The inspiring scene from Braveheart (and what has to be in the top 10 for most popular sermon illustrations) where William Wallace gets the men shouting, screaming, proclaiming—FREEDOM!—get’s you so pumped up as you watch it. You’re ready to go; you’re ready to fight! You’re ready for freedom.

Freedom stands at the heart of the Gospel. One day, Jesus stood in the synagogue and asked everyone to unroll their scrolls to Isaiah, and he read: The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor. Then he boldy, matter-of-factly said, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” This is the Jesus-version of FREEDOM! Our Gospel, our good news, is that there is freedom, and it’s already been fought for. It is available to all who choose it. FREEDOM!

Most times, we look at this and think that we are now free from sin, which we are, but that does not encompass the freedom in which we live. Paul wrote to the Galatians and said, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free,” and he was not talking about sin. He was writing to people who had already been saved—Paul was there when they accepted the Gospel. He is writing to people who are already Christians and reminding them that Christ has proclaimed freedom. In the case of the Galatians, it was freedom from being obligated to restrictions and to the pressure of others. You can be free from sin, yet not living in the freedom of the gospel.

Christians should proclaim freedom. Our lives should demonstrate freedom. Our gospel must be one of freedom, not just free from sin, but living in freedom. To be honest, when you’re in the midst of sin freedom doesn’t sound all that appealing. For the most part, sinning is fun and feels good (at least for a while and sometimes a long while), so being free from sin may not be the most effective argument for the gospel. Many times, it’s not until we are out of sin that we recognize the effect it was having and would have in our lives. In addition to being free from sin, our lives must demonstrate the freedom from earning God’s favor, the freedom of grace, the freedom from low self-esteem, the freedom from other’s crushing expectations, the freedom from addiction, the freedom from randomness, purposelessness, and mediocrity, and on and on.

It is for freedom that you have been set free. From from what? It’s different for you than it is for me, but I want to bask in it, run in it, enjoy every bit of it. I want people to look at my life and say, “I want to be as free as him,” If people are not shocked, puzzled, and inspired by our freedom perhaps we are missing out on the fullness of the gospel that was proclaimed so many years ago. How are you more free in the kingdom of God than someone who has yet to join the kingdom of God? How is your life, like William Wallace, proclaiming—FREEDOM!?