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Grounded-In-Biblical-Truth | |
Sovereign Grace
Doctrines
Concerning 'THE GOSPEL' - JESUS CHRIST
LIBERTY IN CHRIST
Ken Wimer, PASTOR
"Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.»
Galatians 5:1
The Constitution of the United States was written and signed in order to guarantee liberty and justice for all who are American citizens. Nevertheless, there is an ongoing struggle to determine just what liberty and justice mean. So often, liberty is "license to do what I want to do," and justice is "getting even when things don't go my way." Rather than freedom, we have lawlessness.
When the apostle Paul wrote to believers to "stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free," what does this mean? Here is how the Scriptures define that liberty.
1. The word 'liberty' means to be 'freeborn.' In a civil sense it refers to one who is a citizen with full rights vs. one who is a slave. In an ethical sense it means to be free from any yoke of bondage, whether the Mosaic Law, sin, self, Satan, or the world. Believers are freemen in Christ. None of us is freeborn by nature. We are all born under condemnation to the Law of God, sin, self, Satan and the world. Liberty is only by the will of God, the grace of God, the Son of God, the Spirit of God, and the Gospel of God, for the people of God.
2. Liberty requires a liberator, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ- "wherewith Christ hath made you free." How have believers been made free in Christ? In order to make the elect of God free, the Son of God was "made of a woman, made under the law," Galatians 4:4. The justice of God, and the penalty of sin, required that He work out a perfect obedience, and pay the sin debt in order for His people to go free. This He did, so much so, that His very righteousness is put to the account of every one for whom He is the Representative, 2 Corinthians 5:21. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to quicken the sinner, bring him to Christ, and into the liberty which Christ has obtained for him.
3. This liberty is to be preserved at all cost- "Stand fast." Some legalists will point you to Christ for salvation, then try to keep you in line with law and duty preaching. Such teaching can only produce fear, doubt, and hypocrisy. The Gospel is the "perfect law of liberty," James 1:25. In the Gospel, the Spirit of God teaches you the glories of Christ and His great work of salvation. By His grace, you are freed from the fear and bondage, freed from self-pleasing, freed from following the course of this world, and freed from the power and influence of Satan. In the Gospel, you live as you please, because your pleasure will be only to glorify the One who has made you free! It is not a cover for sin, but a freedom to love Christ and others, which is the fulfillment of the law, Galatians 5:13,14.
Shreveport Grace Church
P.O. Box 5028
Shreveport, LA 71135
Ken Wimer, Pastor
(318) 869-0860
