Continuing Michael's message on being set free by Jesus Christ, he writes that the religious leaders of His day had made up a series of laws that no one could follow. Romans 8 says, “there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the spirit of life in Christ has made us free from the law of sin and death. 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 that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit.”
Jesus asked the crowd,
"Why do you call me Lord and yet do
not do the things that I say?'' Jesus said, "If you continue in my word then you are my disciples indeed."
Followers of Christ are those listen to what the Lord says and who do the Master's
will. Doing the will of the Lord goes way beyond sin management; it is who
you are. The Greek word for sin is "hamartia."
It literally is an archery term that means "to miss the mark."
However, the emphasis is not on the missing but rather on the mark
itself. The way to keep from sinning is to press toward the mark of the
high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Jesus said, If you're
compelled by law to carry a Roman soldiers' burden one mile, then gladly carry
his burden one more mile. The first mile is motivated by obligation to Roman
law but the second mile is motivated by love. According to Galatians 5, the freedom that we have in Christ is not a license to
sin, but to serve one another in love. When the people asked Jesus
about His plan, He pointed to Peter, a lowly fisherman and Matthew, a despised
tax collector and said, "those guys, they are the plan." We who
were dead in trespasses and sins are God's plan. Jesus said, the works that I do shall they do also and
greater works shall they do because I go unto my father. The greater
work is to lead others to salvation by grace alone through faith alone in
Christ alone. For He who was without sin
became the perfect sacrifice for sin on our behalf that we may be made the
righteousness of God in Him.
Matthew 28:18-20 Jesus
came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in
heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded
you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the
age.” ]Amen.
We have a moment by moment
decision to walk in fellowship with our Lord Jesus Christ. A disciple is a
disciplined follower and learner of the Lord. Oswald Chambers said that if God
has to break your heart to teach us what is really important, then thank Him
for breaking our hearts. He'll pick up the threads of our broken hearts
and weave them together again. In the doing of the Word, then we shall
know the truth by experience and the truth shall make us free. Jesus came
to heal the broken-hearted, reveal the truth and to set the captives of sin’s
bondage free. Galatians 5 says,
Stand fast therefore in the Liberty
wherewith Christ has made us free and be not entangled again with the yoke of
bondage. Only use not Liberty as a license to sin, but in love serve one
another. Our freedom is to serve Him by serving others from a heart
of love.
May we ever live to the
praise of the glory of His grace!
Your brother in Christ, Michael
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