Open Gates

On the farm where I grew up, we didn't have to bring home the bacon; it was already there. We raised and sold about 200 hogs per year. My brothers and I helped feed them and clean out their pens. If we complained about the odor that clung to our clothes after we did our chores, Dad would grin, "Those hogs smell like money to me!"

Some folks say swine are smarter than we think. Maybe so, but the main tricks our pigs performed were eating, grunting, and wallowing in the mud. Whether they realized it or not, they were slaves—restrained by the fences we erected, dependent on the food we provided, subject to slaughter when we said it was time.

One day Dad and I wanted to move a big group of our pigs from the hoghouse—where they lived on a 40-by-60-foot concrete slab—to a field where they could roam freely. We opened the wooden gate, but the hogs didn't move. Accustomed to the familiar confines of the hoghouse, they refused at first to leave. The gate was gone, the boundary removed—but they acted as if it was still there. Whether they realized it or not, they were free—but we had to coax and push them to experience the new freedom of the pasture field.

Is it possible for a human being to be enslaved and not realize it? "We are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of anyone," some proud men told Jesus. But the Lord pointed out, "Everyone who sins is a slave to sin" (John 8:33, 34). Like a heavy ball and chain, sinful habits weigh us down. Like prison bars, they restrict and bind us. It's terrible to be a slave of sin—and it's worse if a person doesn't even recognize the spiritual dimension of his problem.

But it's equally sad to be free and not realize it! When we have been saved by grace, we aren't free to make our own rules, but we're free to follow God's rules with a new sense of joy and purpose. "Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God" (1 Peter 2:16).

Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" (John 8:31, 32). Hold to Jesus' teaching—that's the key to spiritual liberty. If we hold to Jesus' teaching about salvation, he will set us free from guilt, despair, and death. When we honor him as Lord, he sets us free from trying to live up to everyone else's expectations. If we practice what he says about forgiveness and reconciliation, he will set us free from bitterness and hatred. If we learn to be "poor in spirit" as Jesus taught, he will free us from self-righteous pride.

The Lord who said, "The Scripture cannot be broken" (John 10:35), can set us free from liberalism that weakens the foundation of our faith. His teaching about grace and brotherly love can free us from legalism that strangles our souls with religious rules.

If we implement Jesus' prayer for unity (John 17), we'll be free from sectarianism that divides and distracts the church. If we follow the example of how he treated the Samaritan woman, we'll be free from racism and prejudice that keep God's people apart.

If we hold to his teachings about moral purity, we'll be free from sexual diseases and addictions that weaken bodies, poison minds, and ruin families. If we pray as Jesus taught, we'll be free from trying to do everything out of our human strength alone. We'll be free to serve out of love instead of guilt—free to partner with God in the greatest work in the world.

If Christ has set us free, why do we act as if the gates are still closed?