What is Freedom in Christ????
Galatians 5:1-5
For freedom Christ has set us free; stand fast therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
Christ died to set me free. He had given me the key to unlock the cage of the bondage of my past. Still, every once in a while I seem to think that the cage offers more; in reality, it has nothing to offer but damaging consequences from pointless and false validation.
I’ve gone through weeks of brokenness, unable to accept the grace I’m covered by. That is nearly as bad as not being repentant. Almost, but not quite. It means that I don’t fully believe in my heart of hearts that Christ’s sacrifice is enough for me. It’s pride in a twisted form.
It ironic really, that the things we run to in an effort to escape the pain and wounds from our past actually cause those same things to rise to the surface. I have buried a lot, simply to survive. But now it is time to let those things be healed by the great Healer and truly experience wholeness again. I want the promises of God to resonate. No. More than that. I NEED the promises of God to resonate.
What do you run to? What do you try to feel satisfied by or use to cover the pain you’ve felt?
Those questions are ones we rarely ask ourselves. And most of the time when we do, we water-down the reality we live in. I’m not saying dwell on the difficult times of life, or hold on to the pain, but let the Lord take you through the needed healing or it will certainly come back to haunt you.
The Galatians verse is powerful. In Greek, “stand fast” can be translated to mean, “to keep one’s standing, to persist.” I can’t help but think that our freedom is very much related to what we “stand” on daily. Am I standing on the Word of God, the truth of Christ, the guidance and conviction of the Holy Spirit? Or am I standing on the false words of this world, the offerings that seem to satisfy but only stir the emptiness within?
This verse also expounds on the Truth that we have a choice in carrying the yoke again. Do not LET yourself…or do not SUBMIT. Truly, when we remove ourselves from the freedom of Christ, we are willfully choosing something other than God. Satan wants to make us believe we have no choice in the matter, but in Christ we are controlled by nothing and no one unless we bow to something other than the King.
Another thing I have observed from the body through this time is a harsh imbalance of grace and truth. Some are all grace, forfeiting the Truth and power of the Word, forfeiting too, God’s standards in many ways. Some are all truth, missing the essence of the cross and forgetting the fact that we have ALL sinned and fall short, forgetting that God is love and we are to be set apart from this world in our love. May we pray that God will give us a balance of these two powerful, necessary entities.
I am learning, I am growing, I am desperate to be His, Kate
Galatians 5:1-5
For freedom Christ has set us free; stand fast therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
Christ died to set me free. He had given me the key to unlock the cage of the bondage of my past. Still, every once in a while I seem to think that the cage offers more; in reality, it has nothing to offer but damaging consequences from pointless and false validation.
I’ve gone through weeks of brokenness, unable to accept the grace I’m covered by. That is nearly as bad as not being repentant. Almost, but not quite. It means that I don’t fully believe in my heart of hearts that Christ’s sacrifice is enough for me. It’s pride in a twisted form.
It ironic really, that the things we run to in an effort to escape the pain and wounds from our past actually cause those same things to rise to the surface. I have buried a lot, simply to survive. But now it is time to let those things be healed by the great Healer and truly experience wholeness again. I want the promises of God to resonate. No. More than that. I NEED the promises of God to resonate.
What do you run to? What do you try to feel satisfied by or use to cover the pain you’ve felt?
Those questions are ones we rarely ask ourselves. And most of the time when we do, we water-down the reality we live in. I’m not saying dwell on the difficult times of life, or hold on to the pain, but let the Lord take you through the needed healing or it will certainly come back to haunt you.
The Galatians verse is powerful. In Greek, “stand fast” can be translated to mean, “to keep one’s standing, to persist.” I can’t help but think that our freedom is very much related to what we “stand” on daily. Am I standing on the Word of God, the truth of Christ, the guidance and conviction of the Holy Spirit? Or am I standing on the false words of this world, the offerings that seem to satisfy but only stir the emptiness within?
This verse also expounds on the Truth that we have a choice in carrying the yoke again. Do not LET yourself…or do not SUBMIT. Truly, when we remove ourselves from the freedom of Christ, we are willfully choosing something other than God. Satan wants to make us believe we have no choice in the matter, but in Christ we are controlled by nothing and no one unless we bow to something other than the King.
