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Freedom in Christ
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coram_deo 21-Sep-21, 19:08 |
 Freedom in ChristI believe freedom in Christ means: • Being free of the need to establish our own righteousness (right standing with God) through Law keeping, which no one can do to God’s satisfaction. When someone accepts and believes in Jesus Christ and His Resurrection, he or she receives Jesus’ righteousness. • Being free from the guilt, shame and self-condemnation of our sins. We’ve all made plenty of mistakes and committed plenty of sins against God, and having our sins - past, present and future - removed from us is freedom from all the negative emotions that come with those sins. • Being free from self. Most people, including many Christians, are pre-occupied with themselves - their bank accounts, their possessions, their worth in the eyes of others, their careers, their futures, etc. But Jesus Christ calls us to something else. Consider how different this passage from the Gospel of Matthew is from how human beings normally think and what the world values: “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek.) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” (Matthew 6:24-34) In that passage, Jesus Christ tells us not to be concerned with money, food, drinks, clothes and the future. He instead tells us to seek the Kingdom of God because God is the source of all provision. And it’s through seeking the Kingdom of God that we are empowered to lead lives that bring glory to God. But how many Christians are still trying to establish their own righteousness through Law keeping? Far too many, imo. What I think many Christians don’t fully appreciate is that Law keeping is the result of seeking the Kingdom of God and empowering the Holy Spirit in our lives - not through our self efforts. Man tried for centuries to keep the Law and couldn’t do it. God enables us to keep the Law through the power of His Holy Spirit which indwells us when we accept Christ. That is why a Christian who spends a lot of time in fellowship with God and thereby empowers the Holy Spirit within him or her keeps the Law without even thinking about it. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22-23) • Being free from the fear of death. When a believer realizes his or her salvation and future home in Heaven is eternally secure, death has no power to frighten them. “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:55-57) What I think Paul the Apostle means when he writes that the sting of death is sin is that we fear death based on meeting God with our record of past failures, transgressions and sins against Him. And what I think Paul means when he writes that the strength of sin is the law is that being Law conscious makes us sin conscious, instead of Jesus conscious. Being Law conscious makes us focused on ourselves, instead of focused on Jesus. When we’re focused on sins and on ourselves, instead of being focused on Jesus, we shouldn’t be surprised when we commit sins. But in the last verse, Paul writes that Jesus gives us victory over death and sin because of what He accomplished on the cross. Christians who try to establish their own righteousness through Law keeping are actually insulting what Jesus did on the cross. They’re essentially saying what Jesus did wasn’t good enough, that they themselves need to do something on top of what Jesus Christ did. The Apostle Paul captured this mindset well when he wrote: “I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.” (Galatians 2:21) I think it’s realizing Jesus Christ has forgiven a Christian of all their sins - past, present and future - that enables that Christian to break free from the cycle of committing a bad habit or sin, self-condemnation, guilt, fear and repeating the bad habit and sin. • Being free to fellowship with and enjoy God. When we are free from self-occupation, worry and Law keeping to establish our own righteousness, we are free to “seek ye first the Kingdom of God” and enjoy God. But this is counter to everything the world teaches and is also counter to human nature, which is why, imo, this is the “narrow way” Jesus Christ mentions in the Gospel of Matthew: “Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” (Matthew 7:14) |