HOLD ONTO YOUR FREEDOM

Monday 6 January

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:2 (NKJV)

 Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. Galatians 5:1 (NKJV)

When someone first receives salvation, there is such an overwhelming feeling of the freedom and liberty of passing from death to life. Brought out if slavery into sonship. They don’t know much about God except His unmerited grace towards them and a sense of being made right with God, knowing they are loved by God. They are so excited to tell others about Jesus. This is sometimes known as the ‘honeymoon phase’ for the Christian.

This is how we all start out in the Kingdom and how we are supposed to remain throughout our walk with the Lord. We are so full of joy and hope for the future. Maybe I’m even describing your experience at some point. So what is the cause for that enthusiasm and energy to decrease over time? I heard a preacher once say something that has stayed with me.

‘it takes Jesus to bring someone into freedom and it takes a Pastor to take them back into bondage’

I used to ponder what he meant by this statement? After all, if we just preach from the Bible we are giving people ‘the word’ aren’t we? The Apostle Paul gives us insight into this in our opening scripture. The law of the Spirit of life and the law of sin and death. The first one is grace, the second is works.

In Ephesians 2:8-9 The Bible says ‘by grace you have been saved through faith and this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works so that no one can boast’

What this tells us is that law and grace do not mix. Just like oil and water. Grace, which is salvation in Christ produces life and the law which is works of self righteousness produces death. You can’t operate in grace and law at the same time. If there is a mixture, it will only produce death.

The law is referred to as the ministry of death and the ministry of condemnation. It is also called the law of Moses which means in this context the Old Testament. We as believers are ministers of the New Testament. 2 Corinthians 3:6-9 says,

‘who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory.’

Did you see that? The ministry of righteousness exceeds condemnation. This is our ministry in the Body of Christ.

What does this tells us? That when we teach the principles of the Old Testament it actually ministers death and not life to the hearers. How do we know the difference between the two? Anything that is inconsistent with the message of Christ is not the message of grace and is therefore works of the law.

Acts 20:32 says ‘I commend you God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all who are sanctified.’

Simply put; the message of grace is the message of freedom in Christ. The message of law brings you back into bondage. The problem comes when people have been in bondage by the ministry of condemnation for so long that they forget what it was like to live free when they first got saved. This is what dead religion will do to you. Religio in Latin means ‘to bind’ Religion predominantly is about being bound to the works of the law.

This is why we are told to ‘stand fast’ in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free’. ‘Steko’ in Greek means to stand firm, to persevere, to persist, to keep one's standing.

This is how we hold onto the freedom that we have in Christ. We must reject every teaching that is steeped in condemnation because it is based on the law of sin and death and embrace the law of the Spirit of life which is the good news of the finished work of grace that we preach.

APPLICATION

Speak only what is consistent with the life you have in Christ and refuse to allow anyone to drag you out of freedom and back into bondage.We must reject every teaching that is steeped in condemnation because it is based on the law of sin and death and embrace the law of the Spirit of life which is the good news of the finished work of grace that we preach.