As we continue examining what the Bible says about the Holy Spirit, this morning we are exploring the freedom of the Spirit. Our text affirms in very simple words that the "Lord is the Spirit," meaning that Christ Jesus is the Holy Spirit. And that wherever the Spirit is allowed to be himself - though our hearts by faith and surrender, and in our church through worship and commitment - we experience freedom: freedom from legalism; freedom from sin; freedom in speech; freedom from misguided superstitions; freedom in worship. We move from the motive of the law to the motive of love. For example, as long as a person is obsessed with his own ego, that person is not free. So long our first priority is our reputation, of being thought well of by others, we are enslaved to those thoughts. We feel chained to actions and responses out of fear of what others will think, and all of life is then a bit out of perspective. We cannot love freely because we are always thinking about what others think of us. Through the Spirit, though, we can release all of the fears and concerns associated with our image, and we can serve and live out of love and in freedom. If we are concerned about our reputation it is for the sake of our witness and for the reputation of Christ, but we do not consider our lives "dear unto themselves" (Acts 20:24).
