Born Not Free

UV 1665/10000 Born Not Free
Yea, thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from that time that thine ear was not opened: for I knew that thou wouldest deal very treacherously, and wast called a transgressor from the womb.

Isaiah 48 v 8

“Man is born free”, it was written by Rousseau, “but everywhere he is in chains.” But scripture says that we are transgressors from the womb, that we were conceived in sin. We are born with chains of ignorance of the truth and we grow into the chains of fears, pride, lusts and wickedness. We look but do not see. We hear but we do not listen. We are rebellious by nature. Our hearts are inclined to disobey right from our childhood. But the Lord woos and wins our hearts. He heals our hearts of its hardness so that we can see the truth, listen to it and obey it. He sets us free from the chains or inhibitions of ignorance, greed, pride, lust and other negativities. We are not born free but we can grow into freedom. We are born crying but we can learn to laugh over time. The fear of the tomb and the unknown future beyond it no longer makes us insecure. The fear of not having enough to get by leaves us as we learn that our Father in heaven will provide for us abundantly and on time and that in His economy there is no shortage. All we need is His favour or grace.


The Lord expects us to be faithful to Him, to be diligent in studying and applying His Word. He takes us through a furnace of afflictions to purify our hearts and restore us to His image that we had lost. Jacob was a transgressor from the womb. As he was being born, he held onto the heel of his twin brother Esau to get ahead of him. He was born a deceiver but became a believer over time. His deception caused him to flee from his home as a young man. He was then deceived by his father-in-law Laban to work for fourteen years to win the hand of Rachel. But an encounter with the angel of the Lord turned his life and his heart back to the God of Abraham. He was given the new name "Israel" or struggle with God. Ironically, the struggles of Jacob to get ahead, his struggles with others and self ended with the touch of God healing his heart of deception that commenced his relationship based on faith with God. The sibling rivalry that started with him from birth got the better of his sons and they conspired to first kill and then sell into slavery his favoured son Joseph. The chains of envy, jealousy and rivalry is today visible and evident to this day between brothers, sisters, organisations, groups and nations. It inspires the arms race, stimulates conflicts between individuals and wars between nations. The chains of our bondage grows thicker and stronger over time. Our own acts and words get us into trouble.


Our encounter with Jesus transforms us from being deceivers and being deceived by the enemy into being a believer and a Friend of God. We become the favoured sons and daughters of God. He sets us free from the powerful chains that grow from inside us to limit, restrict, bind and enslave us. We no longer need to deceive to get ahead or be deceived to let others get ahead of us. All we need is the grace of God that we receive freely through Jesus. We are born not free but we are "born again" free and grow in freedom, knowledge and favour with God and man. Our biological DNA is changed into Divine NAture. Our struggles with believing, understanding and knowing God will cease. We have peace with God. Salvation and sanctification are lifelong processes and not a one off event. Grace is the moment to moment appropriation of the strength, power and love of God to meet the struggles of our flesh and blood.


Prateep V Philip