In the 1950s, at the New Mexico Military Institute, U.S. Air Force Colonel Walter Hitchcock was the first to say, “Freedom is not free.” The phrase, now memorialized at the Korean War Veterans Memorial, succinctly and powerfully conveys the high human cost of maintaining a democratic republic. It points back to the sacrifices that make our current freedoms possible. Indeed, all who have served to make that possible deserve our gratitude.
The phrase is necessary only because our habit is to live in the moment, with little regard for what it took to get here. One U.S. President noted that forgetting the sacrifice that secured those rights could lead to losing them, saying, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.” If it is important to remember those who secured for us free speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press and free democratic elections, then how much more important is it to meaningfully reflect on the freedom Christians gained at Christ’s expense? Paul also wrote about a forgetfulness that diminishes His sacrifice.
Scripture reprimands those who, “like a dog that returns to his vomit,” give back their blood-bought freedom by returning to their sin. Regarding Christ’s sacrifice, Philippians 2:8 says, “And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Christ’s humiliation and death was the price for every sinner adopted by God. His sacrifice purchased a liberty that can be found in no other source. Habitually returning to old sins devalues that sacrifice and forfeits freedom.
The Second London Baptist Confession of Faith notes that Christ’s sacrifice earned you “freedom from the guilt of sin, the condemning wrath of God, the rigor and curse of the law, and in their being delivered from this present evil world, bondage to Satan, and dominion of sin, from the evil of afflictions, the fear and sting of death, the victory of the grave, and everlasting damnation.” Now that’s a freedom worth celebrating. That’s a freedom worth protecting!
The freedom earned by the Son was not merely to unburden your conscience (any more than the sacrifice of soldiers was to give us a day to host a family barbecue). Your freedom has a much nobler purpose.
When Christ freed you from subjugation to sin, it also obligated you to serve others. Christian liberty is not an opportunity to do less but an imperative to do more. You honor His sacrifice by emulating His example. In other words, His sacrifice for you should motivate you to sacrifice for others. That’s what the apostle meant when he wrote, “For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them” (1 Cor. 9:19).
Paul described how his freedom was the very thing that motivated him. His deliverance from bondage spurred him to take the form of a servant. That’s a feat only Christ can accomplish. It’s “folly to those who are perishing,” while also attracting those whom God has called to freedom.
Since you know that freedom is not free, how will you choose to remember? How will you honor the Son’s sacrifice? Will it mean doing less for yourself or doing more for others?