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Monday, July 3, 2017

Understanding the Paradox of Freedom


An Independence Day message from the Christian news website Assist News provides a Christian perspective of Freedom. The first caught my attention because it was written by a person from a relatively small city in Oklahoma – Grove. I have lived most of the last 25-years in Oklahoma arriving from a small college town in Central Washington State (east of the Cascades) where I had grown up, went to High School and completed my college education.

Here is a teaser quote from the essay:

“At the very heart of the Christian gospel is the strange truth,” he continues, “that real freedom is found only in giving up everything secular culture touts as freedom. The gospel, it turns out, requires a distinction between the enjoyment of true freedom and the mere possession of ‘free will.’ Not that free will or independence from tyranny is a bad thing; they’re just not true freedom. True freedom, the gospel tells us, is trusting obedience, the obedience of faith. That’s not exactly the image one finds portrayed in popular culture.”

So, what does true freedom mean for those who choose to follow Christ? According to St. Augustine, true freedom is not choice or lack of constraint, but being what you are meant to be. (Understanding the Paradox of Freedom; By Carol Round; AssistNews.net; 7/2/17 [Blog Editor: The Ms. Round is quoting is President James Madison])

JRH 7/3/17
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Understanding the Paradox of Freedom (Writer's Opinion)

By Carol Round, Special to ASSIST News Service (Writer’s Opinion)
Email Alert Sent: 7/2/2017 8:15 PM
Webpage date: July 2, 2017
Webpage: Assist News
True freedom comes through Christ - https://thepreachersword.com


[Blog Editor: The entirety of the essay is in the email however I am cross posting from the webpage.]

GROVE, OK (ANS – July 2, 2017) –

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” -- Galatians 5:1 (NIV).

To most Americans, the word freedom connotes images of the American flag. We associate July 4 with the freedoms we’ve been granted by the U.S. Constitution. We celebrate our country’s independence with fireworks and parades.

According to dictionary.com, freedom means “the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint.”

Physical freedom is denied those locked behind prison walls. But those who have discovered a relationship with Jesus while in prison will tell you they are, indeed, now free, in spite of the iron bars they peer through each day.

Found throughout the Bible, the word, “freedom,” is familiar to those who’ve read God’s Holy Word. John 8:32 says, “And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

In an article by Roger Olson, he writes, “Unfortunately, two very different ideas of freedom get confused in many people’s minds. The biblical idea of freedom is different from, but easily confused with, the cultural value of the same name. And neither one is the same as “free will.” It can be confusing to the average Christian who wants to know what “real freedom” is. Is it having choices? Is it lack of coercion and constraint? Is it being able to do whatever you want? In what sense does Christ set us free, and how is that different from what Madison Avenue and Hollywood promise?

“At the very heart of the Christian gospel is the strange truth,” he continues, “that real freedom is found only in giving up everything secular culture touts as freedom. The gospel, it turns out, requires a distinction between the enjoyment of true freedom and the mere possession of ‘free will.’ Not that free will or independence from tyranny is a bad thing; they’re just not true freedom.

True freedom, the gospel tells us, is trusting obedience, the obedience of faith. That’s not exactly the image one finds portrayed in popular culture.”

So, what does true freedom mean for those who choose to follow Christ? According to St. Augustine, true freedom is not choice or lack of constraint, but being what you are meant to be.

For too many years of my adult life, I was a slave—a slave to other’s opinions, a slave to the false image I portrayed as someone who had her life together, a slave to the identities I slipped into because of cultural demands. I wasn’t experiencing true freedom. I wasn’t completely free until I embraced the woman God has created me to be.

“Humans were created in the image of God. True freedom, then,” writes Olson, “is not found in moving away from that image but only in living it out. The closer we conform to the true image of God, Jesus Christ, the freer we become. The farther we drift from it, the more our freedom shrinks.”

Only Christ can set us free.



Photo captions: 1) True freedom comes through Christ. (https://thepreachersword.com). 2) Carol Round.

Note: I always love hearing from my readers. Please feel free to e-mail me at carol@carolaround.com with your thoughts, or visit my blog for more inspiration at www.carolaround.com. If you need a speaker or workshop leader, you can contact me at the above e-mail or website. I'd be delighted to hear from you.

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** You may republish this and any of our ANS stories with attribution to the ASSIST News Service (www.assistnews.net). Please also tell your friends and colleagues that they can receive a complimentary subscription to our news service by going to the ANS website (see above [Subscribe by email on side panel of Home Page]) and signing up there.

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About ASSIST and Dan Wooding

Dan Wooding has been my friend for over 20 years, and I hold him in the highest esteem. I love his stories, his courage, and his conviction.

Dan and his wonderful wife Norma have been faithful to God and the call to share the stories of Christians working around the world for decades. They have been through difficult times, and have always found a way to get the work done.

Dan tells his own story of being a British journalist gone a bit wild after growing up on the mission field with his parents. Then Dan was convicted to tell the stories of Christians being killed and persecuted in countries where their faith left them vulnerable to abuse and worse. Dan has been in many dangerous situations in order to get the story out to the rest of the world.

Lower down on this page, you can see a module from Amazon.com with some of Dan's books listed there.  He is amazingly prolific and so effective in his work.


The main ASSIST Ministries site will give you information on the multiple locations of the ministry, and the projects that are ongoing.


The ASSIST news site gives you access to stories that are of interest to Christians worldwide, some of them would never be told without Dan Wooding's help.
  
Dan interviews people whether famous or intriguing every day.  He writes their stories, shares them on READ THE REST


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