Tag Archives: Freedom

Free to Sin?

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On the flip side of this freedom in Christ coin lays a very relevant question, which Paul specifically addresses in Romans 6:15: “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law, but under grace?” This is a very real issue, because if I’m truly free from law it seems like I should be able to do anything I want. Paul’s critics in fact accused him of teaching this very thing. But of course that’s not at all what Paul was saying. As we discussed earlier, he repeatedly warns against sin, saying that those who make it a practice of their life will not inherit the kingdom of God. Free to sin? Obviously not!

Time and again Paul made this point abundantly clear: “Do we then nullify [law] through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish [law].”(Romans 3:31) Of course we’re subject to obeying the law of God! But in what way then have we been freed from law? Are we merely responsible for keeping the moral aspects of law, while being freed from performing its rituals? How might one pick and choose what to obey and what to ignore? The Church has sought answers to these questions down through the centuries. But sadly, what they conclude often results in a whole new set of rules to conform to.

More law is obviously not the answer to being freed from law. But the question remains: how can we be subject to law and freed from law at the same time? Certainly a very difficult one to answer, don’t you think? Still, there is an answer—a very simple and straightforward one: in Christ we are dead to sin because we are dead to law. But until we actually understand what this means, it seems to raise more questions than it answers.

Take Care with Gifts

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Freedom from the power of sin is a phenomenal gift of God. But we need to be careful as we revel in it. Our death to sin, brought about by our freedom from law, has one purpose and one purpose only: that we might be endowed with the ability to pursue unfettered relationship with God—in spite of the weakness of our sinful nature.

Never is this freedom to be thought of as a license to sin. Rather, we have been joined to Christ “in order that we might bear fruit for God.”(Romans 7:4) The byproduct of being given this amazing privilege is that we now have the capacity to make good choices, whereas formerly we did not. We have freely and gloriously been given everything we need for our pursuit of Him.(2 Peter 1:3)

Set Free from Law

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In Romans 8:4 Paul talks about there being a “requirement of the Law,” meaning that the law obligates us to obey it in its entirety.(James 2:10) But God knows there is no possibility that we can ever obey His entire law. And since the punishment for failing to do so is spiritual death—separation from God—He had to provide a way to overcome this barrier. So, God’s solution was simply to take the law out of the way as it relates to our relationship with Him.

Paul further explains this truth in Romans 8:3-4: “For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

The effect of having been set free from law—since punishment for breaking it is no longer imputed—is that we are in fact now no longer subject to the realm of the flesh, even though our flesh may continue to brutally oppress us.

Paul puts it this way in Romans 8:9-10: “However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you…If Christ is in you, though your body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.” Consequently the outcome for us—unbelievable as it may seem—is that “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.”(Romans 8:1-2)

Excerpted from: Free from the Power of Sin: The Keys to Growing in God in Spite of Yourself

No Separation from God

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Jesus took the punishment for our sin upon Himself, as a result freeing us from its inevitable consequence—separation from God. When we receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Redeemer, a secure union is established with God. And since we have now been joined to Him by means of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, we share in all the benefits that Jesus Himself experienced in His resurrection.(Romans 6:5)

The death and resurrection of Christ as it relates to our own death and life in Him is a constantly recurring theme throughout these chapters of Romans. Time and again he brings this issue to the forefront, because Paul knows that understanding this principle is absolutely vital to our spiritual progress.

At the very heart of this truth is the fact that freedom from the power of sin—our death to sin—is guaranteed by our death to law through Christ’s bodily death and resurrection.(Romans 6:14)

Thinking back to Paul’s example in the first few verses of Romans 7 of a married woman, one might say that Jesus was both the old husband (coming in the form of
sinful flesh, dying for sin to free from law), and the new husband (resurrected
to life in God, never to die again). Freedom is now the absolute reality of our
life in Christ because we are no longer bound by what Paul calls, “the law of sin and death.”(Romans 8:2)

 

Freedom

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My child, you have been washed by the Blood of My beloved Son and sin is no longer master over you. Jesus took your punishment when He died on the cross. Live in the freedom that was purchased for you. Live your life for Me. I will glorify you as you glorify Me. This is the life I have for you.

