Spirit of Liberty

 2 Corinth 3:17
Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

We were once in bondage to sin and the law. Servants to sin that controlled our lives. But Christ has set us free from sin. Sin is no longer Lord over us. The Holy Spirit who leads us to experience a full surrender to His will and control is now our Lord. We now have the freedom to approach the throne of God. We have been delivered from the bondage of sin and now can live a life of liberty to show God’s love to the world. Sin keeps us from doing what is right, it is a road block from obeying God when He speaks to our heart. The world’s concept of being free is to do whatever you desire without any thought of how it may affect others or how it may lead to harmful consequences. Liberty in Christ is not a license to disregard the commandments of God and behave in a manner that will reflect a negative influence on the Christian life. Paul warns the Galatians: You have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. The Holy Spirit is our truth detector. He will lead us into all truth, and the truth will set us free and keep us free. True liberty comes when we are set free to live how God wants us to live without any inhibition or fear of what the world might think.

Heal the BrokenHearted

 Isaiah 61:1
… He hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound…

Broken hearts result from individuals that have suffered loss. We all have at one time or another experienced the loss that caused great sorrow. Tears are shed day and night and life comes to a stand still. They say that time will heal a broken heart, and to a degree the ache lessens. All loss is painful, but the loss of a son, daughter, or spouse or close friend never seems to ever go away. The pain is greater when such loss happens before death is taken before old age is reached. If you have had such an experience, I don’t pretend to fully understand your pain and sorrow. But I read of One who can heal the broken heart, that is able to bring comfort during times of sorrow. Jesus came to bind up the brokenhearted, and set you free to live again. Such healing does not mean that you will no longer remember or experience sadness, but He has promised, “to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.” (vs3). In our brokenness, all things work together for a purpose and reason. All things work together that He may be glorified. Jesus wants to heal the broken heart and set us free to live again.

Called Unto Liberty

Galatians 5:13  For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.

Religion is a belief system. It is what someone believes to be true concerning their faith. A religion that puts its faith in keeping rules, even good rules to have eternal life is falling short of God’s will. Many religions organizations, including mine, have a standard or behavior code that they feel are important to keep. Any religion that makes these rules or standards the cornerstone of their faith is falling short of God’s plan of salvation. Paul was concern that false teaching was being planted. Some were requiring that the ceremonial law of Moses was necessary to have full salvation. Christ is the liberator of the law, and has set us free to live without being bond by rules. This liberty does not give us license to fulfill the lust of the flesh, for we have been set free from sin, and made free to love God with all our hearts, and our neighbor as ourselves.

Spirit of Adoption

Roman 8:15  For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

Fear of being lost, fear of the unknown, and fear of death. Set free from the bondage of sin, free from unbelief and being forsaken. As children of God, we have been adopted into the family of God. We are no longer children of darkness, lost in sin and seeking the sinful pleasures of the is world. We no longer are bound and enslaved by Satan’s power. The Holy Spirit has given us the assurance that we no longer belong to this world, but have been made heirs with Christ. The old ways have passed away, and we have been given a new life and a new family. We are not just children of His creation, but we have been adopted, we are a part of His household. Our relationship with God is intimate. We can come boldly to the throne of God and call him Abba! He truly is a Father to the fatherless, and “daddy” to all who love Him.

Walk in the Spirit

Gal. 5:16,25 “This I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh…If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”

To walk in the Spirit is to live in the Vine. We fight temptation to gratify the flesh. The fleshly desires always puts self first. It looks, reaches, and takes to please the carnal self. As Christians, God forgives the sins of the flesh, but desires that we no longer live in our sins. He sent the Holy Spirit to empower us to live a life that will surrender self to God. Walking in the Spirit is to surrender our will to the will of the Father. He enables us to say “Not my will be done, but thy will be done” As long as we stay surrendered to God, He gives us the grace to resist the lust of the flesh. As we walk (obey) in the Spirit, we consecrate all that we our to Him. Holiness does not free us from being tempted to lust after the flesh, it empowers us to make the choices that keep us from falling. We can live a life free from the lust of the flesh as long as we walk in the Spirit and stay connected to the Vine.

Living in Truth

John 8:31 ““If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”-

Living in Truth is to abide in Him. Free from sin. There are those who teach because we are born in sin and have a sin nature that we cannot live a life without sinning. Sin is part of the human nature and to say you do not sin is to say you are not human, and no one is perfect. This teaching is contrary to the teaching that Christ gives the Jews as they defended their claims to know the Father. It is true that we are all born in sin and by birth are sinners. For all have sin and come short of God’s glory. Being free from sin is not humanly possible for deliverance from sin is only made possible because Jesus died on the cross to pay our debt of sin. Accepting Him as Savior, we now abide in Him, we are now living in the Vine. We now live in truth for He is Truth. As long as we live in Him we can be free from living a life of sin. Sin no longer abides, we are no longer in bondage or enslaved to Satan, He is no longer our father, we have a new Father, a heavenly Father that sets us free from the sin bondage that Satan had on us. A life free from sin is made possible through the blood of Christ and abiding in Him. 

Freedom

John 8:31-32 ““If ye continue in My Word, then are ye My disciples indeed. And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”-

Freedom is knowing Jesus and being set free from the bondage of sin. Sin is a task master that drive us to do things that seek to satisfy our fleshly desires. We are made in the image of God and made to serve the Lord. Sin has corrupted our nature making self is the most important thing in our life. The world is in bondage, and Christ is the only answer to set it free. His Word teaches us to love God with all our hearts and to love our neighbor as ourselves. This is truth and to those who abide in the Vine and live by this truth are set free from all that will destroy the soul. Seek Truth, seek God, and life will no longer be the same.

Free From Sin

Romans 6:22 “But now, being made free from sin and having become servants of God, ye have your fruit unto holiness and the end, everlasting life.”-

We were all born in sin and therefore sinners from birth. The nature of sin effect each person differently, but we all are slaves to it. If raised in a good Christian home, we learn what is right and what is wrong and are trained to do what is right. At some point in our lives we realized that our good works will not free us from being servants to sin, we need a Savior who is able to free us from the bondage of sin. Being free from sin does not immune us from the temptation of sin. Sin still has it’s allurement and Satan does all he can to trap us. That is why we always need to be on guard, for Satan is like a roaring lion out to destroy us. But grace gives us the ability to resist temptation and from willingly sinning. Sins that we are accountable for, are those that we know are wrong and make the choice to give in to those wrong choices. Without the help of the Holy Spirit, we are not able to yield our members unto God and holiness. With the Holy Spirit, the fruit, or behaviors that we now live reflect that of the fruit of the Spirit. Our hope and desire is to serve God and live to please Him. Paul goes on to talk about presenting ourselves a living sacrifice to God in complete consecration. (Roman 12). The infilling of the Holy Spirit will empower us to live free from sin and our inclinations are now influence by the Holy Spirit that lives within us. Christians do not have to live in sin, they can live above sin, and be holy unto the Lord. Praise God for full deliverance from sin and freedom to live a life of holiness.