But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 

II Corinthians 3:16-17. ESV 

 

I recently enjoyed one of the best movies I have seen in years, "A Great Awakening". It is the account of George Whitefield, as seen through the eyes of his friend, Benjamin Franklin. Whitefield was a defrocked Anglican preacher who was essentially run out of England and who subsequently came to America. Whitefield was one of the most powerful orators of his time, with a thunderous voice that could literally be heard by many thousands of people at one time. However, it was not his gift of speaking that set him apart among the preachers of his ere, it was the message he brought when he spoke.

 

And George Whitefield's message, was a message of freedom!

 

It was a vital message for the struggling colonies. They were certainly a religious people (after all, many of them and their ancestors had come to America for religious freedom) but their religion had become beaten down through the years. In many ways it had grown cold, and they needed someone to remind them of what true religion was. In stepped George Whitefield who preached a message of liberty in Christ. He taught a Scriptural freedom, however, for as he taught the people that they could be freed from their sins if they would turn to Christ, he also taught them that they were to then live for Christ.

 

Contrast that to the religious dogma that is often preached today. Modern religion is often a watered-down version of the truth, selling people on the freedom they can have in Christ, but failing to preach that this newfound freedom is not a license to continue living in sin. The message was an important one, for it was in essence the same message that the Apostles preached in the New Testament times. Consider the following passages, the first by Paul, the second by Peter, but both inspired of the Holy Spirit:

 

For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. Galatians 5:13, ESV

Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a coverup for evil, but living as servants of God. I Peter2:16, ESV

 

The message that brought freedom in Paul and Peter's Day, was the same that Whitefield passed on in his day. It was a message of freedom in Christ, but not a freedom to do whatever a person wanted. Rather, it was a freedom that was to be used in serving Christ while walking according to His will. Compare that to the preaching we often hear today where people are told of the freedom in Christ but are not told of the requirement to stop sinning. Many people today honestly believe that they can live in willful sin and that God's grace will allow them to do so. It is a perversion of what has really been taught. Consider the following inspired statement by Jude, the brother of Christ, as he was writing to warn the church of this very thing:

 

For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord. Jude 1:4, NIV (1978)

 

But Whitefield, did not make this error. He preached from the Word the freedom that was in Christ alone - a freedom that allowed people to escape the bondage of sin and now live for Christ Jesus their Savior. It was in large part this message of liberty that changed the direction of America. Once people realized the liberty they could have in Christ, they savored that newfound freedom, and it was a catalyst that helped prompt them to want that same liberty in their relationship with England. This relationship that had been one of crown and colonies had turned into a form of enslavement, and once these people tasted the freedom from sin in their spiritual lives, they were no longer content to live as slaves to a despotic king who had usurped his proper authority and turned it into a tyranny. Most of us are familiar with the rest of the story, but it is not that story that I want to emphasize. What I believe is important for us in our own modern times is the same thing that was important in colonial times. 

 

It is the need for freedom!

 

It was this message that Whitefield and the other preachers of his time brought. It was a message that people no longer had to live as slaves to their sins, but that they could be freed through the blood of Jesus Christ. This offer of freedom was a gift - it was not something that they had earned, nor was it something they could earn in the future. It was a gift! 

 

But, as the inspired writers of the New Testament so clearly revealed, this was not a gift that could be misused while still allowing people to enjoy the fruits of this gift. The people were granted the opportunity to be freed from their bondage of sin to become servants of Christ! They were not permitted to pollute this gift by returning to their sins and claiming that this was what they were given their freedom for in the first place.

 

For freedom from sin has never been intended as a freedom to sin.

 

And this, in a nutshell, is why the Great Awakening was so successful. The people were taught from the Bible to leave their sins. By doing so, they would be freed from the consequences of their sins. They freedom was now to be devoted to a service to Christ and their fellow man. Contrast that to the perverted, so-called gospel that men are preaching today - a freedom from the penalties and consequences of sin as well, but with the "freedom" to continue to sin. In far too many instances, modern men have turned God's grace into a license to sin. By doing so, instead of bringing a new Great Awakening, they have lulled their listeners into that ancient sleep of death!

 

I believe it is time for America to experience another Great Awakening! However, this can never be accomplished as long as we are accepting the lie that freedom in Christ means freedom to sin. If we are to ever taste the freedom that is in Christ, we are going to have to be in Christ. That means we are going to have our faith and belief in Christ, make our good confession in Christ, and then repent and be baptized into Christ in order to have our sins washed away and taste the new birth. It is a simple but powerful message. It is the message that transformed the people on the day of Pentecost some forty-nine days after Christ was resurrected from the dead, and some 1,700 years later when the seeds of the Great Awakening were sown in America.

 

I believe we are in desperate need of a Great Awakening in our day. It is not a popular message - leaving our lifestyle of favorite sins never is. But on the flip side, the message of freedom is a popular message, just as it has been for some 2,000 years. We can choose that freedom that is in Christ and thereby escape the bondage that we currently have in our present sin, but it will come at a cost. We will first have to wake up and, once awakened, we will have to then arise to serve our Lord and Savior. It is only then that we can escape the bondage of our sin and become truly free men and women.

 

Are you ready for a Great Awakening?