Well, better late than never! I usually get my writing done in the morning but it has been a busy day. Today we are going to take our verse from Galatians and see what this freedom means to us. God gave me this and to the best of my ability I am going to “teach” it to you. I used the points below in a fill in the blank form the night I spoke at my Church, but for the sake of this post I have filled them in for you.
Galatians 5:1 NIV says, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then, and to do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”
1. It is for freedom: “IT” is our life, our salvation, our freedom. “IT” is the life God prepared in advance for us according to Ephesians 2:10.
2. That Christ has set us free: Christ has done it all! We don’t do anything. Whom the Son has set free, is free indeed. (John 8:38)
3. Stand firm then: We are instructed to stand because Ephesians 6:10-18 and 2 Chronicles 20:17 tell us the battle is the Lord’s, we need not fight. Also that we are to put on God’s armor, not ours!
4. And do not let yourselves: This is a command. This command will require an act of our will. According to Philippians 2:5 we are to “let this mind be in you”. The moment we are saved, we have made available to us the very mind of Jesus Christ! We are also to let ourselves be under God’s Grace. Romans 6:14 says that sin no longer has dominion over us, we are not under the Law, but we are under Grace. These are the “lets”. Next we see what we DO NOT LET:
5. We do not let ourselves be burdened again. Quit picking up your dead self and dragging it around! Quit breathing life into what was crucified with Christ! ( Galatians 2:20) When we let ourselves be burdened again by what “grips” us, we are essentially saying that Jesus’ Blood was not enough. So we choose to pick up our old burdens, those “things” we have been talking about and we try to carry them. When we do this, we are basically saying that we think we can do a better job managing our lives and problems than God can.
6. By a yoke of slavery: A child of God was NOT created to wear a yoke of slavery. IT DOES NOT FIT! The reason we are burdened is because we are trying to wear something that doesn’t belong to us anymore. We are to take His yoke upon us, learn from Him and rest. (Matthew 11:28-29) Jesus took our yoke of slavery to the CROSS for us. Everything we have ever done or will do, all of our infirmities, all hell that comes against us, Jesus took it in and on HIS BODY for us.
I hope you better understand this amazing gift of freedom that we have been given. I pray you will receive it like a gift. The good news is that it is not a one time gift. You get to open it up every morning and live free day after day after day. His mercies are new every morning and His faithfulness is so very great for you friend. Give “IT” all to Him today and start walking in FREEDOM!!!
Tomorrow will be the last post in our Freedom in Christ series. Don’t miss it, you will want to see how it ends! Those sticky notes may come back up!
Living Free,
Rene’
