Freedom Has A Price
In my home state of Florida, the sunshine is out, the skies are blue, and people are packing up coolers to head to the beach. Many others are prepping hotdogs and hamburgers to throw on the grill. Some are starting to chill sweet, ripe watermelons to savor the tastes of summer. It is the annual time for Americans to celebrate Independence Day, tomorrow, on the 4th of July.
The American Revolution—also called the U.S. War of Independence—was the insurrection fought for eight long years, between 1775 and 1783, through which 13 of Great Britain's North American colonies threw off British rule to establish the sovereign United States of America, founded with the Declaration of Independence in 1776.
When you look at the math—shockingly, this means that one year into the American Revolutionary War, we declared our intent to become independent, yet we did not officially reach that goal until seven long years later, with more war. We formally achieved our independence at the Treaty of Paris in September 1783. Much blood was shed over these years of battle.
My point is that freedom is difficult to obtain, and freedom is never free. It always has a long, difficult price attached to it.
Even after 1783, when we became free as an independent nation, all citizens of our new country were not free. The system of American slavery remained legal until the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863. Thus, for 80 years following the American Revolution, many people remained enslaved by wealthy landowners and were traded like animals to the highest bidder. Those individuals, each created in the image of God, did not receive their freedom as their forefathers did until 1863, but emancipated people still had to fight for rights to suffrage and citizenship which was officially achieved by the 1964 Civil Rights Act. This was almost 200 years later. Freedom indeed has a price.
In the Bible, our concept of spiritual freedom is based upon the atoning death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul writes in his letter to the church at Corinth, in I Corinthians 6:20, “You were bought with a price.” In I John 1:7, the disciple shares, “The blood of Jesus, God’s Son, cleanses us from all sin.” When we confess our trespasses to God, we're forgiven of our sins and cleansed from them by the blood of Christ. This is the payment of the debt of sin. It purchases our freedom.
If our spiritual freedom has been purchased by the blood of Christ, then we need to live as free people. In John 8:36, the disciple encourages us, “So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.”
Because freedom has such a high price tag associated with it, let us live as free people. Let us be grateful to God for our freedom as a country, and for our spiritual freedom as believers. Let us learn to grant freedom to those around us who are entrapped in guilt, confusion, and turmoil. Let us indeed live freely. Let us never forget the price that was paid for all the freedoms we enjoy today.