SermonIndex Audio Sermons
SermonIndex - Promoting Revival to this Generation
Give To SermonIndex
Discussion Forum : Articles and Sermons : True Freedom From Sin In Christ

Print Thread (PDF)

PosterThread









 True Freedom From Sin In Christ

True Freedom From Sin In Christ

Luke 4:18-19, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”

Now the Spirit of the Lord is proclaiming that Christ has imparted freedom to the captives. He has given freedom from sin to those who are living in it and righteousness to the unrighteous. He has made the ungodly, totally justified. He has forgiven the guiltily who deserve eternal hell and damnation. He has opened the eyes of the spiritually blind. He has given life to the dead. He has given obedience to the disobedience. He has given power to the weak. He has given strength to those how do not have any. He has given His Love were there is hatred. He has given forgiveness to the rebels and He has made sinners saints. He has opened all the prison doors and has broken the chains off those who are bound. You are now FREE!!!

Now all this has been done by God in Christ totally and is totally unconditional without making demands whatsoever.

Now before you call me a heretic or think I am an universalist let's look at what God says in the Bible concerning this. Also please read this whole article before passing judgment.

Romans 4:3-5, “For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.”

Now look at this part closely - GOD JUSTIFIETH THE UNGODLY!

Are you shocked and surprised that God justifies the ungodly? It is by the Cross that God saves wicked men and receives to Himself the vilest of the sinners. See how this Scripture plainly states it. God makes those just who are unjust, forgives those who deserve to be punished, and favors those who deserve no favor.

I bet you have thought that salvation was for only the good and that God's grace was for the pure and holy, who are free from sin? Have you ever thought that somehow you need to improve yourself before God can richly reward you?

You may even know you are completely unworthy but then think that you must do something to make yourself worthy. Now the fact is that we have ALL sinned and we are completely unworthy but it is a lie that you must do something to make yourself worthy before you can receive the Love, Grace and Blessing from God. The truth is that you can NOT make yourself worthy.

Now, God, who sees through all deceptions, knows that there is no goodness whatever in any of us. He says that "there is none righteous, no not one." He knows that "all our own righteousness's are as filthy rags. Now the truth is that the Lord Jesus did not come into the world to look for goodness and righteousness in mankind. He came to give the to people who do not have them. He comes, not because we are just, but to make us so: He justifies the ungodly.

Now, look into this further and you will see that this must be so, The salvation of God is for those who do not deserve it, and have no preparation for it

Have you ever sinned? Do you consider your self ungodly, unworthy and know that there is nothing you can do to justify your self? This is GOOD because these facts are what is required by God to start to experience His Salvation. I have good news for you, God has already justified you in Christ because you where ungodly.

Romans 5:6, “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.”

Romans 5:8-11, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.”

Col. 1:19-22, “For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight”

Gal. 4:4-11; "But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods. But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain."

Now please examine the New Covenant. Also realize that the verses in the Old Testament are looking forward to this as a promise not yet fulfilled, But for us now, Christ has already died on the cross and risen from the dead so this is a done deal. So when reading these verses please change all the tense to past tense. Now the I will's become I have's because it already has been done by God.

Jer. 32:39-40, "I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me always, for their own good and for the good of their children after them. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good, and I will put the fear of me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from me." Ezek. 36:25-27, "I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean, I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from your idols. Moreover I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you, and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you will be careful to observe my ordinances."

Deut. 30:6, "And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou may live."

Jer. 24:7, "And I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart."

Jer. 31:31-34, "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was a husband unto them, saith the Lord: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."

Ezek. 11:19-20 "And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh: That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God."

Heb. 8:8b, "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people."

It is VERY important to recognize that is was ONLY by God's doing that you are in Christ. You did NOT have a part to play in it at all.

1 Corinthians 1:30 (niv.) "It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God--that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption."

The Good News is what God in Christ has already accomplished for you and in you through the Cross. Christ crucified you when He died and you were buried with Him. Your old self died and you received Christ's very Life. You were made one with Him. He made you a NEW CREATION. As a result of this union with God, you are now, fully justified, made righteous, holy and perfect as Christ Himself is. You are one with Holy Spirit or the Spirit of Christ. You are no longer a sinner; you now have a new pure heart and are a partaker of God's very Divine Nature.

Heb. 8:12-14. ”For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.

Heb. 10:16-18, “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.”

It is EXTREMELY important to understand the correct order. God has forgiven all sin. He has totally justified the ungodly and the unholy. He has destroyed the old sinful nature in Christ on the cross. Christ also fully dealt with the sin problem once and for all.

