There was a time when I was pretty clear on what my people’s fight for freedom was all about. We fought to end the institution of slavery. We fought for freedom from brutality, oppression, and the denial of our unalienable rights to pursue life, liberty and happiness. We fought against the burning of our homes and communities, the theft of our possessions and land, and we fought against lynching and violent brutality. We fought against the denial of civil, political, religious and personal rights. We fought to change laws, abolish laws, and adopt new laws. And we fought for restitution. We fought to just breathe and to catch up. And the role of the church and our reliance on and recognition of God as the One orchestrating our fight and as the source of our strength was evident. 

Today, I’m not so sure. It seems that freedom no longer means the same things as described above, and the fight for freedom has shifted from a fight defined and led by God. So let’s go back to the source and re-examine the concept of freedom from God’s perspective. 

One of the central themes of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, is the quest for physical, mental and spiritual freedom. Let’s examine all three.

Physical Freedom

From their early beginnings as a people, the Children of Israel were taken into slavery by the Pharoah of Egypt because of his fear of and dread for them (Exodus 1:1-13). And although the first time, this wasn’t the only time the Children of Israel were taken into captivity. Because of their continued disobedience, the Children of Israel found themselves in an unending pattern of disobedience, captivity, oppression, repentance, and freedom (II Kings 17:7-22, 22:19-20; 23:25-28).  

Despite the cause of their captivity, the Bible sheds light on God’s heart for His people who were physically enslaved and oppressed (Jeremiah 30:8, 34:8-22, Psalm 106:46, Ezekiel 34:27, Isaiah 9:4, Hosea 11:4). God witnessed the suffering of those held in captivity, and whether deserved or not, by His grace, he delivered His children from slavery (Exodus 20:2; Deuteronomy 7:8), II Kings 17:23-41, 21:10-15). God also spoke about how those in slavery or servitude should be treated (Exodus 20:9, 21:1-11, Deuteronomy 15:12-18, Leviticus 25:39-40). 

Spiritual Freedom

“Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed (John 8:34-36).” Here, Jesus is speaking of a different kind of freedom than that of physical freedom. Jesus uses the analogy of slavery and freedom. He describes how our continual engagement in sin makes us slaves to sin. But Jesus doesn’t leave us hopeless. He shares the Good News that our faith in Jesus frees us from the death we deserve for sinning against God (John 8:31-32). Yet, we live in a fallen world and are fleshly beings, so we will constantly battle sin (I John 1:9, 2:1, Romans 7:21-22). But as Christians, we don’t have to become slaves to it (I John 2:1-6, Romans 6:2). Through the power of Christ, we are set free from the bondage of 

every thought, action, or attitude falls short of God’s holiness (Romans 3:23, 8:21). 

When we choose to live for Christ, we obtain the power, through the Holy Spirit, to live triumphantly over sin (I Corinthians 15:56–67; Romans 8:37) because as God’s image-bearers, we receive a new nature (John 3:3, I Corinthians 5:17). To be free from sin means sin no longer wields its power over our lives. The strongholds of hatred, selfishness, greed, pride, and lust have been broken (Ephesians 6:10-18). We gain freedom from sin and then willingly become slaves of Jesus Christ (Romans 6:18, Philippians 2:13). 

Mental Freedom 

in her book, One in a Million, Priscilla Shirer, motivational speaker, author and actress, shared a story about her children’s elephant encounter at the circus. Her boys were fascinated by the animals, but mainly by the elephants. They were amazed by their size and strength yet surprised about their seemingly docile behavior. They asked the question, “Why don’t they run away? There’s no fence, and they aren’t chained or kept in cages? Why do they stay?” And what she learned was that the elephants had been conditioned to stay. She discovered that as soon as the elephants were born, they were shackled around the ankle and tethered to a pole by a chain. The chain only allowed them to go so far, and when they attempted to go further, they were yanked back into place. After many attempts, the elephants give up trying, thus learning to stay in “their place.” By the time the chains are removed, they have been conditioned to stay within their boundaries. Even though they were free, they continued to react as though they were shackled.

The Matrix is a movie that depicts a futuristic world in which humanity is unknowingly trapped inside the Matrix, a simulated reality created by intelligent machines to distract humans. At the same time, they use their bodies as an energy source. And like the circus elephants, those trapped inside the Matrix were captives, yet they were blind to their state of imprisonment. On the surface, they appeared free, and  as long as they didn’t resist their bondage, they were “safe.” But it’s in this state of mental captivity where you have the appearance of one who is free, but you actually aren’t. And this type of “blind imprisonment” is perhaps more terrifying than physical bondage because it is one of the most effective ways to keep us captive.  

The Children of Israel experienced a similar type of “mental captivity.” When Moses first shared the promise that God would deliver them from slavery in Egypt and give them the Promised Land, they were too discouraged to believe Him (Exodus 6:6-9). They had become accustomed to their identity and life as slaves, and at the first sign of trouble, although free, they wanted to go back (Exodus 16:3, Numbers 14:4). Instead of living as ones who were free, they wanted to remain settled in slavery, remaining as victims rather than living as victors, as free. 

With all of our supposed freedom − freedom to go where we want, eat what we want, shop where we want − we can still be imprisoned by thoughts that hold us captive to fear, numbness, busyness, sadness, worry, guilt, condemnation, anger, and pain (Ephesians 4:18). When our thoughts dwell on the lies of satan or continually entertain evil, strongholds develop and hold us captive. Our habits, beliefs, traditions, and perceptions can trap us in a prison of the enemy (I John 4:1, I Peter 5:8, John 8:48, 2 Corinthians 4:4).