The Lord through Jeremiah prophesies, “And ye were now turned, and had done right in My sight, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour; and ye had made a covenant before Me in the house which is called by My Name!” (Jeremiah 34:15)
Jesus said, “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” (John 8:36)
Apostle Paul to the saints in Corinth — “Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord [is], there [is] liberty.” (II Corinthians 3:17)
Beginning in the old covenant and into this current dispensation known as the new testament/fullness of times, we see the Lord’s liberty as an underlying thread weaved throughout the scriptures — that Rock which was Christ — ensampling for those who believe in the Lord Jesus — the Christ by faith — a liberty so encompassing that we are no longer bound by the enslaving entanglements of this world. (I Corinthians 10:1-4; Galatians 5:1; II Peter 2:18-20; Psalm 106:1-48)
Jesus’ parable in Luke 16 offers further insight, explaining why we should stand fast in the liberty wherewith is Christ, Herein, we understand that when we firmly believe in the risen Jesus as both Lord and Christ, and are attached in our hearts to the One and Same Rock that followed the Israelites through the Red Sea, we are no longer willing to render our hearts to another master. (Galatians 5:1; Acts 2:36; Luke 16:13; Matthew 6:24)
As the first commandment states, “Hear O Israel, the Lord thy God is One Lord … love the Lord with all thy heart, soul, mind, and strength!” (Deuteronomy 6:4; Mark 12:29-31) In this realm, we who believe become firmly planted in our Lord God and Saviour Jesus the Christ — who has set us 100% free — “though [our] sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” (Isaiah 1:18)
As the Lord saith, “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.” (Hebrews 8:12; Hebrews 10:17) And in another place, “For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.” (Hebrews 10:2)
The difficulty emerges when (as Jesus’ points out in the parable) we are willing to allow a little leaven (false teachings/legal entanglements) to bring us back into worldly bondage. In this specific parable (what the religious culture oft refers to as the parable of the unjust steward) Jesus shares wisdom that is imperative to understand in our faith walk.
That is, “there was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. And He called him, and said unto him, “How is it that I hear this of thee? Give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward.” Then the steward said within himself, “What shall I do? for my Lord takes away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed. I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.”
So he called every one of his Lord’s debtors [unto him], and said unto the first, “How much owe thou unto my Lord?” And he said, “An hundred measures of oil.” And he said unto him, “Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty.” Then said he to another, “And how much owe thou?” And he said, “An hundred measures of wheat.” And he said unto him, “Take thy bill, and write fourscore.” And the Lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.” (Luke 16:1-8)
By way of explanation, please note that the rich man herein is the Lord God, who had a steward (satan), forced to give an account, because he had wasted his goods. Of course, what we know too is the devil is too proud to beg and doesn’t want to work. So what does he do instead? What he has always done from the beginning of time. To obtain a suitable compromise from the believing community.
So he calls out the Lord’s debtors one by one, whom notably the Lord has set free from ALL bondage, and asks them how much they owe. What do they do? As Jesus explains in the parable, they quickly compromise their liberty and freedom in Him, writing a check to satan for the portion they thought they owed.
What is the outcome? We who initially repented and believed quickly become beholden to two masters. But what does the Lord of glory say? That He has set us free. In part? No. We are fully justified in Him, being wholly sanctified by the Word! (John 17:17) “Justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is [in Him] — in Christ Jesus!” (Romans 3:24) Being “made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.” (Romans 6:18)
But as Jesus and the apostles repeatedly warn us against — “false brethren unawares brought in, who come in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might [too!] bring us into bondage …” (Galatians 2:4) Just like satan always desiring that our hearts be divided between the One who sets us free, and the entanglements of this world.
Apostle Paul (who admits receiving his spiritual understanding by revelation) takes this principle further when he writes in Galatians about the bondwoman and the free. A worthy read for all of us who profess Christianity — but admittedly a teaching for another day.
Still, Paul’s point is clear. We who believe in Jesus by faith are instructed to “stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free AND to not be entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” Two inextricably intertwined messages that are life-giving, life sustaining, life altering, because we who profess to believe have come to personally know the Bread of Life.
“And ye shall call His Name JESUS, FOR HE SHALL SAVE HIS PEOPLE FROM THEIR SINS.” (Matthew 1:21)
All our sins forgiven — past, present and future. Not partially as the lying satan wants us to believe, but rather the understanding, as Paul states, that if our hearts be circumcised, Christ profits us nothing. “For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole Law. Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the Law; ye are fallen from grace.” (Galatians 5:3)
Harsh? Perhaps, but the Lord is warning us against compromising our liberty in Him, or as Jesus says in Luke 16, selling half of our heart, soul, and mind to the things of this world. Compromising in essence our salvation wherein He paid the price in full, once and for all — it is finished! —so that we who desire only to believe half-heartedly can keep one foot in the world.
It is no wonder Jesus warned His disciples to “take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees,” which He later explains to be their doctrine because it is intended to lead us astray from the same Jesus who said, “I AM the Way, the Truth and the Life. No man comes to the Father but by Me!” (Matthew 16:6-12; John 14:6-12)
The same Jesus whom John the baptizer identified as the Lamb of God.
Or, more pointedly, as the risen Jesus states to the church of Philadelphia in Revelation, “I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept My Word, and hast not denied My Name. Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.” (Revelation 3:8-9)
Therefore, to us that are not Jews — “we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision avails any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which works by love.” (Galatians 1:7)
You see, when we make our faith walk about legal entanglements, burdensome regulations, and paranoia about worldly authorities that might persecute us because we believe in the Most High, “then is the offence of the cross ceased” because we who are supposed to be like “a city on a hill that cannot be hid” have become as the world. (Galatians 1:11; Matthew 5:14)
Nevertheless, for those who are truly set free, we understand what Jesus meant when He read from Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord God [is] upon Me; because the Lord hath anointed Me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to [them that are] bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified.” (Isaiah 61:1-3)
The same example from Luke — “The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” (Luke 4:17-19)
Thus, as believers in the risen Jesus — our Lord God and Saviour, who Peter (standing with the eleven on the day of Pentecost) identified as both Lord and Christ — we are similarly instructed to preach deliverance to the captives, heal the broken-hearted, and set at liberty them that are bruised. (Acts 2:36; Galatians 5:1)
Why? Because the Lord has proclaimed an unprecedented liberty for those who repent, and are water baptized in His precious holy Name - the Name of the Lord Jesus — and have received the gift of the Holy Ghost. (Acts 2:36-47; Acts 10:44-48; Romans 6:3-4; I Peter 3:21; Acts 8:16; Acts 9:15,17, 27; Acts 22:16; Colossians 3:17; Philippians 2:11)
“If ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the Law.”
And “if we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.” (Galatians 5:1-26)
Stand in the offering plate.
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