I did not start going to church regularly until my mid-teens. It seems like we sang a lot of songs then about being free from sin.
One our youth choir sang was called “Set Me Free.” That’s the only place I ever heard this particular song. I haven’t been able to remember enough of the words to look it up.
One we sang often in my early married years was “Free From the Law.”
Then there was, “Power in the Blood“:
Would you be free from the burden of sin?
There’s pow’r in the blood, pow’r in the blood;
Would you o’er evil a victory win?
There’s wonderful pow’r in the blood.
Would you be free from your passion and pride?
There’s pow’r in the blood, pow’r in the blood;
Come for a cleansing to Calvary’s tide–
There’s wonderful pow’r in the blood.
There is pow’r, pow’r, wonder-working pow’r
In the blood of the Lamb;
There is pow’r, pow’r, wonder-working pow’r
In the precious blood of the Lamb.
– Lewis E. Jones
And “I Will Sing the Wondrous Story“:
I was bruised, but Jesus healed me;
Faint was I from many a fall;
Sight was gone, and fears possessed me,
But He freed me from them all.
– Francis H. Rowley
There are a couple I haven’t heard in church, like “For Freedom, Christ Has Set Us Free” and “Glorious Freedom.”
It occurred to me that I don’t hear these kinds of songs, or the theme of freedom from sin in Christ, much any more.
Jesus once said “if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36). I wonder if the world doesn’t appreciate the impact of that statement because they don’t understand that they’re not free.
They think they are.
2 Peter warns of false prophets and teachers who use false words to entice people. They appeal to greed and lust to deceive. “They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved” (verse 19).
Their chains are so pleasurable, they don’t realize they are bound. They’re so comfortable and having such fun, they don’t want to be free.
But the pleasures of sin, Hebrews 11:25 says, are only for a short season.
Jesus also said that He is the light of the world. We need to pray that He will shine in people’s hearts and show them their need of Him and His love for them.
Jesus said He is the bread of life. He invites, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink” (John 7:37). We need to pray God would create in hearts hunger and thirst for Him greater than what the world has to offer.
And we need to tell them about Him. May they find that “the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:2).
The whole world was lost in the darkness of sin,
The Light of the world is Jesus!
Like sunshine at noonday, His glory shone in;
The Light of the world is Jesus!
No darkness have we who in Jesus abide;
The Light of the world is Jesus!
We walk in the light when we follow our Guide!
The Light of the world is Jesus!
Ye dwellers in darkness with sin-blinded eyes,
The Light of the world is Jesus!
Go, wash at His bidding, and light will arise;
The Light of the world is Jesus!
Come to the light, ’tis shining for thee;
Sweetly the light has dawned upon me;
Once I was blind, but now I can see:
The Light of the world is Jesus!
– P. P. Bliss
(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)
Stray Thoughts 
Power in the Blood. I was taught this at Sunday School. Aged around 5 or 6. Thank you for reminding me of this beautiful hymn. ♥️🙏🌹
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You’re very welcome. 🙂 Even after posting this, more of those good old hymns are coming to mind. I like the new ones that are meaty, too. But the old ones have a special place in my heart.
I started singing ‘Power in the Blood’ as soon as I saw the title above lol! It’s a hymn that I haven’t heard for some time in the churches.
Visiting from Paula’s linkup today 🙂
Blessings, Jennifer
I think you’re right that most people in our modern and privileged world don’t even realize that they aren’t really free. Perhaps we have different metaphors that are more understandable to us, but that haven’t found their way into our gospel songs as much? But once we ARE free? We know it and should sing it and proclaim it boldly to those who are still prisoners and don’t realize it.
I didn’t grow up with these songs, but I came to love them in my 20s. We only find freedom when we are bound to God – it’s an opposite day paradigm that can only be understood when you give your life to God. What powerful songs we sang in our youth!
I don’t know these songs, Everything which concerns freedom I never related to religion. Anyway the bible was written by men and then it was translated into more than 2000 languages. One wrong translation can change the whole sense of a phrase. I wonder what was written in the original bible ! For me freedom or being free means that I can do what I want and don’t depend on anybody.
Hi Gattina,
Actually, the Bible has stayed pretty much the same over thousands of years, through different languages and translations. There are a few translations that are off-base, but Bible scholars can tell which they are. We have fragments of manuscripts that are thousands of years old. There are a number of reasons, too many to go into here, that we can trust that the Bible is reliable and from God. A fascinating book is Lee Strobel’s A Case for Christ. He was an investigative reporter who was an atheist. When his wife became a Christian, he set out like a reporter to research it so he could prove to his wife that it was false. Instead, he became convinced it was true and became a Christian himself. One of his issues was the reliability of the Bible. His research is really remarkable–I recommend his book to you.
Most people view freedom the way you described–being able to do what we want when we want. But we’re all born with a sin nature that we can’t overcome without God. Our good deeds can’t erase our bad tendencies. We may not be thieves and murderers, but we’re all guilty of pride and judgmentalism and much more. Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love God with all our heart, mind, strength, and soul, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. If this is the greatest commandment, then failing to keep it is the greatest sin–and we all fail to keep it every day. There’s nothing we can do to atone for our own sin, but Jesus as God’s Son was the perfect sacrifice in order that we might be forgiven. We need Him not only to forgive our sin, but we need His power to live for Him and do right every day. True freedom is freedom from sin and self, being made free to do what He wants rather than what we want. Far from being miserable, His freedom is the greatest life ever.
I think that is true…their chains are so pleasurable they don’t realize they are bound.
I too didn’t grow up with these songs, but I did hear them later on. I do like the one ” There Is Power in the Blood.” I listen to K-Love radio and there are many artists who sing about being set free from sin. I love that God has blessed these singers and song writers through the ages with the ability to convey what many of us feel or have felt.
I appreciate you sharing this message with Sweet Tea & Friends this month.
Barbara, the picture of the chains being pleasurable (for a time) making people not want to find what true freedom is is such a powerful statement. You’re right. I sang some of these hymns in my teens and early twenties. I didn’t realize then how profound the lyrics are.
I agree that the messages that are preached today, by and large, are different than when I first became a Christian. As much as I enjoy our contemporary praise and worship songs we have now, I miss the old ones like “Power in the Blood”. Freedom can happen in many ways – freedom from addictions and things that hamper our Christian walk. Freedom from sin by the blood of Jesus is the very best one.
What a beautiful description of our need for a Savior. Thank you, Barbara.
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