5/31/09 - 2 Corinthians 3

Freedom. The human soul desires it more than almost anything. Just the mention of freedom springs forth hope and life in all of us. The state of humanity is such that everyone desperately needs freedom, whether its from addiction, abuse, poverty, depression, debt, loneliness, money, or even sports. It's truly a glorious thing to experience freedom from any of these things. I believe that there's a longing in all of us, believers and non-believers alike, to be free from this world - a longing for something better, something more real.

Chapter 3 discusses the superiority of the 'spirit' of the law over the 'letter' of the Law. The letter of the law, a.k.a. the law of Moses (including but not limited to the ten commandments), required so much from us that Paul went far enough to say that it "kills us" (v. 6). The Law required total righteousness from us and without it, we would stand condemned.

"Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law..." (Romans 3:19-20).

With this righteous requirement and our conflicting inability to live perfectly, Paul concludes that the Law brings death. This isn't to say that the Law itself is evil or even useless to us. The Law brings death in a similar way that the law of gravity can bring death - if you test this law from too high an altitude, it will surely produce death. In either case, it's our choice to defy it that brings death, not the Law itself. These laws simply point out the consequences of our actions. (Galatians 3:19-24, Romans 5, Romans 6, Romans 7:7-12)

The Israelites used to worship and rejoice at the mere reading of the Law (Nehemiah 8:3, 5-6). Moses face actually had a glow around it after he encountered God's word (Exodus 34:29). So if this Law, which leads to death, was found to be this glorious, how much more should the should the Law of the Spirit? The Law of the Spirit, that of the new covenant found through the death & resurrection of Christ, now offered life. The new covenant gives us the righteousness, through Christ's shed blood, the Law could never give (Romans 5:18-21). It relieves us of the restrictions of the Law. It offers to us a relationship with our creator, rather than a strict adherence to rules. It invites us to fall in love with Jesus, who loved us first. It gives us freedom.

"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." (v. 17).

This freedom we have as Christians isn't a pass to do whatever we want and fall back on the old "I'm saved anyway" excuse. That would be the opposite of freedom in that we re-submit ourselves to the slavery of sin. This is the freedom that frees us to worship God without rules and regulations. Its the freedom to eat, dress, talk, watch movies, have fun, or do whatever, as you like without falling into the trap of allowing these 'liberties' to overshadow God or fail to bring Him glory.

God, thank you for freeing me. You know how I am so don't let me abuse my freedom. In all I do, allow me to honor You.