Standing in the Freedom of Christ

Standing in the Freedom of Christ

Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

Galatians 5:1 For freedom did Christ set us free: stand fast therefore, and be not entangled again in a yoke of bondage.

Freedom is autonomy, independence and the power and authority to make wise choices that will lead us into an abundant life in Jesus Christ.  The freedom that comes from knowing who God is and the freedom that comes from knowing who we are in Christ is true freedom.  This freedom comes when we choose to walk out of the bondage of the past. 

The way our past determines our present and our future is established by our response to it. In 2 Corinthians 5:17, the apostle Paul encourages, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new..

God has made all things new, but how do we walk into our newness without the excess baggage of our past?  One of the first bits of baggage that we need to leave behind is blaming others for our mistakes.  When we own our failures, we can move past them.  When I understand that I am my worst enemy, I can begin my growth toward emotional and spiritual wellbeing.  I learn from my failures and move past them. When I acknowledge that I have missed the mark, I open the door to forgiveness.  When I accept the forgiveness of God, I can move on to forgiving myself.  When I forgive myself, I can better forgive others.

Shame and unforgiveness are excess baggage that hinder our freedom in Christ. Romans 8:1 says, There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.  When we walk according to the Spirit, we walk out of condemnation of both ourselves and others and into the freedom of who we were created to be.

  

     In Micah 7:18-19, the prophet encourages, Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever because He delights in mercy. He will again have compassion on us and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins Into the depths of the sea.  God is omniscient. Yet He chooses to forget what He has forgiven.  To grow in the grace of newness, we, too, must choose to forget what God has forgiven whether it is our own sin or the sin of others.  God has cast our sins into the depths of the sea.  We don't have a license to fish them out again.

When we rid our lives of the anguish and regret of the past, we are set free to learn from our experiences.   In Romans 8:28, Paul writes, And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. God uses both the joys and the difficulties of our lives to teach us the peace of faithfulness, the power of His authority, the blessings of obedience, and His plans and purposes for our lives.

In that sense, it bodes well for us to revisit the past, but we must be careful not to pitch our tents there. It is important to examine and resolve issues from our past, but God never intended for us to dwell there.  He has called us to be present and future people.  When we have a healing and healthy perspective of the past, we are free to move into our destiny in Christ, a destiny founded on an abundant life in relationship with our Savior.