What is a song from the rock group Queen doing on my spot? Roger Taylor, who wrote the song, put in some haunting lyrics about how a person's biggest battle is with themselves. You do not have to go far to find that you are not only part of the problem, as a sinner in need of God's grace, you can be your own worst nightmare. At the risk of quoting lyrics that have a copywrite, I can only allude to the gist of that song: your fight is not just from the outside, but from your own heart, as you seek your freedom. The problem is, as natural born sinners, we do not want to fight, but we want to fit into the world around us, we want to be at peace with the world, which is at war with God. That is why we need to be renewed, daily.
Romans 12:1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Continue through that entire chapter to get how one fights with the outside and inside. For those in Christ, the renewal begins with Baptism and continues each day with repentance and forgiveness, as each stain and blemish is cleansed and each sin assured of pardon. Freedom comes through Christ, and He accents this well when He speaks of freedom in John 8.
John 8:31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” 34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
Thanks be to God that in Christ and His Passion, we have been offered the freedom from the slavery of sin. We have His freedom through His death and resurrection and we live in that freedom daily.