“The first evangelist was Jesus Christ. He is still the model. He set the standard for all evangelists. We read in Luke 4:18 how the Lord connected preaching the Gospel to the anointing of the Holy Spirit: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the Gospel. He hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised." (Father Eusebius Stephanou)
“Jesus Christ calls us to be baptized into Him, so that we can be liberated from our transgressions and be born again free from sin. He invites us to walk in the Holy Spirit, to be sealed with the gift of the Spirit and keep all evil outside of our souls. He calls us to take into ourselves Himself in the holy Eucharist.” (Fr. Vladimir Berzonsky)
“What distinguishes both Israel and the Church as the people of God is the freedom created for and revealed in us by God, for “the Lord set great and evil signs” (Deuteronomy 6:22) against the sin and death (“Egypt”) that formerly enslaved us. Like ancient Israel, we have a liberation to embrace and enjoy as the people of God. We have the freedom to serve the Lord our God because His service is perfect freedom. The Lord our God gives us His divine statutes and commandments, according to Moses, “that it may be well with us all our days, and we may live as today” (vs. 24). God’s commands are not oppressive, but for good.” (Dynamis 6/19/2019)
“Freedom from sin is grounded in the sacrament of holy baptism. Ignorance of what happens when we are baptized is a great enemy. Through this ignorance, many are defeated in their battle against sin. What Christ accomplished on the Cross—an actual death to sin—baptism accomplishes in us: an actual death to sin and our liberation from its power. Because our baptism into Christ gives us power over sin, it is an exact likeness of His death. Baptism does not merely “stand for” this truth, but is itself our death to sin.” (Orthodox Study Bible, Romans 6:3-4)
“We serve a God Who models for us what He expects us to do. In so doing, we develop the image and likeness of God in us. Like our Creator, the rhythm of our own personal rest must, in turn, be directed to others. As we have been liberated so too we must seek to liberate.” (Rev. Dr. Frank Marangos)
“To be carnally minded (Romans 8 v. 6) means to choose to have one's whole being captivated by sin. This decision against God puts us at enmity with Him (v. 7), and thus we have no lasting peace. To be spiritually minded means to accept liberation by the Spirit, so that one's whole being—body, mind, and soul—becomes directed by and is led to the Holy Spirit.” (Orthodox Study Bible, Romans 8:5-8)
“When we seek after God's priorities rather than after what we imagine to be important, the days He gives us are always long enough. We need to keep these truths before us as we live each day. We need to ponder what is truly important and separate it from what is superficial and trivial. To do so we need to stop striving for the temporary at the expense of the lasting, and for the worthless rather than for that which is truly valuable. When we discover that we don't need to do more than what God requires, we do not burden our lives, we liberate them.” (Rev. Andrew Demotses)
“…holiness means liberation - or rather, freedom. “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Cor. 3:17). Liberation is from someone or something; freedom is for someone or something. Both aspects are associated in the work of the Spirit, who is freedom. These take various forms: liberation from the past-forgiveness through repentance (metanoia); liberation from passions of egocentricity (askesis, healing one's self); liberation from injustice, exploitation, poverty and all social evil; liberation - yes! - even from decay and death - something we speak so little about; freedom to love, even one’s enemies; to allow for personal, cultural and other differences and identities to exist and create; to give one’s life for the others as our Lord gave it on the Cross.” (Metropolitan John Zizioulas of Pergamon)
“Christ is exalted as our Light and our Life. In His Person there is a unity of humanity and divinity which each of us is called to share. In His way of life there is the model of authentic human life which we are invited to follow. In His victorious Resurrection, there is liberation for us from all powers which can keep us from the Kingdom. Through Christ, then, God the Father has repossessed us and has called us to be His sons and daughters.” (Rev. Thomas Fitzgerald)