Stand Fast part 1
Full disclosure: I am a bit "don't tread on me." I agree with Ben Franklin's famous quote, "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, right? Having said that, I want to spend some time looking at what liberty, what freedom, is really all about. Because you hear people talk about "greasy grace." You hear people talk about "license to sin." And that's what the idea of "freedom" has become. We talk about freedom as if it is the ability to do stuff we aren't supposed to do. Which, I guess, to some degree it might be. We have the freedom to, say, bungee jump off a bridge. Or drink alcohol. Certain drugs are "legal." But here's my thing: If you're LOOKING for excuses to do things that you know in your heart you shouldn't be doing... you've got it all mixed up from jump street. Look at Galatians 5:1, "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage." That's our key verse for this Rant series. And I really want to hit on that last part. "Be not entangled again wtih the yoke of bondage." Another way to say that is, "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of you mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God" (Romans 12:2). See, if you understand the story of the people of Israel you see that they WERE in bondage for like 400 some odd years. And then they were brought OUT of bondage. They were IN the world, and then they were transported TO the Kingdom. This transformation (by the renewing of our mind) is really just knowing and believing and accepting that we have BEEN transformed. LETTING the mind of Christ (that's already in us) BE in us. By using it. Not mistaking freedom FOR bondage, but understanding that it is freedom FROM bondage! I once heard a preacher say, "People talk about grace as license to sin... but people have been sinning without license for thousands of years!" And while my personal thoughts on sin might be a little bit different than his... the point remains that we need to shift our mindset away from one that says, "I'm free! I can do 'bad' stuff!" and into one that says, "I'm free from all that bad stuff that had a hold on me!" All the world can offer is bondage. Because that's all the world has. That's all the world is. The Kingdom of God (the Kingdom of love), on the other hand, has made everything we need readily available to us. Grace to grow. Forgiveness FOR all of those things we've done that we really wish we hadn't. A fresh start. The ability to walk in newness of life. The ability to experience Jesus's abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of Love by letting HIM live His own life in us, and through us, and as us. Resting in Him. Letting Him love us, and loving Him back by loving each other with that same love. And here's the key: Stand fast in that liberty wherewith we have been made free. Don't "fall from grace." Which means putting yourself back up under the law (of Moses), or conforming to the world! Be who you are. That's the freedom you have. The freedom... to live. And to love!