The Apostles -- walking with Jesus!
The 4th of July is about freedom. Although Independence Day is not a religious holiday, freedom is a concept that originated in the bible and is very spiritual topic. Celebrating our freedoms on this earth is not the same as the freedoms that God has given us! God presents a very different view of freedom through Christ!
The apostle Paul spoke about freedom more than any other apostle! Paul lost his freedom several times throughout his life! Paul describes his life before Christ in Romans 7:7-14,18-20,24
Romans 6:16 we all become slaves to the one we obey. Who is your master? The master of sin will not stop until it has destroyed you! Sin will wants to consume every bit of your life. How far do you lower your guard to convince yourself that you can play with sin? Sin desires to master you. Sin always leaves us in chains and hopeless!
Paul lost his freedom but he was set free!
Romans 7:24-25 Paul was delivered by God through Christ! Grace did not just help him win the game of sin and righteousness, it helped him end the game of sin and righteousness!
There is a big difference between following the law because you want to rather because of fear of consequence! Paul knew that because he was set free that he was enough and no longer need to earn freedom.
Paul used his freedom to serve!
Galatians 5:1, 13-14 with our freedom comes a choice to use our freedom to serve the spirit and deny the flesh!
Romans 6:15-18 true obedience comes from the heart. Paul was set free but he wasn't set free to rule himself. He and we are set free to serve God!
Who will you chose to serve? Jesus didn't break the chains of sin so that you could serve your own best interest! Paul used his freedom to set others free!
Freedom comes with a price
Philippians 2:6-7
Sent from my iPhone
No comments:
Post a Comment