Day 12: Freedom
"What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:15-23
"So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. For when we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death. But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released [set free] from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code." Romans 7:4-6
"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death." Romans 8:1-2
"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
"You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love." Galatians 5:13
I'm going to ask you to do something a little different today. I'd like to ask you to read through the above passages, slowly.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead provides freedom from the condemnation and guilt of sin for those who believe in the Son of God. This is good news for those who think they can never be good enough, holy enough. This is good news for those who try harder and harder to earn God's approval by pleasing Him with good behavior. This is good news for those who feel like their sin is so bad they can never draw near to God, let alone be loved by Him. This is good news for every single one of us.
Now, read through them slowly again. Meditate on them. Pray through them. Let them sink into your hearts. Rejoice in the freedom we have in and through Christ.
Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom (2 Cor 3:17), so if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." )John 8:36)
And as Paul told the Galatians: Use that freedom to go and serve one another humbly in love.
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