Another thing I have observed from the body through this time is a harsh imbalance of grace and truth. Some are all grace, forfeiting the Truth and power of the Word, forfeiting too, God’s standards in many ways. Some are all truth, missing the essence of the cross and forgetting the fact that we have ALL sinned and fall short, forgetting that God is love and we are to be set apart from this world in our love. May we pray that God will give us a balance of these two powerful, necessary entities.
I am learning, I am growing, I am desperate to be His, Kate
posted by Kate at 8:01 PM
4 Comments:
Balance is very key and it is good that you see that. It took me quite some time to realize that myslef. I used to think that too much truth was scary and only demeaning and judgemental, but I have come to realize that too much grace is just as bad if not worse. Too much grace allows me to sit and do nothing where at least too much truth caused me to do something, albeit under a heavy burden. Luke 11:42 is a good example of Christ speaking of balance and was very encouraging to me when I was searching out the truth on these matters. This is what I wrote concerning balance if you care to read it. We need to be free, but to realize we are free to serve relentlessly. With grace comes the responsibility that knowing the truth brings upon us. And we can rejoice in the fact that when we go all out to try and follow our Lord that it is grace that will redeem us when we come up short. There is no reason not to try and 'Be Holy as I Am Holy' (1 Peter 1:16). Thanks for seeking.
Thanks Kate for these truths.
I realized from this that I am not letting the grace of Jesus Christ cover me. Yeah, it is pride. I can get out by being loved freely by the one who died for me. Knowing this, I can do things out of faith even when I screw up. Right now I am soaking up my faults and weaknesses, like it is a bad thing. I am focusing on myself too much, instead of letting the power of the spirit to work through me. I need to just fall back into the grace of God and keep pressing on, pressing forward instead of being caught up in the midst of my weaknesses. I can't look back, but only can depend on my Jesus to keep me going forward. When I receive his grace, this is when I can show grace to others.
I have also realized an incredible fault within the church of an imbalance between grace and truth. This has been startling and is not how Christ's church should be. I think of why we act like this. Is it because our own sins leave us so guilty we could never point somebody elses sin out? Is it because the liberal society has us so confused that we have fallen into the trap of tolerance? Is it because we do not know what the scriptures say about purifying Jesus' bride? I think it is all of these and more. Grace is not accepting someones sins and telling them, "its ok, you are still a great person." Since when did the gospel ever start with "you are a great person." We are sinners. We do fall. That is a reality of life. Another reality is that Christians are not to live this way. We are not even supposed to appear to be sinning as Christians(1 Thes 5:22 and Ephesians 5: 3). And yet Christians refuse to submit to any authority (most frightenly the authority of scripture) and claim it as their freedom in Christ. What is freedom in Christ exactly? I know one thing for sure, it is not walking the borderline of sin. If Paul were among us today and he witnessed this he would be so mad he would have to write a letter instead of coming to speak to us face to face. I dont think Jesus would be as nice. In conclusion, Hebrews 10:26-31 says that when we continue to sin delibrately, it as if we are crucifying Jesus again and again. The text goes as far to say the spirit of grace is no longer for us. Now if we are unbalanced towards accepting these sinners without telling them the truth of the gospel and the absolute need to be set free, we are killing Jesus again. With that in mind, I challenge anyone who does this to watch Passion of the Christ again and realize they are holding the whip.
Kate
Speaking from my heart, pride has been a huge issue and it seems that everything negative and sinful turns back to pride. Things from my past have been coming up this summer as well and it is good that they are being exposed so that the Lord can come in and heal them. It is so easy to keep them covered and to run to things to ease the pain, even if only for a little while. But eventually we get tired and worn out from running and hiding and masking things that need to be surfaced. We cannot heal these things by ourselves, and although it may hurt to expose these wounds, it is the only way God can come in and heal them. Only if we allow him to can our wounds be healed. I've learned that God won't take away pain, but He gives us Himself. Hope, Love, and the Strength to press on. To get past the pain. We WILL be weak, we WILL be torn down, but it's all a part of renewing our souls and letting our hearts become more like Jesus'. I love you Kate and thank you for your perserverance and vulerability. I admire it in you and it motivates me and gives me a hope! God is using you!
Tressa
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