Col 2:10-14, “And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross.”

Heb. 10:9-14. “Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.

2 Cor .5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.”

God makes it VERY clear that all this has been done IN CHRIST before we repented, believed, trusted or even knew anything about God. Think about it. What part could you possibility have in any of this? You had NO PART because you were completely dead in your sins and trespasses. It was IMPOSSIBLE for you to have any single part of it! Only God in Christ could ever solve these issues with sin and mankind's sinful condition. When Christ died on the cross where were you? God did this for you and in you without your vote, without your knowledge. You do not even have a choice concerning it. Do not forget, that the Lamb of God was slain BEFORE the foundation of the world. This mean that before the world even existed and BEFORE mankind was created God in Christ did this. Do you see that?

Without understanding these divine facts, all repentance and faith will IMPOSSIBLE to perform..

Here is a quote from Charles Spurgeon makes this fact very clear.

"Nothing is to be trusted to but the finished work of Jesus Christ upon Calvary's bloody tree! No feelings, no emotion, no believing, no conversion, even, must ever be put into the place of that one eternal Rock of refuge—the blood and merit of Jesus Christ! Fly there, poor Soul! Whatever you are, or are not, fly there! Cast your guilty self on Christ and rest there, for there alone can you find salvation! Learn this lesson - not to trust Christ because you repent, but trust Christ to make you repent—not to come to Christ because you have a broken heart, but to come to Him that He may give you a broken heart - not to come to Him because you are fit to come, but to come to Him because you are unfit to come! Your fitness is your unfitness. Your qualification is your lack of qualification. You are to be nothing, in fact, and to come to Christ as nothing - and when you so come, then will repentance come!"

Now back to the beginning of this article. He has given forgiveness to the rebels and He has made sinners saints. He has opened all the prison doors and has broken the chains off those who are bound. You are now FREE!!!

Now to prove that I am NOT an Universalist. Even though Christ has opened your prison door and has broken the chains that have held you bond you must now leave your cell! You can not remain in your cell and be free at the same time.

It is not possible for the prisoner to lie in the cell and say, "I believe you and I'm trying to escape." Now the truth is you are free but you MUST believe and as a result stand up and walk out to experience your freedom. The whole reason that Christ set you free and gives you His ability is for you get up now and leave the cell and then you will be free. You can not say to Christ, "I do believe that you cut these chains so that I wouldn't have to escape or I wouldn't need to escape.” But Christ says to you, “It is not enough for you just believe all these facts, but you need to leave the cell now and be free. The very reason I cut the chains was so that you could be free."

Romans 6:1-7, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him”

Rom 6:10, “For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.”

So it is clear that you have been set free from sin by Christ but you can not continue to live in sin. True grace gives you the ability to walk out in freedom. To remain in your sin and in your cell only shows that in reality you have rejected His grace and as a result it has been ineffectual for you.

Now in the past I believed all the things that Christ had already accomplished for me and in me but I did not receive any benefit from this knowledge at all for I still remained in my prison cell. The reason I was not benefiting from what Christ accomplished was because my trust was in myself and not His work. In other words, I thought that His benefits should simply be fully operational JUST because I knew they were true. I am very glad that the Lord showed me that they operate *through* trust/confidence/faith but my confidence was in me.

I had given up all self effort thinking that is what needed to be done, but this was misapplying an important truth. I had thought by not trying to keep the law was the way to stop living under the Law. Now the problem was that I had made my efforts the basis for God to reward me and help me. I had to learn to turn to God with confidence by faith apart from me doing anything works, and only Christ can give us that confidence. The only were to experience true freedom from the law is through faith in Christ alone.

The reason I was not benefiting from what Christ accomplished was because my trust was in myself and not His work. I was looking to my efforts to get out of being under the law. So it is possible for you to believe all these facts and remain in your cell making the work of God ineffectual to you.. These facts are important but all your confidence must be in Him and Him alone.

True Christianity isn't about what you can give to God, but what God gives to you through Christ.

WARNING!!!

Not everyone will go to heaven. Not everyone will walkout of their sin. Just because you know these facts and know they are true does not mean that you will automatically enjoy Christ and HIS LIFE. Many people depend on these verses and their understanding of them. You can confess these truths until you are blue in the face without ever truly enjoying Christ if you are only depending on your own efforts to produce them. You have to enter in these truths by faith In HIM!!!!

John 15:4-6, "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned."

Heb. 4:1-3, "Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world."

