Christ Makes Us Princes

Christians talk a lot about being set free by Christ, which I find somewhat confusing. Many atheists seem to have lots of freedom. Christians, on the other hand, are supposed to practice regular spiritual disciplines, follow Biblical rules, and submit to God’s will in all things.

Despite all this, I think that Christians are truly more free than non-Christians. I would go so far as to describe man without Christ as a bondservant to nature and man with Christ as a prince of Heaven.

To start, let’s look at what it means to be free. Freedom is the currency of choice, and every decision costs freedom. Everyone is constantly spending freedom on their actions, whether they spend it on wasting time, on working to meet their desires, on following God, or on something else. In philosophical terms, freedom is a means to an end, not an end in itself.

Freedom, or opportunity, can get tricky to quantify, but the basics are pretty simple. Someone with only one choice in a given situation lacks freedom. Someone with diverse choices or options has a large degree of freedom.1

Without God, people work to satisfy natural desires. People often have the freedom to choose between their own natural desires for food, relationships, possessions, influence, and the like, but even those who lack this freedom work for others’ natural desires. Drafted soldiers living regimented lives, for example, do so for their nation’s safety.

In his letter to the church in Ephesus, Paul the Apostle writes:

You were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind. (Ephesians 2:1–3)

In this passage, Paul equates following natural desires (“carrying out the desires of the body and the mind”) with “following the prince of the power of the air,” Satan. This perspective makes the choice between laziness and selfish ambition an illusion. Laziness, pride, lust, and all other “desires of the body and the mind” serve the same master, Satan. Apart from God, people lack the freedom to choose something other than natural desire as their aim.

Is it fair to call those serving natural desire bondservants? Bondservants are bound to their master and given no wages. Without God, everyone is bound to natural desire. These desires appear to pay wages—those who prioritize laziness may escape industry and those who work for status may socially advance—but these wages perish with the grave.

Even the earthly wages of some desires are fleeting and unsatisfying. I fought for popularity in high school, desiring admiration and acceptance. When I finally had my moment in the limelight, I was disappointed and felt more alone than ever.

Without God, we are stuck choosing between different taskmasters paying illusory wages.

In his letter to the church in Galatia, Paul writes:

So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world. But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir. (Galatians 4:3–7)

Here, Paul writes that God’s Son redeems us from our slavery (or bondservantry) to “the elemental spiritual forces of the world.” What does it take to receive this redemption? Jesus says that “you are my friends if you do what I command” (John 15:14). Receiving Christ means following his commands.

Following commands doesn’t sound exactly like freedom, but remember that freedom is the currency of decisions. Christ gives us a new choice about whether or not to follow our natural desires.2 This makes us free where previously our only choice was to follow nature. Only through Christ can we decide to overcome our desires and instead follow Him.

This isn’t a costless choice. Aiming at obeying Christ instead of at satisfying natural desire shapes how Christians approach every other decision in life. Paul writes that “you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness” (Romans 6:18).

How is following Christ better than following our natural desires? Christ redeems us “that we might receive adoption to sonship.” This sonship comes with a gift—“the Spirit of [God’s] Son”—and an inheritance that will outlast the grave. The Gospel of Matthew describes this inheritance, saying that at final judgment “the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.’” (Matthew 24:34).

Those who receive Christ are God’s children, heirs, and siblings of His Son, the King of creation and of the kingdom to come. As siblings of Christ the King and children of God Almighty, Christians are princes and princesses of Heaven.

I think this understanding should shape the way Christians live and relate to the world. I’m starting this newsletter to organize my thoughts about how and share them with a community.

Thanks to Corin Wagen, Nate Dorson, Stephanie Luiz, and Taylor Wagen for helpful feedback on this piece.