Do you renounce sin so as to live in the freedom of the children of God?

We have begun the liturgical season of Lent and for forty days we will imitate the forty days Jesus spent in the desert praying and fasting as he prepared for his public ministry.  These forty days are given to us now as a time to prepare our hearts to renew our baptismal promises on Easter Sunday.  During Lent we purify our hearts, minds, and souls of every sinful inclination and evil, so we may once again embrace the Risen Christ.

During the Sundays of Lent, Father Fred and I will meditate on each of the six questions asked when we renew our baptismal promises Easter morning.  We are familiar with them since we renew them each time a baptism is celebrated during Mass.

We begin with the first question: Do you renounce sin so as to live in the freedom of the children of God?

What are we promising by answering “I do” to this question?  What is the freedom we have as the children of God?

Saint Peter tells us that after dying, Jesus went to preach to the spirits in prison, who had once been disobedient.  During his three days in the tomb, Jesus descended into the underworld to liberate all those who awaited redemption, the forgiveness of their sins.  All the just who waited in the bosom of Abraham received salvation.  Their sin had kept them prisoners as they waited for the redeemer who finally set them free.

Sin indeed imprisons us, it enslaves us.  Jesus says in the Gospel of Saint John, “Truly I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.”

The freedom which God gives is freedom from the slavery of sin.  He liberates us, sets us free.  He destroys the tangled web sin weaves in our lives, slowly chocking us.  The more sin enslaves us, the less clear we think, affecting our words and actions.  Sin creates a downward spiral of despair in the human soul.

Society today however defines freedom as the ability to do as one wishes.  “I am free to do whatever I want” “Nobody can tell me what to do.”  It’s a freedom to do whatever you want.

Yet, as human beings, no matter how much freedom of this kind we may have, we still cannot remain underwater for thirty minutes nor can we fly on our own ability to the north pole and back.  Why are these impossible?  Because we have not been made like fish who can remain underwater for thirty minutes, nor have we been made like birds who can fly to the north pole and back on their own account.

We have been created a particular way and we will find happiness and fulfillment if we live in a particular way.  Men and women have been created to know, love and serve God.  If we do not know, love and serve God, we become like a fish without gills or a bird without wings, and that would lead to a miserable (and short) existence.

Freedom is not found in doing whatever we want, but in living in the manner in which we have been created.

Sin truly enslaves.  Consider any addictive behavior: be it alcoholism, drug use or pornography.  These behaviors enslave you and refuse to let you go.  You may believe you are in control, but they control you.  They control how you spend your money, they control how you spend your free time, they control how you relate to your family and loved ones.  They enslave you and refuse to let you go.

We live in the freedom of the children of God when we realize it is God who has created us and that he calls us to follow him.  Saint Paul tells us we are slaves of whom we obey: if we obey the devil and his works, we become enslaved to sin.  If we obey God and his works, we become children of God.

We may consider ourselves free to commit a sinful act, but we are only becoming enslaved to sin and losing freedom.  Our ability to sin is not freedom, but enslavement.  Freedom is only found in choosing God.
To live in the freedom of the children of God is a great responsibility, because it requires us to remain ever vigilant and ever attentive to our relationship with God.  It requires us to be attentive to the needs of others and our own spiritual needs.

Therefore, as we prepare to renew our baptismal promises, ask the Lord for the grace to renounce sin and choose Him, so you may truly live in the freedom of the children of God.