Everyone is under obligation to accept and enjoy HIS Life that God has already provided in Christ. The same Gospel was preached to all but some did not respond in faith.

Heb. 2:1-4, "Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward; How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?"

Charles Spurgeon on detecting the voice of the devil:

"Now I will give the poor sinner a means of detecting Satan, so he may know whether his convictions are from the Holy Spirit, or merely the bellowing of hell in his ears. In the first place, you may always be sure that that which comes from the devil will make you look at yourselves and not at Christ. The Holy Spirit's work is to turn our eyes from ourselves to Jesus Christ, but the enemy's work is the very opposite. Nine out of ten of the insinuations of the devil have to do with ourselves… "You do not repent enough"" that is self. "You have got such a wavering hold of Christ" that is self. Thus the devil begins picking holes in us; whereas the Holy Spirit takes self entirely away, and tells us that we are "nothing at all, - but that "Jesus Christ is all in all."

"Nothing is to be trusted to but the finished work of Jesus Christ upon Calvary's bloody tree! No feelings, no emotion, no believing, no conversion, even, must ever be put into the place of that one eternal Rock of refuge—the blood and merit of Jesus Christ! Fly there, poor Soul! Whatever you are, or are not, fly there! Cast your guilty self on Christ and rest there, for there alone can you find salvation! Learn this lesson - not to trust Christ because you repent, but trust Christ to make you repent—not to come to Christ because you have a broken heart, but to come to Him that He may give you a broken heart - not to come to Him because you are fit to come, but to come to Him because you are unfit to come! Your fitness is your unfitness. Your qualification is your lack of qualification. You are to be nothing, in fact, and to come to Christ as nothing - and when you so come, then will repentance come!"

Eph. 1:17-20,"That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,"

So your part is just to believe in HIM, You can do this NOW!!!

Remember, therefore, it is not your hold of Christ that saves you—it is Christ; it is not your joy in Christ that saves you—it is Christ; it is not even faith in Christ, though that be the instrument—it is Christ's blood and merits; therefore, look not so much to your hand with which you are grasping Christ, as to Christ; look not to your hope, but to Jesus, the source of your hope; look not to your faith, but to Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith. We shall never find happiness by looking at our prayers, our doings, or our feelings; it is what Jesus is, not what we are, that gives rest to the soul."

 2014/11/3 13:21









 Here is an example of rejection.

Here is an example of rejection.

In 1830, Andrew Jackson the president of the United States, issued a pardon for George Wilson who was convicted of killing a government employee while robbing the U.S. Mail. George had been tried and sentenced to be hanged, but Wilson did a strange thing: when he was handed the actual pardon document, Wilson tore it in pieces and threw it on the floor of his cell.

This prompted a question: what to do with Wilson?

Was he pardoned because of what the President did?

Or did his bold act of rejection nullify the pardon?

This was a legal question, and a tough one at that.

The matter went all the way to the Supreme Court.

To read what the court wrote - http://supreme.justia.com/us/32/150/case.html

After extended deliberation, the United States Supreme Court put forth the following verdict:

"A pardon is a writing, the value of which is dependent upon the acceptance by the individual for whom it is intended."

George Wilson was to be hanged -- not because there was no pardon, but because the pardon was not accepted.

And so it is with the pardon of God the Father through the sacrifice at the cross of his son Jesus Christ for all mankind.

If the pardon is not accepted, it has no effect and George Wilson must be hanged. And he was.

Now the pardon was real and a done deal once the president signed it. All that George Wilson needed to do was accept it. He did not.

Many have said, "He was crazy!" or "What a fool!" Perhaps they were right.

And so it is with the pardon of God the Father through the sacrifice at the cross of his Son Jesus Christ for all mankind.

We were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, but if a person refuses what God has already done, it has no effect for him.

 2014/11/4 5:51
wayneman
Member



Joined: 2009/1/24
Posts: 453
Michigan

 Re: Here is an example of rejection.

"Remember, therefore, it is not your hold of Christ that saves you—it is Christ; it is not your joy in Christ that saves you—it is Christ; it is not even faith in Christ, though that be the instrument—it is Christ's blood and merits; therefore, look not so much to your hand with which you are grasping Christ, as to Christ; look not to your hope, but to Jesus, the source of your hope; look not to your faith, but to Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith. We shall never find happiness by looking at our prayers, our doings, or our feelings; it is what Jesus is, not what we are, that gives rest to the soul."

Truth.


_________________
Wayne Kraus

 2014/11/4 22:25Profile





©2002-2024 SermonIndex.net
Promoting Revival to this Generation.
Privacy Policy