Ukrainian Orthodoxy		Orthodoxie ukrainienne

Are We Really Free

Very Reverend Ihor Kutash kutash@unicorne.org

(Fourth Sunday after Pentecost)

In today's (July 9) Epistle (Romans 6:18-23) we find the interesting statement: "You have been set free from sin". But what does that really mean?

Those who have decided to follow Jesus by living according to His laws of love of God and one's neighbour have found over and over that this is not something which it is easy to do. We have found that it requires discipline, lots of humility and determination, fortified by the courage and conviction of faith. As Saint Paul noted in his letter to the Romans it is not a problem to know what to do, but how to do it - or better yet, how to stop doing what one knows one ought not to. We need to remember over and over again the unconditional love of God and the continual possibility - and necessity - of repentance.

But does this not produce sadness and a sense of defeat? There are those who say that Christianity is a life-denying religion. They say that believers are made to tolerate all sorts of bad things because they are always thinking that things will be better in the world which will come either after their death or after the return of Christ - which has not happened for a long, long time. Are these people right? If so, can we Christians really see ourselves as being free?

We answer resoundingly: YES, we do see ourselves as free people! We are free because we no longer see the world and life in it in a superficial way. We have seen that there is a sense and order int the world that point to the presence of the invisible, the spiritual, the eternal. We are convinced that to ignore this side of things is to be truly enslaved by the transitory and temporal - that which is always passing away.

Sometimes we may seem to be unfree because we must examine our actions from the perspective of what they lead to, and this makes us put limits on ourselves and even accuse ourselves of certain failings which we must strive to overcome. Sometimes we appear to be sad and even depressed. But how can one struggle or run the race and not at times at times fee tired and discouraged?

However our spiritual contact with God, fortified by prayer, the Liturgy, fasting, the memory of the example and support of the Saints - these give us joy, confidence and peace - things which are much more valuable than the vague (and passing) sense of happiness and satiation which come from a life that is based on superficial and transitory things.

Yes we are free because we have glimpsed the Truth. We are free because we are discovering the infinite love of God which accepts us, purifies us and transforms us. We are free because we know where we come from and where we are going.

Glory to God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Glory to our Liberator. Long live the perfect freedom of the children of God!

[ Home ] [ Articles ] [ Prayer ] [ Saints ] [ Theophilus ] [ Q & A ] [About Us] [ ]