Thursday, July 4, 2019

Your Freedom in Christ!


“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” (Galatians 5:1)

Everyone seeks freedom.  Especially in the West, freedom is the highest virtue, and it is sought after by all who are, or consider themselves to be, oppressed.  We are blessed to live in a free nation!  We should never forget the price that others paid for the freedoms we enjoy.  It’s tragic that so many today live in a free nation and, yet, are not free. They are bound by hurts, habits, and hang-ups that enslave them.  Others, such as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Jehovah's Witnesses are bound by legalism, trying to earn God’s favor through their achievements.

The verse today was written to a people who didn’t have the privilege of living in such a free nation as ours.  Many to whom this letter was written were slaves at worst and politically oppressed at best.  They were hoping for a Messiah to come that would be a military king and liberate them from Roman oppression and restoring the glory days when King David ruled Israel.  That’s the Good News of the Gospel, Christ made us free!  “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:36) 

The shackles of the past have been broken! You are free in Christ!  How is that possible?   He set you free by breaking the power of sin that enslaved you and condemned you!  The power of the cross sets the captives free!  For the Christian, the cross is our Statue of Liberty!  It was there that our souls were set free!  But, freedom must be maintained!

This is the snare of religion! Having been set free by grace through faith, somehow, we begin to act as if we have to maintain that freedom through our human effort.  Soon, we fall from grace and we are continually thinking about ourselves and indulging the flesh in sins we have been freed from, we are essentially carrying around a corpse, full of rottenness and death. The only way to bury it fully is by the power of the Holy Spirit who is the only source of strength.  We strengthen the new nature by continually feeding on the Word of God, and through prayer we obtain the power we need to escape the desire to return to the old life of sin.

The Bible says, “Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?” (Galatians 3:3) 

If you find yourself slipping back into a works-based religion, shake off the shackles and stand strong in the freedom by which Christ has made you free!  And then share that hope and freedom with all whom you care about.   Rejoice in the freedom you have in Christ, live in that freedom and do all you can to help share it!  Celebrate it!  It’s yours by the blood of Jesus Christ! 

Read Galatians this week.  It’s the Magna Carta of Christian liberty!

  
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