Pure JesusSample

Jesus - Your Freedom and Forgiver

The Free Servant

Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. (1 Peter 2:16 ESV)

At first glance, this verse can be a bit confusing. In other translations, “servant” is replaced by “slave,” which sounds like an awful price to pay for freedom. Then again, doesn't any freedom come at a cost? 

Is freedom truly free? Our freedom is a gift from Christ as the payment for our sins. The payment was made by Christ because of our fallen nature to rebel against God, and it was the only way to redeem us. We would never be able to pay off our sin debt on our own. So Jesus did it for us. This gift made us righteous in the eyes of our Father. Jesus is our justification. This gift was truly undeserved, but given freely because of God’s love for humanity. We aren’t to use that gift of freedom to our advantage for our own selfish gain. Instead, our freedom in Christ motivates us to serve God as a “thank you” for this great gift we received, and continue to receive even today. 

What does it mean to be a servant of God? Matthew 20:28 reminds us that “even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others, and to give his life as a ransom for many." The gift wasn't only the ransom to give us freedom. Christ is the gift. In every way possible, Christ modeled for us what it means to be a servant of God - to the point of giving His own life to pay a debt that wasn’t even His! The freedom that we have is not free, and we should not take it for granted. We share this gift with others so that they can experience the same redemptive freedom of God through Christ. This is what it means to live as people who are free servants of God!

Prayer

Father, thank you that we get to live as free people in Christ because of His sacrifice for our salvation. There will never be a better gift than the one you have given us. Help me serve you daily and allow you to use me as your vessel, to lead others to receive this free and gracious gift. AMEN!