06/30/2018
Are you really the free person who Christ redeemed? Did Jesus pay your ransom only to find that you could not separate yourself from the sin from which he had saved you? Or, perhaps you are like the Galatians who found themselves tempted to leave the freedom Jesus had secured for them in order to chain themselves to the Law of an old faithfulness. My word for you this morning is to claim and accept the freedom whose cost was so dearly paid for you.
“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”
Galatians 5:1 ESV
I once set a box trap for a raccoon that was raiding my garbage cans at night, and when I went out the next morning I found that instead of catching the raccoon, there was a rabbit in the trap. So I took the trap to the back of my yard near the bushes where I knew he lived and opened the door of the trap... but the rabbit would not come out. He could see freedom, and yet he mistook the trap as being safer than the bushes at its opening.
As men and women of the world we are often like the rabbit; we become ensnared in sin, but when offered the freedom of the gospel we would rather remain in the dark recesses of sin than to escape into the waiting safety of Christ; our sin has become comfortable, and fear binds us there.
Why is this? Why is it so hard for people to accept the fact that they have been set free? Some even convince themselves that they would merely be exchanging one oppressor for another. They take scripture such as Romans 6:18 and let Satan do what he does do well... show them the half truth in it.
“and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.”
Romans 6:18 ESV
Satan takes scripture such as this verse and attempts to convince us that sin is freedom, and that righteousness is bondage, when in fact the opposite is true. Sin has penalty and death associated with it, but righteousness on the other hand has love, and the promise of eternity.
“But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 6:22-23 ESV
The Galatians to whom Paul was speaking were different; they had heard the message of the Gospel, but were tempted to retreat from it by a different type of half truth, false logic... they felt that there was safety in the old law that Jesus had come to fulfill.
“"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.”
Matthew 5:17-18 ESV
Freedom doesn’t mean a life of ease. It means a life in which we are free to seek out our own way. The rabbit who had become ensnared in my trap wasn’t free, and most certainly wasn’t safe, but he felt he was, and a few times he would venture to the mouth of the trap, look around, and then scurry back in. The freedom outside the trap appeared overwhelming, and the dark recesses of the box he was in seemed comfortable. Outside there were foxes, and hawks, but inside there was safety. This was the Galatians... they saw the law of Judaism as safety. The law was hard and confining, but they felt safety within those confines. The brightness and greenery of Jesus presented them with choices they must make, and a path that was not boxed in, it didn’t appear as well defined by ages of thought. There was comfort in the box. Working out our own salvation can be frightening, and the dark recesses of ancient faiths can appear to be refuges in the face of such freedom.
“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”
Philippians 2:12-13 ESV
Eventually the rabbit hopped out of my trap, but even then it sat a mere foot or two away for a while, and looked around. It was still uncertain, but finally, with its courage gathered, and the lure of the clover all around, it scampered into the bushes and true freedom.
“Out of my distress I called on the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me free.”
Psalms 118:5 ESV
Where are we in our faith? Are we living free in the bushes and feeding on the sweet clover, or are we sitting in the trap of sin? Are we eating clover while constantly watching for hawks and foxes before returning to our own burrow within the greenery, or are we like the Galatians... longing to return to the box that had confined us?
There is freedom in Jesus Christ, and yet it is not without choices, and problems, and suffering. Freedom is life, and life is comprised of all these things. The difference is that Christ’s freedom brings with it a value in making the right choices, hope in the midst of our problems, and a revelation of truth and release from pain in the midst of our suffering. Freedom doesn’t free us from boundaries, it allows us the choice to remain within them. Sin is the box in which we are trapped, righteousness is like the bushes in which we choose the direction we will go next.
So have you chosen? Are you in the trap? Are you sitting at the entrance looking around? Are you crouched a few feet from freedom, or are you scampering in the bushes and eating clover? Make a good choice today, and choose the freedom of Jesus Christ... let Him guide you into the light of truth that is life outside the box.
Prayer:
Father, thank you for giving me the freedom of Jesus, and the love that awaited me in Him. Thank you Merciful Father for revealing to me the truth regarding freedom, life, and the confines of the sin in which I had been caught. Help me gain new courage Holy Father to run free from all traps, and experience my life in the openness of righteousness... in you. I pray this, the prayer of the slave who has been freed, the prisoner who was bound by sin, and he who was afraid, but is now set free by your hand and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Help all those who are in bondage to throw off their shackles, help all those who have heard the half truths of Satan to hear the truth that is your Word. Help all those who tremble to find courage and steadfastness in you. Help every lost soul to find freedom within your arms. Open the eyes of those blinded by Satan. Let every soul see your Son, and hear His voice of truth as He speaks:
“Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
John 14:6 ESV
Gracious Father, help me to accept the freedom of your righteousness, and live as the free person that I am. Let no fear of choice, or suffering, constrain me, and your Word and promise be my only bond.
For you are my God, and Holy, Holy, Holy, are you the source of all love and freedom, and the Redeemer of all who are bound through your Son who has freed us for eternity with you.
“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”
2 Corinthians 3:17 ESV
Rich Forbes