Free Indeed

I want to tell you about a soldier named Hiroo Onoda.

In 1944 he was sent to a small island in the Philippines and given one order. Hold your position. Never surrender. World War II ended in August of 1945, but Onoda never got the word. For twenty nine more years he lived in that jungle. Hiding. Foraging. Running from a war that had already ended. Leaflets were dropped. Letters from his own family were left for him to find. He believed every bit of it was a trick.

Here is the part that stops me every time I think about it. The moment that treaty was signed, Onoda was free. Fully. Legally. Completely free. And he spent the next twenty nine years living like a prisoner anyway, because nobody had convinced him the war was really over.

I believe there are people reading this right now living the exact same way.

This last Sunday we opened our new series called Great Freedom, and we started in John chapter eight. Jesus is talking to a group of people who believed in Him, and He says something both wonderful and pointed. "You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." The people listening got defensive fast. "We are descendants of Abraham," they said. "We have never been slaves to anyone." Which is remarkable, because these same people had been enslaved in Egypt, oppressed by Assyria, hauled off to Babylon, and were sitting under Roman rule at that very moment. Pride does not just resist correction. Pride rewrites history so it never has to look in the mirror.

Jesus does not back down. He tells them plainly, everyone who sins is a slave of sin. Not a bad habit. Not a rough patch. A slave master. And then He gives us the line our whole series is built on. A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever. So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.

I want you to notice that freedom and salvation are not identical twins. They are related, but they are not the same. Salvation is the list of things Christ already did for you. Forgiven. Justified. Adopted. Reconciled. Heaven secured. That list is finished. You cannot add to it and you cannot lose it. It was settled the moment you trusted Him.

Freedom is different. Freedom is what Christ is doing in you. Renewing your mind. Breaking strongholds. Healing wounds you have carried for years. Transforming desires you thought would never change. Teaching you to walk in step with the Spirit instead of dragging your old nature around behind you like a chain. Salvation happened in a moment. Freedom is a life you walk out one day at a time.

Some of you got saved a long time ago, and I rejoice with you over that. But you are still living in the jungle. Still hiding from shame that Jesus already carried for you. Still fighting guilt that lost its legal claim on you the day He rose. Still letting an old identity run your life when you were adopted into a brand new one.

The war is over. It ended at the cross, and it was confirmed empty at the tomb. You are not waiting on freedom. Freedom is waiting on you to believe it and walk out of hiding.

A slave serves out of fear and never really knows if he belongs. A son or daughter serves out of love because they already belong, no matter what. That is the difference the whole gospel hinges on, and it is the difference I want every person in our church to walk in this summer.

So here is my question for you today, and I mean it with all the love I have for you. Are you living free, or are you still fighting a war Jesus already won?

You are not a slave anymore. You are a son. You are a daughter. And Jesus did not almost set you free. He said it Himself. If the Son sets you free, you are free indeed.

Come out of the jungle. The treaty has already been signed.