How Jesus Sets Us Free

Picture the scene in Mark 2. Jesus is back in Capernaum, and word gets out that He is in the house. The crowd packs the room until there is no space left, not even near the door, and He preaches the word to them. Then four men arrive carrying a paralyzed friend — and when they cannot get near Jesus, they tear open the roof and lower the man down on his bed.

When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.” … “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God.

Mark 2:5, 11–12 (NKJV)

There was a multitude in that gathering. But only one person heard “your sins are forgiven,” and only one person went home free. What was the difference?

Jesus sets free those who come to be free

The others came to hear a good word. A lot of church today is filled with people who want to be entertained and “blessed” by a good word and good worship. And notice — Jesus does not send them away; He got up and taught them. But if anyone came with an addiction, he left with that same addiction. If anyone came with broken relationships, a broken heart, anxiety, depression, loneliness — he heard the good word and left carrying exactly what he came with. They got the word. They did not get the freedom they needed.

Because God does not bypass your desire. The first step in getting free is seriously, desperately wanting to be free. “Do you want to be made whole?” You have to see what this bondage is costing you, and who you would be if you were free. Until that vision takes hold of you, you will not be desperate enough to engage the kingdom of God for your freedom.

This man’s friends tore up a roof — today he must be free. What roof do you need to tear up? For many of us, it is shame: being ashamed to show your point of weakness and pain. To say to trusted people, “Friends, I am struggling with pornography. I have suicidal thoughts. I feel lonely and depressed.” Freedom begins where hiding ends.

Faith is required — but faith alone is not enough

Here is the second thing: only those who come to Him in faith are candidates for freedom. Not everyone in that room was a believer — Luke tells us Pharisees, scribes, and teachers of the law were sitting there, scorning and deriding Him. But among them were also those who believed. And still, only one person left that meeting completely free.

If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

John 8:31–32 (NKJV)

Notice who Jesus said that to: “those Jews who believed Him.” The information on how to receive freedom was given to believers. Which means it is possible to be a believer in Jesus and still not experience the freedom of Jesus. Belief is required — but it is not sufficient. And remember what faith is: action you take because of your confidence in the goodness of God.

Grace comes before you clean yourself up

Here is the third thing, and do not miss it. Did this man confess his sins before Jesus said “your sins are forgiven”? He did not. Did he even repent first? He did not. He simply came — carried by friends, desperate, through a hole in the roof. And the first thing Jesus said over him was, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”

How many people’s sins had been paid for that day? All of them. How many received forgiveness? One — the one who came to Jesus for help. Come to Jesus for help today and the first thing He says is “your sins are forgiven you.” This is grace — unmerited favor. More accurately: God acting upon your life so that you can do or be what you could never do or be on your own. And it is available right now to anyone vulnerable enough to tear off the roof.

Forgiveness is not the whole gospel

Now the heart of what I want to say. What would have happened if Jesus had forgiven the man’s sins and then said, “Go and sin no more”? The man would have gone home forgiven — and still strapped to his bed. Still a paralytic.

Unfortunately, that is where a lot of the gospel in America leaves people. We say grace accepts you just as you are — true and beautiful. We preach that grace cleanses you — true. We say we are all sinners saved by grace — true. But we have not told people that the same grace makes you able to do what you otherwise could never do. It makes you good again. It makes you a different kind of person. It frees you from the very practice of sin that bound you in the first place.

Watch what Jesus actually did. He did not say “be healed of your paralysis” or “I command you to be made whole.” He gave the man an instruction: arise, take up your bed, go to your house. And as the man obeyed the instruction, he was made whole.

That is the insight into every command Jesus gives. He does not tell us things to do to prove we are whole. When Jesus tells us what to do, He is telling us the things through which, as we do them, His grace becomes available to make us what we could never make ourselves. We do not obey Jesus to prove that we have been set free. We obey Jesus so that Jesus can set us free.

