Intro: As Americans we have recognized that all men are created equal and are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights; among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Therefore, in this fine country of the free and home of the brave, we have liberty like no other. We believe that liberty is the birthright of every man. Black or white, rich or poor, educated or uneducated, old or young, in America he is free! For this I am very grateful. I am proud to breath fresh air and know that it is no longer shared in this country with slaves. I ma grateful for the chance to worship without fear of government intervention or a state operated religion.

But the liberty of the text is no such freedom as this: it is an infinitely greater and better one. As great as civil or religious liberty may be, the liberty of this text abundantly exceeds it. There is a liberty that Christians alone enjoy. But he is the free man whom the truth makes free. He who has grace in his heart is free; he has the right upon his side; he has God within him- the indwelling Spirit of the Holy Ghost; he is a prince of the blood royal of heaven; he is a noble, having the true patent of nobility; he is one of God’s elect, distinguished, chosen children. John 8:32, 36. Without knowledge of Christ and the indwelling Spirit of God, even in a free country, you can still be a slave!

There was a time when we had not this spiritual liberty. We were strangers from God, without Christ, having no hope in this world. But we who once were afar off have been made nigh by the blood of Christ. We were in bondage, but now we are in liberty. We were under condemnation, but we have experienced salvation. We were slaves to sin, but we are now free to serve God! Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty!

I.       Liberty From Sin: Romans 5:20, We have liberty by grace from:

A.    Sin’s Strength: authority, power, bondage, and dominion. Of all bondage and slavery in this world, there is none more horrible than the bondage of sin.  Every living man before he is converted is a slave to lust. They rattle their chains of bondage and call it music. You think you are happy, but at night, when you la yourself upon your bed, how many times have you tossed from side to side sleepless and ill at ease, and when you woke have you not regretted days past! And though you plunged into another day of sin, that regret, like a hell-dog, barked at you, and followed at your heels. You try to do better and fail. You want to feel better and can’t. Conviction presses on your heart, and the pangs of hell catch hold of your soul. This is bondage of the worst sort, and it is the power of sin, but may I declare to you, “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty!”

B.     Sin’s Sentence: the penalty of sin is seen in Romans 6:23, the penalty of sin is eternal death and damnation in torment. What awful bondage to know that if silver cord of life were broken today that hell would be your home. Sinner, this is a reality! As a sinner the fear of this truth gripped my heart in anguish and conviction. The worst part of it was that I understood that because of my transgressions, both open and secret, God would have to lay aside his golden scepter of royalty and righteousness were he not to eternally judge my sins, but Thanks Be To God for the time when the Spirit of God made real in my heart the truth that God had forever judged my sins in Christ at Calvary that I could still go free! I received his Spirit in my heart, and now the only fire I’ll ever feel is burning in my heart!

C.    Sin’s Shame: free from guilt, remorse, and blame, because my sins are gone. It is not a pardon; it is justification. It is not that I no longer feel guilt; it is that I am no longer guilty! I was a sinner, but I am saved by grace. My sin was nailed to the cross of Christ, and I have been given the righteousness of my Savior! It is like the children of Israel that passed over the Jordan River and set up 12 stones. Those stones reminded them of where they were in Egypt but they were no longer there! The stigma was rolled away!

II.    Liberty From Fear: II Tim 1:7, we have liberty from:

A.    Fear of the Law: Many people are honest because they are afraid of the policeman. Many are sober because they are afraid of the eye of the public. Many persons are seemingly religious because of their neighbors. There is much virtue that is like the juice of the grape- it has to be squeezed before you get it; it is not like the generous drop of the honeycomb, distilling willingly and freely. This kind of legal behavior is simply generated from bondage and fear. Yet, we as Saints of God have no need to fear. We have the Holy Spirit which produces, the fruit of the Spirit, which is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. (Gal 5:22-23). We are not by nature law-breakers, and as such our fear for the Lord (the high sheriff of glory, is not fright but reverence. We have the Spirit of the Lord and liberty!

B.     Fear of Love: So many people are afraid to love for fear it will be rejected, but we love him because he first loved us. We have liberty from the fear of love, because we already know that we will be received of him!

C.    Fear of Life: the sinner lives in fear of what tomorrow holds. He is a slave to worry and fret. We do not know what tomorrow holds, but we do know who holds tomorrow! We have no need to be afraid. “Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil!”

D.    Fear of Leaving: Dying. Something about dying changes people’s perspective! What you have may do well to live by, but will it do to die by? How many parties have been crashed by death? How many careers have been cut short by the icy fingers of the grim reaper who choked out the last breath of life? How many plans have been discontinued because of the visit of the death angel? Life is unsure, but death is certain. Many fear death, and at the time of the crossing, most people fear death, but there is one people who have liberty from the fear of death at the time to cross the river- those who are prepared to meet God. We fear the process, the pain, and the passing from this world, but we do not fear the results of death. There is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother that will hold our hand!

Conclusion: Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Are you free? Are you liberated? Do you slavishly serve sin and fear? Are you living in the liberty of God? If you are free, why would you enslave yourself in the bondage of the worry and worldliness of this society? Stand fast in your liberty, and live for Jesus.