Freely Received, Freely Give

Oftentimes Christians forget what it means to be a Christian. There are so many examples and instances in Scripture that talk about the grace and mercy of God. Yet, so much of the time Christians forget that they are called by God to share that same grace and mercy with others.

[4] But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, [5] even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—[6] and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, [7] so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. [8] For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, [9] not a result of works, so that no one may boast. [10] For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:4–10, ESV)

There is nothing within us that caused God to love us, so why do we hold our love for others on conditions that we can't possibly fill ourselves? Mercy, love, and kindness should be given freely to all we come in contact with, whether they hate us or agree with us. Through freely giving, Christ is reflected.

God's command to love is not conditional on being loved in return, for it is His love that fills the believer and not that of mortal mankind.

What does it then mean to love those around us? I would argue that it is to give them the Gospel and to care for their physical needs. Christians have been given the grace of God freely. There is nothing that we can do to deserve God's grace, because He gave it to us while we were still sinners opposed to Him. If He can love us when we are horribly opposed to His nature, how can we dare to be unloving to those who are opposed to us?

Paul puts it this way in Romans:

[17] But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, [18] and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. [19] I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. [20] For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. [21] But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. [22] But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. [23] For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:17–23, ESV)

Therefore Christians ought to live graciously and caringly towards all. The gift of God frees us from sin, leads to our sanctification, and eternal life. To pretend that others don't deserve this same gift because they are currently opposed to God is to show a complete lack of understanding in how any believer throughout the history of time was saved. No one deserves God's love, not one. No one deserves the love of His bride, the church. Yet, that is exactly what we are called to. We are called to pray for those who hate us, to love those who persecute us, to share Christ and Christ only.

There is no place for Christians to share anything but freedom for it can only be found in Christ. No matter what we think is good and right, the unrighteousness will never agree until they have also found freedom in Christ. The unbeliever wants to create laws to restrict fellow unbelievers. This will never stop them. Those who hate God are only continually seeking to do evil. (Psalm 53:2-3) The only thing that will provide a more gracious and caring society is Christ. If we love someone externally without the Gospel, we are failing to provide them with the reason for life.

Mankind has been created to glorify God and enjoy Him forevermore. Yet, most of us like to pretend that as long as those around us are living their own lives and not interrupting ours, they are fine. Yet, they are not living for what they are created for. Their chief end is to enjoy God. Yet they hate Him.

Therefore, we must preach freedom! Freedom should be the battle cry of the Christian, because true freedom can only be found in Christ. Earthly freedoms are but a mere shadow of what true freedom in Christ is. Free speech on earth is a shadow of the freedom that we have to speak freely to the Father through our mediator Christ. No one can restrict us, or create times when He is unavailable to hear our cries, groanings, and joys. From there all other freedoms flow. Freedom to bear arms, shadow man having dominion over the animals and defending the defenseless. Freedom to worship, can only be shadowed by the worship of the One True Savior. All other other worship is the devils attempt to distort the freedom found in Christ. He even tried to do this when Christ was on earth during Christ's time in the desert.

True freedom can only be found when we lay our lives down at the foot of the cross. We cannot speak freely until the old man is buried. It is only when our heart is born anew that we can choose to speak wisdom and truth. The ability to speak freely can only be understood when there is a freedom in spirit. Those who are under the bondage of the devil have no such freedom. They can only and always choose to speak evil. Their speech is never free, no matter what country they live in. Their speech is always shrouded in darkness.

This is why His kingdom is not of this world. It can NEVER be of this world. No matter how many freedoms Christ's people establish, those ruled by darkness will always distort them and eventually bring about the ruin of those freedoms. But that doesn't mean that Christ's bride shouldn't strive daily and yearn for those freedoms, for that desire and yearning is a reflection of the freedom found in the depths of the blood that has bathed them and created robes of the most glorious adornment for the praise of His glorious grace.

Christians should always advocate for freedoms in this life, because it is a wonderful opportunity to relay to others what those freedoms reflect, true freedom in Christ. However, Christians should never advocate for a "Christian nation". This is truly opposed to Scripture and the words of Christ. "[36] Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” (John 18:36, ESV)"

While we should promote freedom at every turn, this earthly world is not where that freedom will be ultimately experienced. It is only in that heavenly kingdom, surrounded by such a marvelous body of witnesses that we fully experience freedom. The earthly desire for freedom stems from a desire to know that which is unknowable, namely Christ. It is only through the rebirth of hearts that Christ is known, and true freedom realized. It is only through the mercies lavished upon His beloved that freedom grows. It is only through the mercy of Christ that love can be shared with our neighbor. It is only through Christ that peace can be offered. Without Christ, there is no freedom, no mercy, no love, and certainly no peace.