Hello Altered Stories Family.
As July is often related to freedom, I wanted to take a moment to reflect, and this may not go the direction you might expect.
When you think of freedom, what words come to mind? Perhaps flags, fireworks, food and fun?
However, the Bible gives another meaning for freedom. It says that we are not enslaved to the law of Sin and Death, because Christ has set us free.
I have seen many teachings that seem to say that because Christ has set us free, we are not under the law.
Now to be clear, this is not referring to the Old Testament law God’s commandments, because God said that these commands would be a statute to you and your generations forever.
There seems to be a group of people who believe you can do whatever you want, because you are free.
I saw an example of this back when I was young. I had a friend who through some issues in her own life was having doubts and was stepping her toe in to the world, she had come over to my house, and was spending time with my Mom, and was watching some less than moral content on tv. My Mom approached me later, and was gloating about it, because she had the right to do whatever she wanted after all.
This is how the Godless world system views freedom. We have the right to do whatever we want, with whoever we want, and no one can tell us what to do with our body. This is a far cry from what God’s word says. We are called to a higher moral framework. Not to earn our salvation, that was already bought through the blood of Christ. No, we obey what he says to do, and keep away from the things he says not to do, because in doing this we are truly free.
The enemy offers you short term gain, but Yeshua Jesus said it best, “What good does it do for you to gain the whole world, but lose your own soul?”
Paul echoes this feeling by writing that we are to keep away from the filthy deeds of darkness, we aren’t even to speak of them. I believe that what he meant was that we aren’t meant to glorify the things done in the flesh, because our Lord is calling us to so much more.
If you listen to an old DC Talk song, “what have we become,” Toby Mac’s rap says it all.
Speak your mind, look out for yourself
The answer to it all is a life of wealth
Grab all you can cause you live just once
You got the right to do whatever you want
Don’t worry about others or where you came from
It ain’t what you were, it’s what you have become
You can listen to the full song right here.
In my next article, I will write about what freedom in Christ looks like, now that we know what it doesn’t look like.
God bless,
Teresa
