“Christ purchased our freedom and redeemed us from the curse of the Law and its condemnation by becoming a curse for us – for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs [crucified] on a tree (cross).” Galatians 3:13 AMP
The Law brought a curse. There it stopped short. That was all it could do. The first thing that Jesus did was undo this result of the Law by deliverance from the curse. John 8:36
This deliverance is represented in the form of a ransom. Christ “bought off” the human race from the penalty of its sins, the price paid to be His death, as it says in I Corinthians 6:20: “You were bought with a price [you were actually purchased with the precious blood of Jesus and made His own]. So then, honor and glorify God with your body.”
In the fourth century a champion for God wrote these words:
A Soul Set Free
“Who am I, and what am I? Is there any evil that is not found in my acts, or if not in my acts, in my words, or if not in my words, in my will? But you, O Lord, are good and merciful, and your right hand has had regard for the depth of my death, and from the very bottom of my heart it has emptied out an abyss of corruption. This was the sum of it: not to will what I willed and to will what you willed.
But throughout these long years where was my free will? Out of what deep and hidden pit was it called forth in a single moment, wherein to bend my neck to your mild yoke and my shoulders to your light burden, O Christ Jesus, my helper and my redeemer? How sweet did it suddenly become to me to be free of the sweets of folly: things that I once feared to lose it was now joy to put away. You cast them forth from me, you the true and highest sweetness, you cast them forth, and in their stead, you entered in, sweeter than every pleasure, but not to flesh and blood, brighter than every light, but deeper within me than any secret retreat, higher than every honor, but not to those who exalt themselves. Now was my mind free from the gnawing cares of favor-seeking, of striving for gain, of wallowing in the mire, and of scratching lust’s itchy sore. I spoke like a child to you, my light, my wealth, my salvation, my Lord God.”
THE CONFESSIONS OF
SAINT AUGUSTINE
BOOK 9 – A Soul Set Free
paragraph 2,3
“The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender or submission.”
John F. Kennedy
The cost to participate in this great American experiment, which we call democracy, has always come at a great cost to some of us. We marched for it. Bled for it. Suffered humiliating indignities for it. And even died for it. We served our country in the military, honorably, to keep it secure and free, yet our struggles are not over.
As I witness the political upheavals in our country today it saddens me. I think of the way it must have been for Jesus when he was laser-focused on setting us free at all costs. The bible says: “Christ purchased our freedom and redeemed us from the curse of the Law and its condemnation by becoming a curse for us – for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs [crucified] on a tree (cross).” Galatians 3:13 AMP
He paid the price with his own blood.
Jesus paid a high price for our freedom. The brave men and women who fought in Americas’ wars, from the civil war to Afghanistan paid a high price for our freedom. The brave and courageous men and women who marched were beaten and humiliated and died, paid a high price for our freedom. I pray that it all wasn’t in vain.
The burden of renewing our zeal and, summoning the courage and determination, to take this fight up once more has sent the call out to all who love ‘Freedom’ and ‘Justice’. Will you answer the call?
As for me and my house, we vote yes!
