The Liberating Power of the Spirit

This Sunday is Pentecost—the Church’s “birthday” and the celebration of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. But when Paul writes, “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom,” what kind of freedom is he talking about?In today’s world, “freedom” can mean many different things—from doing whatever we want, to rejecting authority, to casting off moral boundaries. Are these what the Bible means? No.In Isaiah 61 we discover kind of freedom that comes with the Holy Spirit. And it’s not just words, it’s action too. It’s freedom for the poor, the brokenhearted, those who mourn, and those in every kind of bondage. It’s freedom from something and it’s freedom for something.