Gal 5:14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Many in this country will celebrate our declaration of liberty from tyranny that was proclaimed on July 4, 1776. Many brave people signed this declaration knowing that if they did not win, then not only their lands and titles would be taken, but also their lives. But they believed it was worth the dangers and the struggle because living under unjust laws, being taxed without having any representation and having the goods and resources produced here taken to England without benefiting those who supplied those resources was bondage in and of itself. It is a history of this country that is not being taught in our schools anymore, unless it is rewritten to the point it would be unrecognizable to the founding fathers and to those who fought for that liberty. I can speak of it, as I am the descendant of a veteran of that struggle and have seen the letters of service and the places he served. There are untold numbers of sons and daughters of liberty in this country, if only they would take the time to check their family history.
But the liberty I speak of today isn't about our forefathers struggle for a free country, but our individual struggle for a freedom from sin, from oppression of the flesh and the yearning to be restored to our God. A desire to be made whole.
Everyone has an inherent knowledge placed inside them that something isn't quite right. Humans are either making idols for themselves, worshipping animals or nature as gods, sacrificing to appease some diety to change or assure an outcome, or turn inward with meditation seeking to establish a connection or "conciousness" with a higher being. Others claim they have no belief in a god, but that in itself makes them continue to seek, in the form of self help books, yoga (which is an eastern religion), humanist seminars and on and on.
The core reason for all this searching, for all the books written, for all the positive thinking gurus that make big bucks, is the fact that we know there is something wrong that is holding us hostage, something that just isn't right about our life. We have too many broken relationships. We have too many flaws either in our character or morality, or both. We jump from bed to bed, or marriage to marriage. We drink to be happy, or forget. We lie instead of admitting failure. We get jealous when we think someone else has it better than us. We steal, just because we can. We murder in the name of anything. The core problem is a word the secular world cannot stand and will fight against at every mention. The word is "SIN".
Sin is man's tyrant. Sin is what keeps us in bondage. Sin in your life is what causes that search to fix whatever seems wrong in your life. But sin won't let go of you just because you try something different. You can't wash it away with a shower if you feel dirty, you can't offer a sacrifice to appease it and clear your conscious. You can't try to tip the scale by doing more "good" than "bad". And you can't ignore it by just saying sin doesn't exist and it is all just relevant. Only seeking the core problem will lead you to the core answer. And the core problem is....get ready for it...a transgression against a divine law, or God's law. It's simply called SIN.
Sin will take you farther than you would ever think you'd go. Sin will hold you down and keep you down. Sin will make you sick, destroy your health, destroy your family, destroy your finances and destroy your life. Sin may seem pleasurable for a while, but always requires a great price in the end. Sin will make you the aggressor and the victim. Sin is what keeps you from what your soul truly longs for, to be one with the Creator again. To be able to walk and talk freely with the one who really understands your problems and will help. Sin is what we are born in, but do not have to stay in. There is freedom from it, but you must know what declaration to make, and who to make it to.
God did not make you to be a sinner, but God did make you with free will. He did not create, nor want robots, programmed in a certain way. That is why we are all individuals we look different, act different, speak different than others. Even in the same family, kids can be vastly different in their likes and dislikes. That is where free will comes in, to be free to choose what pleases us. But in that free will, our character flaws appear.
God started man and woman in a beautiful garden, with all the blessings associated with His love for them. But he also gave them one rule, or law to obey. Only one. Not to eat of a certain tree or there would be severe consequences. Everything was going fine, until a tempter came along and began using double speak and half truths to confuse and deceive the woman. By her own free will, she chose to disobey God and ate of the tree. In turn the man, also willingly disobeying God, (stop blaming the woman!), also ate of the tree. They were banished, but not forever. The sin was disobedience, NOT the fruit. Sin entered the world as disobedience, and has been disobedience every since. Sin is not the item, BUT THE ACT.
God says NOT to do someting. He has HIS reasons and knows best. But the human disobeys and does it. That is the sin. God says stop getting drunk. There are health isues, family issues, money ssues and addiction issues related to continually getting drunk. But we disobey and have bad results. We suddenly can't understand how we got this far. It is the SIN from disobedience.
But there is good news! We can have freedom from this tyrant called sin. We can be restored to our relationship with a God who knows everything about us, knows every sin, and loves us anyway. He requires only one thing, a declaration of independance. He requires you to spiritually sign your name to His Book of Life. How? By believeing who His Son Jesus Christ is, why He came, and why He died, and why He rose again.
God has divine laws that must not be broken. They are for our good, but we rebel against them. For our entire lives we have been lied to and told that disobedience is enjoyable or ignorance is bliss. These are the same lies told since the beginning. Nothing is new under the sun. We are told repeatedly in today's world that there is no God, or that Christianity is now evil. The truth is turned upside down. But God is sill the same.
Accepting Christ as your savior from the punishment of that sin in your life IS liberty. Understanding the reason God became flesh was to give you the option of accepting His Gift of Grace from a judgement for your sin. It is what gives you freedom to restore your relationship with Him. Christ broke the back of tyranical oppression called sin and gave us the door to repent of it and be restored to what we were meant to be, free and loved children of God. We must declare it through our faith in Jesus Christ, hold on to it with our hearts and fight the devil with God's Word.
See, Christ did the work before us. Just as our founding fathers fought for freedom long before we were born to establish the United Sates of America, Christ fought and died for our freedom from condemnation of sin and eternal death. He took our place, because justice demanded punishment for disobedience. He bore our sins, every sin, because he loved us enough to be in our place. He rose on the third day as promised to complete that work of salvation, and there is NOTHING we can add to it. That is why trying to work off sins is fruitless, you can do no more than Christ did. He did enough. YOU just have to accept Him, and repent of those sins and follow Him.
See freedom never comes without a price. And the price of your freedom is Christ's sacrifice on the cross. Your freedom from your constant seeking for answers to your failings and sins is Jesus.
Galatians 5:1 tells us to Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
See, freedom to choose NOT to sin is freedom in itself. Freedom in Christ will show you love for your neighbor, and you don't hurt those you love. Liberty, my friends really begins with God, freedom is through Christ and joy comes from this freedom. Will you be free today?
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