There is true freedom in Jesus

By Elizabeth Prata

I'm originally from New England. New Hampshire's state motto is "Live Free or Die".

It's so cold in NH, locals say 'live, freeze, and die.'

That witticism aside, the motto actually comes from a letter penned by a veteran of the French & Indian Wars and the American Revolution, General John Stark. In 1809 Stark sent a letter to his compatriots at a reunion long after the war had ended. His letter included a brief passage to be read as a toast to the veterans: "Live free or die. Death is not the greatest of evils."

The secular person's view of freedom is quite different than a saved person's view of freedom.

The Revolutionary War veterans fought to get out from under the yoke of tyranny. The tyrannical entity in that case was Britain. But there was a greater tyranny under which they were living, if they were not in Jesus: the tyranny of sin.

There IS a greater evil than death. It is our sin against a holy God. The Revolutionary War was considered treasonous by the king of Britain. However, sin is "cosmic treason" as RC Sproul famously said.

"Sin is cosmic treason." What I meant by that statement was that even the slightest sin that a creature commits against his Creator does violence to the Creator’s holiness, His glory, and His righteousness. Every sin, no matter how seemingly insignificant, is an act of rebellion against the sovereign God who reigns and rules over us and as such is an act of treason against the cosmic King. Source

There is something worse than death, and that is eternal death in the Lake of Fire enduring God's wrath for our treason. Sins, that great evil, must be repaid, and thus God has made a plan for those who perpetrate it will pay.

But God!

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, (Ephesians 2:4-6)

Consider your freedom today as you go about in worship of the Lord. My gratitude for Jesus having set me free flows through my soul as a balm. He set me free...

Free from the wrath of God
Free from the guilt I carried
Free from the burden of worry
Free from ignorance
Free from enslavement to sin
Free from pursing a vain life
Free from biblical blindness
Free from darkness


For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. (Galatians 5:1).

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. (2 Corinthians 3:17).

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. (John 8:36)

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)

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:1-2).

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. (Romans 6:22).