The slavery underneath the sinning

Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.

John 8:34–36 (NKJV)

To sin is to miss the mark. What mark? The mark of your design. You were designed to be like God, talk like God, act like God, think like God — designed so that when anyone encounters you, they have encountered the God of all creation. That is why you were placed on this earth.

So all wrongdoing is sin, but not all sin is wrongdoing. Jesus said two men went up to pray — and one missed the mark; he prayed contrary to his design. Jesus watched people giving offerings — and only the widow with her two mites gave according to her design. To be free is not to do or be anything you want. It is to do and be what you should — what you were made for.

And Jesus says there is only one reason anyone keeps missing the mark: they are a slave to sin. So the only way to stop missing it is to be delivered from that slavery. His prescription to those who believe is exactly what He gave the paralytic: continue in My word. Do the things I tell you — not to earn your freedom or to prove it, but so that He can work it in you.

Why this is not legalism

Some of you are wondering whether I am preaching legalism. I am not. Legalism is when you are given rules to obey or else you are damned — where at the end of the day someone grades how well you kept them. But here is the problem with legalism: as long as you need rules and laws to behave, you are still a slave to sin. The rule exists to rein you in, to keep something ugly in you at bay.

Have you ever wondered why there is no commandment “Thou shalt not lay eggs”? Because it is not in your nature to lay eggs. The only reason there is a command “thou shalt not kill” is that there is something in us — bondage to sin — that could produce murder if we let it. But if God so transforms you that you become incapable of murder, of what use is that command to you? None. The law falls silent — not because it was lowered, but because you outgrew it.

What this looks like in practice

Jesus does not just want you to stop exploding in anger; He wants you to become the kind of person who will never explode in anger. So what does He tell you to practice, through His grace? Refuse to get angry. Refuse to call anyone a fool. Go and make peace with the person who upset you. These things by themselves will not get you into heaven. But each time you ask Jesus to help you do them, He is changing you — making you a person of peace, patience, and healing love. He is saving you.

Jesus does not just want you to avoid sexual immorality; He wants to make you the kind of person whose thoughts are pure and whose desires are clean and aligned with God. So He says: do not look on another with sexual desire. God, how is that even possible? With man it is not — but with God it is. So you come and say, “Jesus, deal with this in me.” And then He says: delete the account, block that number. It is hard. But as you do it through His help, He is cleaning you up. He is saving you.

Jesus does not just want us to refrain from repaying evil; He wants people who are unoffendable — people God can trust with power because they will never use it for harm. So He says: when someone wrongs you, do not look for a way to hurt them back; look for a way to bless them. He is training you to be strong under pressure — like God, who is always good no matter how bad people are.

I can tell you this from my own life. I struggled with lust and sexual sin, and Jesus has been changing me — not through white-knuckled willpower, but simply as I have taken, through His grace and power, the simple instructions He has given me. He does the transforming. I do the obeying. And the obeying is where I meet His power.

How desperate are you to be free?

So here is how Jesus sets us free from slavery to sin: He transforms us. He causes us to become like Him in every way so that we then act like Him every time. As we practice what He tells us, consuming His grace and power, the things God desires become the things you desire — naturally. The things God hates become the things you hate — naturally. Sin is no longer your master.

He does not want you to act holy — He wants you to be holy. He does not want you merely to avoid sin — He wants you to outgrow sin. This is why He talks about trees and fruit: a good tree will always produce good fruit, and a bad tree can never produce good fruit. He is making the tree good.

So my question for you is simple: how desperate are you to be free? Desperate enough to tear off a roof? Desperate enough to stop hiding, name the thing that binds you, and start doing whatever He tells you — by His grace — until your life brings glory to God, naturally?

Begin today. Come to Him wanting to be free, in faith. Hear Him say over you, “Son, daughter, your sins are forgiven.” Then take the next instruction He gives you — and watch Him make you whole.