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Tuesday, January
8, 2008
Set
Free
Romans 7:9-10 For I was alive
without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I
died. (10) And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be
unto death. (KJV)
Paul like many of the other
disciples found a new life in Christ through belief in Him and the
completed work He accomplished. But as we will see in his writings, and if
you notice especially with the early Church, something had been choking the
life back out of them; the freedom they found in a simple belief in Christ
was getting complicated by the old law and rituals that many were still
hanging onto at the time.
2 Corinthians 3:3-6 Forasmuch
as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us,
written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables
of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart. (4) And such trust have we
through Christ to God-ward: (5) Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to
think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; (6) Who
also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter,
but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. (KJV)
We should no longer be
relying in ourselves, in any works of the law, or in carnal ordinances we
think will draw us closer to God; rather our attention needs to be in the
spiritual realm if we want to experience this new life in Christ. God is a
spirit, so now the only way to worship Him, is in this realm of truth; only
the Spirit which gave you life and brought you back from the dead is able
to sustain this life and bring you to a mature perfect understanding of God
through Christ. Your ability to be an able effective minister can only be
accomplished by teaching others to walk in the Spirit and not the flesh.
Galatians 4:9-11 But now,
after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again
to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in
bondage? (10) Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. (11) I am
afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain. (KJV)
Once you have been set free
and delivered from the bondage of death, it is vital that in order to
maintain a quality life in Christ it can only be done in the Spirit, and
not turning back and trying to rebuild a foundation off dead vain works.
Having watched the world spend the last couple months caught up in worldly
holidays where people claim certain days are holy or special to the Lord,
we can see that there is nothing new under the sun, same devil and his
cheap distractions, just different disguises over the years. If you try and
return to these weak and beggarly things you will find yourself becoming
weak also.
Galatians 5:22-23 But the
fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness,
goodness, faith, (23) Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. (KJV)
You have been set free and
are now partakers of the divine nature in Christ. Having spent many years
in the past partaking of the forbidden fruit of this world, once you are
able to experience this new life in Christ and abundance of love, joy, as
well as the peace of God that goes beyond our understanding, don’t let it
be stolen from you again by falling from grace into a bunch of dead end
vain doctrines and works of man. There is no law, no boundaries anymore to
those in Christ. What once kept us bound and limited in the realm of the
flesh is done away and now we have access into this unlimited realm of
peace and joy which is unattainable by the works of the law. So stay away
from these dead end doctrines which claim we still need to do rituals in
order to maintain our walk with the Lord, or you will find this love you
were once experiencing growing cold.
Hebrews 9:8-12 The Holy Ghost
this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made
manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing: (9) Which was a
figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and
sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as
pertaining to the conscience; (10) Which stood only in meats and drinks,
and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time
of reformation. (11) But Christ being come an high priest of good things to
come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that
is to say, not of this building; (12) Neither by the blood of goats and
calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having
obtained eternal redemption for us. (KJV)
If you take the time to read
the book of Hebrews you will see the writer gives us a good illustration of
the difference between the old law and the new. What we see here in verses
8-12 is quite similar to what I still see going on today. Mankind keeps
seeking perfection through the works of the law, continually doing things
over and over again thinking it will draw them closer to God. As you notice
in verse 10, these ordinances were in place until the time of reformation,
which was accomplished for us when Christ Himself entered into the Holy
place to deliver the sacrifice for mankind which was accepted by our
Father. So no matter what disguise you put on these carnal ordinances and
washings (water baptism being a prime example), as long as you keep turning
back to these dead end works you will not be able to grow and mature in the
Lord. Rather than being set free you bring yourself back into bondage of
weak and beggarly elements again. So people, Church, either Jesus Christ
did a complete job on our behalf or He didn’t. And every time you try and
walk a spiritual path and incorporate the works of the law in it, you end
up with a little spiritual leaven in the bread of life which is
unacceptable to Father.
Hebrews 10:1-2 For the law
having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the
things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year
continually make the comers thereunto perfect. (2) For then would they not
have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should
have had no more conscience of sins. (KJV)
When you walk with the Lord
and continue in the liberty in Christ you find that there are no gray areas
with Him, no shadows of darkness; your path and the light within you gets
brighter and brighter, illuminating this path of life and any obstacles in
its way. We see again that the true worshippers were once purged, cleansed
from sin, because of their faith in Jesus Christ and what He accomplished
on our behalf and not by some unfinished works that they think they still
need to do.
Romans 8:1-4 There is
therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk
not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (2) For the law of the Spirit of
life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. (3) For
what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God
sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned
sin in the flesh: (4) That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in
us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (KJV)
You want freedom? Do you
desire righteousness? Do you wish to continue to be justified in the sight
of our Lord? Then you need to continue in the liberty in Christ and be not
entangled again with the yoke of bondage; and this will only be
accomplished in the realm of the Spirit. Now that you have been set free,
stay set free indeed.
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