Freedom in Christ

Romans 6:1 NASBS

Dear Christian, May the spirit of God continue to keep you in a state of discipline so that you do not neglect to meditate upon the sweetness of Christ’s resurrection. For it is through the resurrection of Christ, by the mercy of God, that you are saved as unworthy as you are. But without exception God loves you, and He will sustain you by the Holy Spirit. He will give you the strength by His word to abstain from fleshly lust so that we may honor Him in this life. In doing so, He receives all of the glory, for apart from Him, you would be lost forever. Therefore, pay homage to Him, for He is worthy of your praise. Understand, it is by the Gospel of God that your soul is fed, as Jesus said, “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.” That is, Jesus becomes more important to you than the things that are required for your physical body, for this fleshly body will soon go into the grave. It is then that you will stand before the Almighty, and apart from grace you will spend an eternity in hellfire.

You see, the Lord’s eternal plan is to save us from eternal punishment, which we so rightfully deserve. So, He sent His only-begotten Son, Jesus, into this world to pay the penalty of the broken law which we broke. This violation of the law demands justice, so without Christ we are without hope. The word of God tells us, “Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”

So then, the one who believes in Him is not judged, but is free, for whoever the Son sets free, is free indeed. Christian, Jesus Christ has been set before us in all the glories of His divine Person, in His Deity and Son ship, and in all the graces of His suffering humanity. So forget what is behind and cling to the person of Christ, Who is God manifested in the flesh. He is able to aid you in all of your temptations, He can give you strength in the hour of weakness, for He has already endured them and has triumphed over them in His death. Proof of this is in His resurrection. His body has never been found and never will be, for He is reigning in heaven. So, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore, we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.” So then, do not become weighed down by sin, but rather confess and turn from it, and walk in the freedom you have received in Jesus Christ.