God's freedom is free

"Freedom is not Free" read a sticker I recently saw in town. I've seen these before plenty of times and understand the thrust of its meaning, but this time I responded to it differently.

The meaning of the statement "Freedom is not Free" - famously engraved on the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. - is that we as a nation have purchased our freedom.

The method of payment is war, and the price is the lives of American soldiers: those soldiers who died defending our nation's liberty as well as those who have returned to civilian life.

The price of our country's freedom, therefore, is not free; rather, it is quite costly, purchased with the most precious of commodities.

The reason I interpreted the pithy quote differently this time is because of what's been occupying my mind lately from the Scripture. I'm finishing a sermon series titled "Liberator, Leader, and Lawgiver: God's Saving Activity in Exodus 1-20."

In this series, we are examining the original salvation experience God accomplishes, and we are grappling with how we can make better sense of the nature and purpose of our spiritual salvation experience by paralleling it - and thereby complementing it - with the Israelites' salvation. The results and implications of this study have been poignant.

Exodus 1-20 portrays that God's freedom is completely free: He has achieved it and he sustains it.

As Christian Americans, we have two different definitions of freedom, and we must be careful not to confuse them. As Americans we have purchased - with our blood - our own freedom, and we continue to sustain that freedom too. As Christians, Jesus has purchased - with his blood - our freedom from sin and death, and the efficaciousness of his salvation is eternal.

Have we confused these two concepts of freedom? Do we say, "Thanks for your salvation, God" and then try to sustain or maintain that freedom through our own efforts?

The linchpin of the Israelites' freedom was passing through the Red Sea (Exodus 13:17-14:31; cf. Exodus 15:1-21), and then God sustained that freedom. He provided his people with food (Exodus 16) and water (Exodus 15:22-27; 17:1-7), and he won their battles for them (Exodus 17:8-16).

Accordingly, Jesus wins our freedom and sustains it by being our Living Water (John 4:10; 7:38) and Living Bread (John 6:25-59), and he wins our spiritual battles on our behalf (Ephesians 6:10-20).

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Spoelstra is pastor of Church of New Hope in Lewiston.