"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 5:1
"But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. "
Romans 6:17, 18
I was reflecting during worship recently on one of the manifold attributes of Jesus.
The Holy Spirit brought to mind my life before Jesus, when I was a slave to sin, not righteousness. Interestingly, I thought of myself as a liberated, intelligent free thinker, my own man, and I followed the ways that seemed right to me, but I wasn't free at all. Inside of me there was a desperation, the sickening knowledge of being chained to evil and hopelessness, and the desperation was sometimes quiet, sometimes raging...the whole point of my life then was to eat, drink, and party to try to cover that desperation just like asphalt and black top paving covers a parking lot, but inevitably what is underneath sprouts through...
Then God came down, Jesus came to my heart because I believed, confessed, and asked Him to.
He broke off of me the crushingly heavy yoke of sin, and I took up a new light and easy yoke that Jesus custom made to lift me up.
I am now a slave to righteousness, and my Master is not a cruel slave driver.
He has delivered me, revealed Himself to me as I seek Him, given me precious gifts from on high. He has made me a co-heir along with Him, and calls me brother and friend.
His banner over us all is love, and woven into this fabric is His mercy, grace, lovingkindness, long suffering, power perfected in weakness, wisdom perfected not in reason but in obedience and faith, joy, and much more.
Galatians 5:1
"But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. "
Romans 6:17, 18
I was reflecting during worship recently on one of the manifold attributes of Jesus.
The Holy Spirit brought to mind my life before Jesus, when I was a slave to sin, not righteousness. Interestingly, I thought of myself as a liberated, intelligent free thinker, my own man, and I followed the ways that seemed right to me, but I wasn't free at all. Inside of me there was a desperation, the sickening knowledge of being chained to evil and hopelessness, and the desperation was sometimes quiet, sometimes raging...the whole point of my life then was to eat, drink, and party to try to cover that desperation just like asphalt and black top paving covers a parking lot, but inevitably what is underneath sprouts through...
Then God came down, Jesus came to my heart because I believed, confessed, and asked Him to.
He broke off of me the crushingly heavy yoke of sin, and I took up a new light and easy yoke that Jesus custom made to lift me up.
I am now a slave to righteousness, and my Master is not a cruel slave driver.
He has delivered me, revealed Himself to me as I seek Him, given me precious gifts from on high. He has made me a co-heir along with Him, and calls me brother and friend.
His banner over us all is love, and woven into this fabric is His mercy, grace, lovingkindness, long suffering, power perfected in weakness, wisdom perfected not in reason but in obedience and faith, joy, and much more.
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