Freedom

 For freedom Christ frees us!  Stand firm then, and be not again enthralled with the yolk of slavery. 

Galatians 5: 1 Concordant New Testament

As I write this morning, I am enjoying Oregon's first day without the indoor face mask mandate illegally set forth by socialist governor Kate Brownshirt.  In fact, before today Oregon was one of just six states nationwide that still adhered to such strict rules.  A fact which helped me in my choice for topics for this mornings writing...freedom.  More importantly, our freedom in Christ Jesus.  I could draw many metaphors of the pandemic lockdowns and mandates which tie into our own freedom in Jesus, but I won't go there.  What I will do is bring up the fact that, like the state of Oregon, there are still Christians out there who have not yet tasted the freedom they could enjoy in Jesus.  The freedom of Christ is out there and available to all, yet many have yet to enjoy it.  To understand this freedom in Christ, we must first understand what it is that continues to hold us in bondage.  The first thing that comes to mind when I think of bondage and Christianity is sin.  For it is sin that continues to hold many a believer in bondage.  Think that you're not in bondage to sin?  What is it that you feel holds you back from a true relationship with Christ Jesus?  Ask that question of many a believer and they would most likely say that their fear of being unworthy or "unlike" Jesus has prevented them from enjoying freedom in Christ.  That fear that Jesus is holy and we're far from it.  This is what prevented me from knowing Jesus fully.  I knew that I was a sinner, my pastor and the scriptures convicted me of my crimes {Romans 3:23}.  I was bound in the shackles of a broken theology.  Broken theology?  Yes, for even though the scriptures spoke to my freedom from the slavery of sin, I did not realize it.  The apostle Paul, in Romans, speaks to the reality that every believer needs to be aware of...that sin is dead.  Yes, we've been chasing unicorns for far too long.  It is Paul who speaks to our feeling of unworthiness when he writes that we should no longer be slaves to sin {Romans 6:6}.  So, what are we afraid of?  What is it that continues to hold us back from enjoying our freedom in Christ?  

Knowing this, that our old humanity was crucified together with Him, that the body of sin may be nullified, for us by no means to be still slaving to sin.  For one who dies has been justified from sin.  Now if we died together with Christ, we believe that we shall be living together with Him also, having perceived that Christ, being roused from among the dead, is no longer dying.  Death is lording it over Him no longer, for in that He died, He died to sin once for all time, yet in that He is living, He is living to God.  Thus you also, be reckoning yourselves to be dead, indeed to sin, yet living to God in Christ Jesus, our Lord. 

Romans 6: 6-11, Concordant New Testament 

In Romans 6, we clearly see that Jesus has provided not only for the forgiveness of our trespasses, but for our final victory over sin as well.  Yet the question remains, if Jesus gave Himself for us on the cross {2 Corinthians 5:21}, why does sin continue to be an issue?  Well, I would submit that many believers simply do not realize who it is that they are.  In my writing "Being You," I present the truth of Christ Jesus in us.  Again, Paul speaks to this reality in Galatians.  For if our "Old humanity" has been crucified with Jesus, what became of this flesh we now see as...me?  Is this who I am?  Not according to Paul.  It is Paul who speaks to us that even though we are now deceased having been crucified with Jesus, "Living in me is Christ" {Galatians 2:20}.  The truth of Christ Jesus is that my own reality has never been this flesh I'm comprised of.  I am God created and Christ inhabited.  It is God in whose image I was created {Genesis 1:27}.  Yet, somewhere along the way believers were duped into believing that we were somehow broken and unworthy of merely being in the presence of Christ Jesus.  All the while, unbeknownst to us, Jesus resided within Gods children.  The problem is many failed to recognize their one true identity in Jesus.  This is exactly why I speak to the current teachings of the church on Jesus as a broken theology, for it ignores the precious truth of who we are in Him.  So what does it mean to be free in Christ?  Freedom in the knowing that sin no longer rules over you.  Freedom in knowing who you are and that you are worthy and loved by God.  Above all, freedom in knowing that you...are Jesus.  

With Christ I have been crucified, yet I am living: no longer I, but living in me is Christ.  Now that which I am now living in the flesh, I am living in faith that is of the Son of God, who loves me and gives Himself up for me.

Galatians 2: 20, Concordant New Testament 

~Scott~