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God's Law was powerless to do anything about sin, and in fact the only thing that came from the Law was condemnation and death. But through the blood of Jesus, something was accomplished that could never come through the Law: Our sin was completely, utterly and sufficiently taken away! So where did it go? We talk about that on this edition of Growing in Grace.
Always remember the good news that the record that stood against you has been wiped clean forever. There is no longer a record against you! Your sin has been taken away, forgiven, forgotten... Never to be brought up again!
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Sunday, August 22, 2010
254. Freed from Guilt and Shame
Download/Play MP3 (14 Min, 6.4MB)
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Jesus didn't come to declare people guilty or to put them to shame. He came to do just the opposite. Jesus knew the Law very well and was without sin, so He, of all people, would've had the "right" to use the Law against people and to put guilt and shame on them. But instead, He lifted away their burden of guilt and shame through love, mercy and grace. He helped people who had been hiding from God and who were afraid of Him to instead trust Him and draw near to Him and love Him!
Guilt and shame should no longer be the reality for us as we relate to God. Jesus not only released all our guilt and shame, but He took away the very sin that caused guilt and shame! Guilt and shame is really only a mindset that people carry around with them. We can get rid of that mindset by believing the truth of how Jesus has, in reality, taken away all our sin, guilt and shame!
(Click to Play, Right-Click to Download, or use Player below)
Jesus didn't come to declare people guilty or to put them to shame. He came to do just the opposite. Jesus knew the Law very well and was without sin, so He, of all people, would've had the "right" to use the Law against people and to put guilt and shame on them. But instead, He lifted away their burden of guilt and shame through love, mercy and grace. He helped people who had been hiding from God and who were afraid of Him to instead trust Him and draw near to Him and love Him!
Guilt and shame should no longer be the reality for us as we relate to God. Jesus not only released all our guilt and shame, but He took away the very sin that caused guilt and shame! Guilt and shame is really only a mindset that people carry around with them. We can get rid of that mindset by believing the truth of how Jesus has, in reality, taken away all our sin, guilt and shame!
Sunday, August 15, 2010
253. Freed from Sin By Being Freed From the Moral Law!
Download/Play MP3 (14 Min, 6.4MB)
(Click to Play, Right-Click to Download, or use Player below)
It's a pretty common mindset that in order to be free of the entanglements of sin, we must follow God's moral laws (the "Ten Commandments"). But is that what the Bible says? To the contrary, God's moral laws are known as the ministry of death and condemnation, and they are called "bondage" by the Apostle Paul.
After the Galatians had been set free through having the gospel declared to them, and they had initially believed in the free gift of the righteousness of God, they eventually went back to the Law. They had gone back into the bondage of the prison from which they had been set free! Paul wrote to them to set them straight again on all of this, reminding them that what had come from Mt. Sinai (the Ten Commandments) had only given birth to bondage. He told them to cast it out and instead to live in the freedom for which Christ had set them free!
(Click to Play, Right-Click to Download, or use Player below)
It's a pretty common mindset that in order to be free of the entanglements of sin, we must follow God's moral laws (the "Ten Commandments"). But is that what the Bible says? To the contrary, God's moral laws are known as the ministry of death and condemnation, and they are called "bondage" by the Apostle Paul.
After the Galatians had been set free through having the gospel declared to them, and they had initially believed in the free gift of the righteousness of God, they eventually went back to the Law. They had gone back into the bondage of the prison from which they had been set free! Paul wrote to them to set them straight again on all of this, reminding them that what had come from Mt. Sinai (the Ten Commandments) had only given birth to bondage. He told them to cast it out and instead to live in the freedom for which Christ had set them free!
Sunday, August 08, 2010
252. More On What We Have Been Freed To
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Continuing on from last week in our conversation about the things that we've been freed "from" and the things that we've been freed "to" in Christ. We've been freed from "slavery" and "bondage" and we've been made legitimate sons of God through faith, and heirs of God, and coheirs with Christ.
In another form of the word "slave" - a good form of the word - Paul called himself a "slave of Christ" (a "bondservant of Christ"). This is a willing type of devotion to a Master, rather than unwilling slavery. We've been freed to be devoted to the One who is devoted to us!
(Click to Play, Right-Click to Download, or use Player below)
Continuing on from last week in our conversation about the things that we've been freed "from" and the things that we've been freed "to" in Christ. We've been freed from "slavery" and "bondage" and we've been made legitimate sons of God through faith, and heirs of God, and coheirs with Christ.
In another form of the word "slave" - a good form of the word - Paul called himself a "slave of Christ" (a "bondservant of Christ"). This is a willing type of devotion to a Master, rather than unwilling slavery. We've been freed to be devoted to the One who is devoted to us!
Sunday, August 01, 2010
251. What We Have Been Freed To
Download/Play MP3 (14 Min, 6.4MB)
(Click to Play, Right-Click to Download, or use Player below)
As believers, it's wonderful to understand the various things that we have been freed from. We've been freed from the demands of the law. The law demanded perfection but was powerless to provide it. We've been freed from religion. We've been freed from sin. And so on and so forth.
But now that we've been set free, are we simply to wander around aimlessly, with no real direction or devotion to something? The truth is, we've not only been set free from many things, but we've also been freed to many things! For example, we've been freed from Mr. Law to Mr. Grace (Jesus). We've been freed from dead religion to an alive relationship with someone - a union with someone. This union is described in many ways in the Bible. In addition to a relationship, it's also described as a "marriage." It's also said that we've received "adoption as sons." We're not simply out there on our own. We're freed to a vital relationship with the One who gave us His life!
There is a very tiny minority of people who say that we have been freed to sin. And there are some who say that if we preach this wonderful freedom that we have in Christ, then people will just go out and indulge the flesh. Either way, it's a perversion of the gospel of grace. It's a perversion of the true meaning of freedom. It's not what freedom in Christ is about. However, just because some pervert the gospel, that doesn't mean we should stop telling the truth about the freedom that we have in Christ! Those lies shouldn't stop us from telling the truth!
The truth is that we are free indeed! And we should never submit ourselves to the bondage of the law or religion. The truth is, we have been freed to love God and to love others. We have been freed to serve others. We've been freed to be devoted to our Lord Jesus Christ!
(Click to Play, Right-Click to Download, or use Player below)
As believers, it's wonderful to understand the various things that we have been freed from. We've been freed from the demands of the law. The law demanded perfection but was powerless to provide it. We've been freed from religion. We've been freed from sin. And so on and so forth.
But now that we've been set free, are we simply to wander around aimlessly, with no real direction or devotion to something? The truth is, we've not only been set free from many things, but we've also been freed to many things! For example, we've been freed from Mr. Law to Mr. Grace (Jesus). We've been freed from dead religion to an alive relationship with someone - a union with someone. This union is described in many ways in the Bible. In addition to a relationship, it's also described as a "marriage." It's also said that we've received "adoption as sons." We're not simply out there on our own. We're freed to a vital relationship with the One who gave us His life!
There is a very tiny minority of people who say that we have been freed to sin. And there are some who say that if we preach this wonderful freedom that we have in Christ, then people will just go out and indulge the flesh. Either way, it's a perversion of the gospel of grace. It's a perversion of the true meaning of freedom. It's not what freedom in Christ is about. However, just because some pervert the gospel, that doesn't mean we should stop telling the truth about the freedom that we have in Christ! Those lies shouldn't stop us from telling the truth!
The truth is that we are free indeed! And we should never submit ourselves to the bondage of the law or religion. The truth is, we have been freed to love God and to love others. We have been freed to serve others. We've been freed to be devoted to our Lord Jesus Christ!
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