Freedom part 2
Let's just get right into it: We are free. Free FROM sin and death and the law... free TO live and love. Look at Romans 6:14-16 (NLT), "Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God's grace. Well then, since God's grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not! Don't you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which deads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living." There's a lot there, but it's so good. And I like the link Paul is making between freedom and grace. I know there's this "religious" idea of "greasy grace." I know people will use "grace" as an excuse to get away with things. But that's not what grace is, and that's not what grace is about. Grace is the enabling power of God. Grace is what, in a very real sense, changes our appetites. Because here's the deal: You CAN do whatever you want. As long as you're willing to pay the consequences. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 10:23 (NLT), "You say, "I am allowed to do anything"--but not everything is good for you. You say, "I am allowed to do anything"--but not everything is beneficial." In other words, just because you CAN do something doesn't mean you SHOULD. Freedom FROM sin is very different than freedom TO sin. Which is what some would have you believe grace is. Read that passage in Romans again. "God's grace has set us free from the law." Hold on to that for a second. Add this to that: "For the law always brings punishment on those who try to obey it. (The only way to avoid breaking the law is to have no law to break!)" (Romans 4:15 NLT). Where there is no law there can be no transgression. If you're worried about do's and don'ts, and only focused on what you can get away with... you're missing out on everything God has made available to you! The thief and the robber in John chapter 10... is you! You steal the gift of God from yourself when you try to enter into the sheepfold any other way but through the door. You rob yourself of what you've been given when you neglect it in order to try to get what you think you haven't got. And, Biblically speaking, the only way to "fall from grace" is to put yourself under the law! So instead of abusing your freedom, or instead of rejecting your freedom... what you ought to do is use your freedom for what it was intended! You ought to leave behind the law, and sin, and death... walk in newness of life... and receive and release the love of God! That's what this life is all about. Because that's what this life IS! To live is to love and to love is to live. They aren't just connected. They are the same thing. And that's what true freedom is. It's not about being able to do that bad things you want to. It's about knowing, and believing, and understanding that you don't really want to do those things at all! It's about knowing your purpose, and being free to live that purpose. Which, in a Word, is love. Your purpose--the reason you were created--is to receive and release the love of God. That's the New Commandment for the New Man and that's what God's grace--which is suffiecient for thee, and which is made perfect in your weakness--is all about. God's grace empowers us to be who we really are by throwing OFF the rules and regulations that only lead to death! We were made to live! We were made to love! And now, because of His grace, we are free to live and love!