Wait; didn’t we already celebrate Independence Day? Didn’t we already enjoy the fireworks and the parades, remembering with gratitude the brave patriots who sacrificed for our freedom? Yes, we did, but there is another Independence Day that the grace of God has made available to each of us.

   That other Independence Day was initiated on a cross outside of Jerusalem. On that cross, Jesus died to give us liberty, freedom, and hope. As He said in John 8:36, “If the Son sets you free, you are free indeed” (NLT).

   In II Corinthians 3:17 we read, “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” Christ has given us freedom over guilt, shame, and sin.

   Guilt is that feeling of deserving blame due to some negative outcome in our lives. We allow certain scenes to be replayed over and over again in our minds.

   The antidote to guilt is found in Philippians 3:13-14. “I focus on this one thing: forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling me.”

   Declare your independence from the guilt of your past by focusing on the future that Christ has for you.

   Shame often travels with guilt. Shame is the feeling of humiliation, embarrassment, rejection, regret, and/or inadequacies. Guilt has to do with how we see ourselves. Shame has to do with how we think others see us. But this is what the Bible says about shame: Psalm 15:3, “No one who hopes in [God] will ever be put to shame.”

   Jesus has taken our embarrassments, our humiliation, our rejection, and our inadequacies and nailed them to the cross with Him when He died for us. That was our Independence Day. That is our freedom. By His grace, we must learn to walk in it.

   That reminds me of the words credited to Benjamin Franklin: “We have given you a republic, if you can keep it.” The only way we, as a nation, can keep our republic is to adhere to its founding document, the Constitution of the United States.

   The only way we can keep the freedom that Christ has given to us is to adhere to our founding document, which is the Bible, the Word of God. We need His grace to adhere to that document, enabling us to live the kind of life that He desires for us to live.

   Evangelist and author Leonard Ravenhill said it best when he asked: “Are the things you are living for worth Christ dying for?” In other words, are your positions, your passions, your programs, your posts worth Christ dying for? I think many times we would have to answer, “No, I think they are not.”

   We can change that when we realize that the source of our guilt and shame is sin. Sin was defeated on the cross. It was there where Jesus took our sin, paid our penalty, and reversed our guilty verdict by dying in our place.

   Romans 6:12-13 admonishes us: “Do not let sin control the way you live, do not give in to sinful desires…instead, give yourselves completely to God.”

   Romans 6:14 assures us: “Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.”

   Happy Independence Day! Enjoy the freedom you have in Jesus Christ your Lord.