FREEDOM OR INDEPENDENCE

The inhabitants of the United Stages just celebrated 249 years of independence from the British Empire and establishment of its own country. The founders beseeched God to give them the freedom in the manner that only He could provide in the way he decrees it. In eternity past Satan rebelled, declared independence from Jehovah God. Adam and Eve hid themselves. Nimrod and countless others thought they were independent. I do not think the results were quite what they expected.

So, we may think we are independent. From what or whom? Certainly not from God (Romans 14:11, Philippians 2:10) for we all must make an accounting.  Our freedom is from bondage to sin, from its power, its consequences and some day from its presence.

You have been bought with a price (1 Corinthians 6:20), purchased from the slave market of sin (Romans 6:17) by the blood of Jesus Christ.

Where does freedom come from? Galatians 5:1 reads “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”

Galatians 5:13 (NIV)
You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.

Colossians 3:15 (NIV)
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.

The only way to freedom from sin’s power, sin’s penalty and sin’s presence is to receive the righteousness that comes from heaven and is granted to those who put their trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Those who reside in His grace and love now has these promises within the freedom He provides:

Psalms 103:13 (NIV)
As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;

Proverbs 3:12 (NIV)
because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.

Isaiah 49:15 (NIV)
“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!

Deuteronomy 1:30-31 (NIV)
The Lord your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes, and in the wilderness. There you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place.”

Matthew 7:11 (NIV)
If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
 
 
 

by Gregg McKinney, Deacon

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