Living Free Comes at a Cost

I was working on a paper and wanted to share something that really hit me. As Christians we often forget what God has delivered us from.. You know when Paul was traveling on the Damascus road and Jesus called him by name to serve Him. Paul’s whole life changed. Just like yours and mine. He experienced a freedom that he had never before felt or experienced; he was no longer bound by the law and could do whatever he desired. He chose to do what would bring God glory.

19 For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. 20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. 21 To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people that by all means I might save some. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.

1 Corinthians 9:19-23 (ESV)

 Paul understood something that I think we often forget; he was not saved for his own benefit but to serve God. You see he was zealous for God before he met Jesus. When Jesus brought him to his knees he finally really understood what God had been preparing him for. All the years of training and serving in and around the temple learning all the scriptures, the zeal for god and the determination to serve him was all in preparation for the future. That is us today as Christians. God has brought us to this place with our wide variety of experiences so that when people we meet have a need we are prepared to witness to them about the difference a life in Christ can make. Paul never really forgot what he had been saved from or the purpose he had been given. He did learn though to reach the lost he would have to continue living and working among them. Yes he gathered with those who were saved and taught them but he never forgot those who were once just like him and needed to hear the good news. Verse 21 makes a statement that we must apply we are as born again believers no longer under the law of God but we are called to live under the law of Christ. Christ gave us to clear commandments that were to love God with all your heart and the second was to love your neighbor as yourself. How many of us are able to say we can live under those two laws? Paul lived a life loving people and he did it by becoming involved with them no matter what situation they were in. Can we as Christians today say that we love god and others enough to go were the needs are.  I pray you have a truly blessed day as you walk in the light of God’s Word.

Purpose of the Law

Purpose of the Law

As you go through life we are confronted by a choice. How will we live? Francis Schaffer wrote a book asking and answering this question and if you have never read it I highly recommend it. But I will give it a short answer. The law was written to guide us as a people seeking God until the coming of Jesus and the fulfilling of a promise to Abraham. Scripture tells us that very thing.

Galatians 3:23-25, ^“23 Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. ²⁴ So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. ²⁵ Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.

Now I understand what you are thinking so why do so many people want us to hold onto the Ten Commandments and other instruction that was given in the time of Moses. Well if you look Jesus states that he is a fulfillment of the law. When we believe on Him in faith we are called to also maintain what he taught. Guess what Jesus taught His disciples? He taught from the Torah (The Law) but he even carried many of the instructions further. The difference is that He understood the Law was there only to guide us to an understanding that no one could keep it. It was like a mirror to those who tried to live by it. It showed the faults and failures of the human condition. But when Jesus came and fulfilled the law we were set free from it.

Galatians 3:26-29, ^“26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, ²⁷ for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. ²⁸ There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹ If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Through our acceptance of Christ we are set free. We are now part of the family of God. We are all one family. I believe lots of times God should be angry with us as we fail to come together as a family instead we act more like a dysfunctional one arguing over issues that in the end just drive non-believers to say they don’t need any part of it. I ask you to take time today to think about what your life would be like under the law. Just stick to the Ten Commandments some are easy for you to avoid others might surprise you how often we break them. They can be found in Deuteronomy 5 there was 618 laws that Israel tried to hold to. See what it means to have freedom by faith in Jesus. With Him there is forgiveness and peace. Have a blessed day in the Lord.

Freedom

In 1 Peter 2:16, “¹⁶ For you are free, yet you are God’s slaves, so don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do evil.

Tomorrow we will celebrate the 235^th year since America declared its sovereignty from England. I want you to understand that had many brave men women and even children not taken a stand for freedom we might be eating crumpets and drinking hot tea today. We often take for granted the sacrifices that have been made so we can come together and celebrate our freedom.  The 56 men who signed the declaration understood that God had a plan. All we hear about these men now a days is that they were not who we thought they were. Praise God for that it should bring us hope. God used people just like you and I to establish what I believe is the greatest country in the world. These men were not perfect just placed there by God for a time such as this.

            They understood that another had already paid the price for their freedom that another had given his all so that in times of plenty or in need they could call upon Him. This is a quote from the national archives, “But what will not union and firmness, valor and patriotism, accomplish? What will not faith accomplish? The colonies were, indeed, aware of the crisis at which they had arrived. They saw the precipice upon which they stood. National existence was at stake. Life, and liberty, and peace, were at hazard; not only of this generation which then existed, but of the unnumbered millions which were yet to be born. To heaven they could, with pious confidence, make their solemn appeal. They trusted in the arm of HIM, who had planted their fathers in this distant land, and besought HIM to guide the men, who in his providence were called to preside over their public councils” They knew and understood that the working of Jesus Christ in his suffering, death and resurrection that they had been given freedom. The question was with would they do with it? They chose to pursue the course of liberty which Jesus had allowed for them in his sacrifice on the cross.

            We now as the next generation of Citizens in the United States of America are placed in their position. We have been given the opportunity to live a life of freedom with the rights to do whatever we may desire. No one except may be your spouse made you come here today. No one requires you to attend church, you don’t even have to get out of bed should you not desire to. We have freedoms unlike any country in the world. We can argue with the government without fear of retaliation for the most part. If we dislike something we can fight against it or if we believe in something we can voice our support. But we must never forget our freedom came at a price. Yes we are citizens of The United States of America but we are just passing through this world as C.S. Lewis believed and stated, “We are living in the shadowlands of the true glory we will one day see.”  As a believer in Jesus Christ we have another citizenship and that is in heaven it was paid for at a price. He took on our sin, death and the grave so you and I could live in freedom with him today and for eternity. Even if America was no more I would still have freedom in Jesus Christ. I want to close by reminding you the freedom we enjoy in America everyday still comes with a cost. Soldiers, airmen, sailors and marines serve diligently in all around us continuing to sacrifice for me and you so that we can have freedoms unlike any other nation in the world. We must remember to thank them when we see them and support them even if we fail to agree with them. They live and die so that we can be free. Finally the question is what will you do with the freedom God has given you?