“Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (II Corinthians 3:17).

Any infantry officer knows that the most important part of any successful operation is the “consolidation” phase. After the objective has been taken, the natural inclination is to relax, but well-trained troops know they must immediately dig in and prepare for counterattack. Gains that are not consolidated will soon not be gains after all. As Christians, our battles are not, of course, against “flesh and blood” but against “spiritual wickedness,” for which we need to put on “the whole armor of God” to do combat (Ephesians 6:12,13). As we gain freedom in certain areas of our lives, we must fortify, protect, and nourish that freedom, or it can be lost once again.

To do this, we need to recognize what we are now, “being made free from sin, and become servants to God” (Romans 6:22). We are not set free to do whatever we want, but whatever God wants. “For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more . . . ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake . . . only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another” (I Corinthians 9:19; II Corinthians 4:5; Galatians 5:13). The Christian idea of freedom is to become God’s slave in the hope of hearing Him one day say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21).

Gaining freedom—and consolidating it—is therefore a continual process, accomplished by being a servant in God’s army. “If ye continue in my Word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31,32). “I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts” (Psalm 119:45)—the glorious liberty of the children of God (Romans 8:21). DER