Freedom from anything begins by knowing you are free. Juneteenth is short for June 19th—a state holiday in Texas. It commemorates the day in 1865 that good news arrived.
(Photo by Photodune)
Juneteenth teaches us something important about freedom: it’s useless unless you know it’s true and you live like it.
As a Christian, you have a spiritual freedom you may not even realize.
Good News Arrived
Here in my state of Texas, the slaves were legally free for two and a half years . . . but they never knew it. That freedom had been kept a secret for two and a half years.
- When Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, effective on New Years Day, 1863, the act freed all slaves.
- But many southern masters kept the information a secret from their slaves.
It wasn’t until Union troops arrived in Galveston on June 19, 1865, that the slaves learned they were free.
Knowing You’re Free from Sin’s Power
God has given us a spiritual Juneteenth through Jesus Christ:
Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey its lusts. —Romans 6:11–12
Believers are free! But for many of us, spiritual freedom is still a secret.
If you have trusted in Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins, consider this true of you: you are dead to sin’s power to make you sin, and you are alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Period.
Live Free . . . Because You Are
The Bible doesn’t say, “Pretend it’s true,” or “Act like it’s true.” It says, “Consider it a fact.” Here are a few more facts about a Christian’s relationship to sin:
- We are separated from sin’s power over us, but not its presence with us. That freedom comes in heaven.
- Sin can (and will) still tempt us, but the act of sinning has become one of choice, not compulsion.
- We have the freedom to walk away from sin instead of submitting to its demands.
When I first learned this truth, I couldn’t believe no one had ever told me before. What freedom there is in truth!
The secret’s out! I hope you’re living the truth of your spiritual emancipation.
Tell me what you think: What helps you put into practice the knowledge that you are free from sin’s power? To leave a comment, just click here.