how Paul started his letter to Titus:

1 From Paul, God’s willing slave and an apostle of Jesus, the Anointed One, to Titus. I’m writing you to further the faith of God’s chosen ones and lead them to the full knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness, ² which rests on the hope of eternal life. God, who never lies, has promised us this before time began. (Titus 1:1-2 TPT*)

First, note that Paul was a “willing slave.” He was willing because he understood true freedom, which made him more free while in a dark and damp Roman prison that he was writing from than his Romans captors who held the keys to his cell. Second, notice that it’s “the full knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness,” not the other way around. When we encounter the truth, sin and the lies we believe about ourselves, God, and others, have no more power over us. This is why experientially knowing the truth makes us truly free. On that note, both of the following translations say something important to say to us about true freedom.

³² For if you embrace the truth, it will release more freedom into your lives.” (John 8:32 TPT*)

³² And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (NKJV*)

As I embrace the truth, I experience more freedom. This is the progressive nature of freedom. When I receive revelation of the truth, I’m made free, which is the transformational nature of freedom. This transformation is quite different than simply being set free. This truth makes me an unprecedented species of being!

¹⁷ Now, if anyone is enfolded into Christ, he has become an entirely new creation. All that is related to the old order has vanished. Behold, everything is fresh and new. (2 Cor.5:17 TPT*)

The Greek word for “new” here is καινός (kainos), which means “new in species, character, or mode, novel, unheard of, unusual,  renovated, better, of higher excellence. ”Beloved, there is no one like you in human history! Not Moses, Abraham, David….they, and all the other heroes of the faith, were amazing men and women of God who overcame great obstacles with great faith. But here’s the thing: they didn’t have the indwelling Spirit in them 24/7 like we do!  They fought the good fight with their old nature. You and I belong to “a better covenant made with better promises” (Heb.8:6). It’s no longer I who lives but Christ who lives in me. And I now live by the faithfulness of Jesus whom God placed me in heavenly places with Him! That’s what it means to be a new creation! True freedom comes from living according to our intended design. As I’ve said many times before, truth is a Person. Jesus IS the true blueprint for our design and the truth about God. He defines God and who we are in Him.

1:18 Until this moment God remained invisible to man; now the authentic begotten, the blueprint of man’s design who represents the innermost being of God, the son who is in the bosom of the father, brings him into full view! He is the official authority qualified to announce God! He is our guide who accurately declares and interprets the invisible God in us. (John 1:18 MIRROR *)

Paul also tells us in Titus that this revelation of the truth, rests in the hope of eternal life. We know that eternal life does not mean living forever in a place we go to when we die. Eternal life is God’s own life in Christ. It’s experiencing His life, now, and forever. Eternal life exists wherever God’s life exists, regardless of whether you’re in heaven or on earth.

³ Eternal life means to know and experience you
    as the only true God,
    and to know and experience Jesus Christ,
    as the Son whom you have sent. (John 17:3 TPT*)

And when we experience eternal life in our relationship with Christ, we experience true freedom. This is why He came.

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. (Gal.5:1 NIV)

Beloved, there’s no substitute for the real thing. Don’t accept the counterfeits that give you the temporary illusion of freedom while putting you in bondage. And remember, we know how to walk in this freedom because Jesus is the way and He is the ultimate truth that leads to true freedom that rests in eternal life—His life in us.

⁶ Jesus explained, “I am the Way, I am the Truth, and I am the Life. No one comes next to the Father except through union with me. To know me is to know my Father too. (John 14:6 TPT*)

* All emphasis added.