The Purpose ExperienceSample

The Path to Purpose—Part 2: Freedom

Today, we’ll talk about another important piece of the purpose puzzle: freedom. Understanding and stepping into the freedom you have access to through Christ are essential if you’re to live according to your purpose!

What’s holding you back from stepping into a life of freedom? What areas of your life continue to grip you, chain you down, and tempt you? What are those cycles of sin—the habits that you just can’t seem to break? Fear? Anxiety? Depression? Pride? Pornography? Shame? Doubt? Maybe something happened in your past that was painful. Maybe it’s unforgiveness toward someone who wronged you, and you can’t seem to let that go. It could even be the loss of a loved one—that you blame God for—that you can’t seem to move past.

You don’t have to be a slave anymore! You can get to higher ground. Jesus is that higher ground! He wants to set you free. There is hope for every area of bondage in which you find yourself. There’s a deeper level of freedom available to you. Once you experience the freedom of Christ, you will never be the same!

So what is freedom? Where does it start, and how do we get it? Freedom is a continual state of surrendering control of every area of your life to Christ and being filled with His Spirit to live the life for which you were created. More simply put: Freedom is living life as a child of God who is totally surrendered to the Savior.

In John 14:6, Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me.” Jesus didn’t say He has truth or is a piece of the truth. Jesus said, “I am the truth!” Jesus is the one who sets the captives free. There is no truth outside of Christ and His Word.

How do we break free of bondage? True freedom requires having a truth encounter. We can’t do this until we know the truth. John 8:32 says, “…[K]now the truth and the truth will set you free.” It’s not the knowledge itself that frees us but the subject of that knowledge. The contextual audience of this verse was Jews who knew about God in their heads but didn’t know the person of Jesus! The phrase “set free” used here carries the picture of being liberated morally. Just like physical death liberates us from debt, so, too, when we intimately know Jesus and surrender to Him, we are liberated from any bondage to sin. Knowing Jesus, the Word of Truth, eliminates the power of sin over our lives.

The ultimate change involves confronting the lies we believe by bringing the Word of God into our situation. John 1 says that Jesus is the Word. When we bring the Word into our situation, we are releasing the very source and person of freedom into our lives! Galatians 5:1 says, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.” Jesus doesn’t just have truth. He is truth. When you invite Jesus into your situation, you’re inviting truth and freedom Himself!

As we close, it’s important we recognize that freedom comes from the blood of Jesus. Colossians 1:14 (KJV) says, speaking of Christ, “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.” It is the blood of Jesus that cleanses us and sets us free from the power of sin and death.

Freedom is critical if you want to live out your purpose. First, without freedom, you will not have the faith to believe and step into what God calls you to do. Secondly, even if you do become successful in what you are doing, eventually old cycles of sin, past memories or emotional bondage will resurface and bring destruction to your life and relationships.

The path to purpose is through the doorway of freedom. Finding freedom isn’t about performance; it’s about surrendering to the truth of your identity in Christ. It’s about letting go of your way and trusting in His way. When you embrace your identity in Christ, exercise your authority as a child of God, and walk in freedom, you will be on the path of purpose.