The Number One Reason People Lack Freedom
“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” John 8:36
Bart Blair: Why do you believe that unforgiveness is the number one thing blocking people from freedom?
Bruce Hebel: I think the reason why it's the number one block in our relationship with God, which is where our freedom lives, because our unforgiveness dishonors the blood of Jesus. We're saying the blood of Jesus isn't enough for us.
“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” John 8:36, ESV
Toni Hebel: His own Son.
Bruce Hebel: When we devalue the blood of Jesus and the sacrifice of Christ that He paid for for us, the Father is not okay with that. He gives authority for us to be tormented, which literally means that demonic forces have authority to torment us. We've got this tormenting spirit in our life competing with the Holy Spirit so we can't really hear the Holy Spirit because these tormentors are there under the authority of the Father to fight us. I'm convinced you cannot fully abide in Christ effectively when you have unforgiveness in your heart because there's a competition involved.
This is where we're really caught up in the Romans 8 conflict. Remember, "the flesh wars against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh?" Galatians 5:17 Well, in the unforgiveness construct, the flesh is being empowered and incited by tormentors. The way we get those tormentors out and we get freedom is by choosing to forgive, by applying the blood of Jesus as payment in full for every wound we ever have or will suffer. The moment we forgive, the tormentors leave. The quicker we forgive, the quicker we have freedom. What's interesting to me is that nothing else besides forgiveness will get the tormentors to leave. You can pray to the Holy Spirit, you can pray to Jesus — they have authority and their authority is strong and powerful, but they submit their authority to the Father. These tormenters are there under His authority. Until the Father says "leave," we're not free.
Toni Hebel: What does freedom mean to you? I know in me, I know what freedom feels like. I know when I'm not free. So there's a question there: why am I not free? Is there something I haven't dealt with? Freedom and peace are just some things I know that so many people, including myself, just can't live without. I want freedom desperately. Sometimes we don't know when peace is there, but we sure know when it's gone. That begs the question to me, what exactly is freedom?
To me, freedom is that I'm okay with God! I'm fully accepted, I'm fully loved, and I can hear from Him and experience His presence. Those things get tainted when there's unforgiveness, because I am saying to Him that His son's blood is not enough for what this person did against me. He's just not okay with that and He disciplines me to bring me back to that place where I can be at full reconciliation, so to speak, with Him in my spirit as I walk on this planet. That's freedom to me.
Bruce Hebel: Some of the fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, and peace. When those love, joy, and peace and the rest of the fruits are not really evident in my life, then there's a block. Well, what's the block? In many cases it's unforgiveness. Until you forgive, you will not be able to get that if there's a lack of joy and lack of obedience. Again, it's a discipline from God. Because when we don't forgive, not only are we not free, but our witness is tainted. God brings that discipline so that we will honor the blood because that's consistent. Gratitude should be consistent with an understanding of grace, and it also reflects well of the grace of God in the world around us. So once we get free by choosing to forgive, then all those things come back.
