Crucifixion and Freedom

In Galatians 5:1 Paul tells us, "It was for freedom that Christ set us free." To be set free means to no longer be in bondage. To be free means to no longer be in subjection to, under the dominion of, or be controlled by.

Unlike the silly song that tells us we are free to dance, there is a spiritual freedom, a true liberty of heart and soul and mind that we have been given in Christ. Paul lays the foundation for our understanding of this freedom in Romans 6:1-14, as he tells us that we have been set free from sin, we are no longer slaves to sin, that sin should no longer be our master.  The key to understanding this, and the foundation of our freedom, is given in 6:6-8 as we are told our old self was crucified with Him and that he who has died has been set free from sin. So we see that it is crucifixion that sets us free. Our being baptized into Christ unites us with Him in His crucifixion and resurrection. We have been freed from sin and its stranglehold by being crucified with Christ.

In Galatians Paul fills out the rest of of what is implied in Romans 6:1-14, and what has been accomplished in our being crucified with Christ. In Galatians 2:19-20 we see that through crucifixion we are set free from the bondage of the Law (Romans 6:14, 7:1-2, 6).  In Galatians 5:24 we see that through crucifixion we are set free from the flesh with its passions and desires (Romans 6:12-13, Galatians 5:16-21, Ephesians 2:3, Romans 13:13-14).  In Galatians 6:14 we see that through crucifixion we have been set free from the world with its anti-God philosophies and ways (I John 2:16, 5:4-5, 5:19, Colossians 2:20).

As Christians we no longer breath the foul air of imprisonment, but now breathe the fresh air of freedom. The freedom that only death can bring.  Let us rejoice in our freedom, and praise God for our freedom, because in Christ we are free indeed.

If God Loves Us Just As We Are

 The truth is that God does not love

us just as we are, but loves us in

spite of who we are; and because

of His great love for us, He is rich

in mercy toward us, and has caused 

us to be born again to a living hope

through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Let's preach this today.

If God Loves Us Just As We Are

If God loves us just as we are,

then there is no reason for us 

to be born again.  We would

not need to be regenerated,
there would be no need to
be made new in Christ, 

if He loves us just as we are.

If God Loves Us Just As We Are

If God loves us just as we are,

then He would not be conforming

us to the image of His Son.

If God Loves Us Just As We Are

If God loves us just as we are,

then there would have been no

need for Him to send His Son

to die for our sins.  In other words,

then Christ died needlessly if God

loves us just as we are.

If God Loves Us Just As We Are

If God loves us just as we are,

then there would be no wrath 

to be saved from. We would not
be enemies of God and would have
no need of reconciliation,
 if God loves us just as we are.

I

Christ and Our Sin

...our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus

who gave Himself for us to redeem us

from every lawless deed.

Titus 2:13b-14a

Redeem, lutroo in the Greek.  It means to set one free by means of a ransom.  Every lawless deed (NASB)/all lawlessness (ESV), pas anomia in the Greek.  The phrase here means every type, every form , every kind of sin.

So this small section in Titus tells us that our great God and Savior Jesus Christ gave Himself for us, to ransom us and set us free from any and all sin.  This is not a broad brush of sins in a general sense, but sins in a particular sense.  Christ did not die for sins in general, but sins in particular.  He died for our particular sins, each and every one of them.  Therefore, it is not a universal salvation, but a particular salvation.  We have been freed from the penalty and power of every type and every form of sin.

The ransom has been paid and we have been set free from the bondage and power of each and every type of sin, every kind of sin.  Therefore there is absolutely no sin that can have dominion over us.  We are no longer slaves to sin, any sin, there is no longer any sin that can be master over us.  That means that we have been released from the power of pornography, immorality, homosexuality, bitterness, selfishness, gluttony, arrogance, lying, unforgiveness, and a host of other sins.  Christ has paid the price with His very own blood, and has effected our ransom so that we would be set free from the power and dominion of any sin. 

He has also redeemed us, set us free, from the penalty of each and every sin.  Each and every sin has a just recompense and each and every sin must be accounted for; and Christ has paid the penalty for each and every one of our sins for us.  Therefore we have been released from the damning effect of each and every sin, the eternal consequences of each and every sin, the eternal weight of judgment and the eternal wrath of God for each and every sin.

So, how dare we take sin lightly, any sin, so as to not even speak of sin at all.  There is no such thing as a little sin, or an innocuous sin.  There is no such thing as an inconsequential sin.  Each and every sin must be, and will be, accounted for.  Each and every sin has its just penalty and must be atoned for.  Each and every sin merits the eternal wrath of God, and no sin is overlooked or swept under the rug by God.  Christ redeemed us, each and every one of us, by paying the redemption price for each and every sin for us all.  So let us not take our sin(s) lightly, don't blow them off, don't shrug them off because they seem too small.  Confess your sin, be broken and contrite over your sin, each and every one of them; because Christ died for each and every one, to pays its penalty and to set you free from that sin.

This is the great salvation we are not to neglect.  Let us pay great attention, and give great praise to our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, for the greatness of His saving us.

Christ and the Curse of the Law

"Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us." (Gal 3:13)  The curse of the law is its penal sanction.  This is essentially the wrath of curse of God, the  displeasure which rests upon every infraction of the law's demand.  "Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things written in the book of the law to do them."  (Gal 3:10)   Without deliverance from  this curse there could be no salvation.  It is from this curse that Christ has purchased His people and the price of the purchase was that He Himself became a curse.  He became so identified with the curse resting upon His peo9ple that the whole of it in all its unrelieved intensity became His.  That curse He bore and that curse He exhausted.  That was the price paid for this redemption and the liberty secured for the beneficiaries is that there is no more curse.

John Murray
Redemption Accomplished and Applied
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The Victory of Redemption

Redemption from sin cannot be adequately conceived or formulated except as it comprehends the victory which Christ secured once for all over him who is the god of this world, the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience.  We must view sin and evil in its larger proportions as a kingdom that embraces the subtlety, craft, ingenuity, power, and unremitting activity of Satan and his legions--"the principalities, and the powers, the world-rulers of this darkness, the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenlies" (Eph 6:12).  And it is impossible to speak in terms of redemption from the power of sin except as there comes within the range of this redemptive accomplishment the destruction of the power of darkness.  It is thus that we may entertain a more intelligent understanding of what Christ encountered when He said, "This is your hour and the power of darkness" (Luke 22:53), and of what the Lord of glory wrought when He cast out the prince of this world (John 12:31).

John Murray

Redemption Accomplished and Applied

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