Free In Christ

And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us.  And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.  Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.  So let no one judge you in food nor in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sababths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.
Colossions 2: 13 - 17 NKJV

My friend Dennis and I have had more than a few conversations as of late about just what it means to be free in Jesus.  Well, what does freedom in Christ Jesus mean to me?  The best way that I can describe the freedom which I have in Christ is by relating what I DON'T feel in this freedom which I have found in Jesus.  In Jesus, I don't have the condemnation of not attending a weekly gathering with like minded people in order to commune with Jesus and to hear the pulpit pounder tell me just how I need to "Be more like Jesus."  The truth is, not only am I "Like" Jesus already,  but through His resurection, I AM Jesus {Galations 2:20}.  There is no sermon which can change the fact that I now live my life as Jesus, who loved me and gave Himself for me.  My freedom in Jesus also guarantees me that I no longer need to come to my Fathers throne seeking forgiveness for some wrong doing I have done.  For it is Christ Jesus Himself who took my sin upon Himself on that cross {2 Corinthians 5:21}.  Realizing this freedom in Jesus, what sin is there which Christ Himself has not erased from our lives?  My freedom in Jesus also guarantees that my Lords love, grace and forgiveness cannot be bartered for or bought {Ephesians 2: 8 - 9}.  There is absolutely NOTHING I have done or could ever do that would procure the loving gift which Jesus has given me.  I cannot boast or show any evidence of my own efforts to achieve my own salvation.  It is a gift of love.

Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.  For he who has died has been freed from sin.  Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more.  Death no longer has dominion over Him.  For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.  Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.
Romans 6: 6 - 12 NKJV

My belief in Jesus used to hinge on the belief that His love and forgiveness hinged on my obedience to what traditionaly had been claimed in the church.  If I desired my Lords forgiveness, then I needed to be a "Good christian" and be devoted to weekly church attendance, commit to a regular tithe and be in service to others.  To me, this seemed more like requirements than the freedom of Jesus.  Did not Jesus give Himself to set me free?  This is the very reason why I struggled when Dennis first introduced me to the freedom which a life in Christ Jesus offers.  Was this the "Handwriting of requirements which was against us" that the apostle Paul wrote about in Colossions 2?  Perhaps, but I also realized that there were stark differences in the freedom which Jesus offered me and the life of a "Good" christian which I had been raised to believe.  For the focus of every good christian seems to be the requirements of the church, not the very truth of Christ Jesus.  Is it these requirements which Paul claimed Jesus nailed to the cross upon His death?  I believe it to at least be along those lines, others may see it as the religious law of the Jewish faith.  Whatever it is, it was contrary to our freedom in Jesus.  For a life of adhering to requirements is not freedom, but bondage.  Being confident in the truth of Christ is being confident in the freedom which He gives those who make the choice to accept the gift He offers each of us.

For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.  For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.  But God demonstrates His own love towards us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5: 6 - 8 NKJV

No requirements, no effort, no bondage, sounds a lot like freedom to me.

~Scott~