John 17:22

Freedom

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My child, it was for freedom that I have set you free. My desire is for you to stand firm then, and not let yourself be burdened again by the yoke of slavery. I will help you and empower you according to My liberating word. You are called to be free. Don’t use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature, rather serve others in love.

Galatians 5: 1 & 13

Dead to Law?

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In the 7th chapter of Romans, Paul lays out in detail the remarkable truth regarding the basis for our freedom from the bondage of sin. Here we find that our liberty hinges on freedom from law—that is, being dead to law. And here the nagging question as to how we can be free from the power of sin, even as we continue to encounter shameful problems with it, is finally answered.

He begins his argument in Romans 7:1-3, where he says that law has jurisdiction over a person’s life only as long as he lives. This reinforces what he had just taught—that we have in fact died to sin. Without question we have, but not in the way we tend to think about it, since our death to sin is not really a personal death at all.

Let’s look a little closer. Paul says that freedom from law is actually the basis for our freedom from sin. He uses the example of a woman being held accountable to the Law by virtue of the fact that she is married. Consequently, she can’t pursue a relationship with another man without being labeled an adulteress. But when her husband dies, she is free from any responsibility the Law placed on her regarding her former husband.

Why is this important? Because although in this instance the wife is the one who has been freed from (dead to) law, she didn’t die at all; her husband did! And so it is with us. By comparison, we’re like the living wife rather than the dead husband when talking about our own death to sin. Just as the commandment concerning adultery now no longer applies to her, in Christ we have also been removed from the realm of jurisdiction of law.

We are in fact just as dead to law in regard to our sin as she is to the commandment which once governed her marriage. But law has lost its jurisdiction over us not because sinful behavior can now be considered legal, permissible or acceptable, but because our sin is no longer punishable. God has acquitted us of wrongdoing because the punishment for sin—that is, separation from Him—is no longer enforced. And this is the key to understanding the true nature of our death to sin.

Excerpted from: Free from the Power of Sin: The Keys to Growing in God in Spite of Yourself

Dead to Sin

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The fact of the matter is that God has provided the remedy for all our sin—past, present and future.(Psalm 103:10&14) But even so, it’s obvious in Scripture that He intends for us to be holy, and thus commands us not to sin. How is it, then, that He could willingly overlook the sin which so easily flows from our nature? The answer, of course, is that by grace He forgives our sins, which is indeed absolutely true.

Fortunately, Jesus revealed the full extent of the gospel to Paul, not only that his curiosity might be satisfied but that both his generation and those to follow might also reach a deeper understanding of Christ’s provision. This is vitally important, because a complete awareness both of our human condition and how we now relate to our Creator is the key to walking in the total freedom God always meant for us to experience.

We know from Scripture that God forgives our sin through Christ Jesus as a free gift. Yet even more important to understand is that this free gift of forgiveness and righteousness is rooted in the fact that He has caused us to die to sin altogether.(1 Peter 2:24) But just exactly what does dying to sin mean? I don’t feel very dead to sin!

Clinging to Grace

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As Christians, it’s easy to become a bit confused when setting our minds to do right. Why? Because in attempting to rid our life of sin, we often turn to good works in the hope that they will somehow offset the sin demerits we instinctively sense accumulating against us. So it’s not hard to slip somewhat effortlessly into the very thing true faith should avoid at all costs—works righteousness.

Understanding this link between good works and sin is extremely important because Satan focuses his efforts to destroy us at this very juncture. He uses it as his primary strategy to rob us of all God has to offer.

If the devil can convince us to earn our way rather than simply receiving and walking in God’s free gift of grace, he will have succeeded in handcuffing us to the extent of “defrauding us of our prize”of freedom in Christ.(Colossians 2:18) And if he can accomplish that, he just may be successful in getting us to walk away altogether from the truth of the redemption God freely offers. His ultimate goal for all believers is apostasy—the abandonment and renunciation of our faith.

Excerpted from: Free from the Power of Sin: The Keys to Growing in God in Spite of Yourself