Freedom is not Free

Philosopher that I am...
I’ve been reflecting on this phrase:
“Freedom is not free.”

So many times in the life of the believer, we focus heavily on the sacrifice Christ made for us. I have no intention of diminishing that sacrifice, so please understand I grasp the necessity and sufficiency of that sacrifice. Paul tells us though (Romans 6) that we are to be actively participating in rejecting slavery to sin and actively living in freedom. Could it be that we focus too much on the one-time sacrifice that afforded us eternal life that we fail to strive to live the abundant life?

Is this also one of the causes of our division in America today? Have we read this phrase in the preterit: ‘Freedom was not free’, as if it were purchased for us by a one-time payment made by many soldiers of various racial backgrounds?

At the very least, we can see that one’s choices today affect his/her future freedoms.
Do my choices today affect other people’s liberty? Do our collective choices as a community affect present or future liberties?

Paul’s answer to living in freedom was spiritual discipline. Am I disciplining my life to live in the freedom Christ bought for me?

In America, I absolutely believe that Christ is the essential key to reconciliation. However, we as Christians (of every race and color) must discipline ourselves to both 1) live in the freedoms purchased by those who went before us and 2) ensure that others are granted those same freedoms. Until we do so, how are we being Christians? I’m not suggesting that America will ever solve its racial problems because America is a secular nation, but we as Christians can live Christ-like lives embracing all of humanity as it is.

“For the death he died, he died to sin once for all time; but the life he lives, he lives to God. So, you too consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭6:10-11‬ ‭CSB‬‬