Counterfeit Freedom

1 Thessalonians 4:3 NLT

God’s will is for you to be holy, so stay away from all sexual sin.

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Opening Illustration: BETTY CROCKER ICING

I made my teacher believe that I was the source of that icing.

It worked for the assignment…but it wouldn’t have been sustainable.

You can only go to illegitimate sources for so long before they lose their effectiveness.

I was being the epitome of a fake!

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Be Careful of Counterfeit

Scripture tells us that in the last days…the enemy will be selling some fugazi faith products.

2 Timothy 3:5 NKJV

having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!

There are aspects of the Christian faith that have been neglected because we have settled for a less than authentic substitute.

The enemy is a master counterfeiter.

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He will only counterfeit what possesses intrinsic value.

One of the truths that we need to realize as we look at the area the enemy wants to counterfeit is that He is only going to counterfeit what is valuable.

You don’t make millions by making counterfeit pennies….Counterfeiters are printing Benjamins!

It is only those things that are exponentially beneficial to our faith journey that the enemy attempts to emulate.

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COUNTERFEIT FREEDOM

Today I want to talk about something that is extremely valuable to all of us and as such is something the enemy is working to cause us to accept a counterfeit….

Counterfeit Freedom

I would venture to say that in some regard freedom is the reason that all of us have started a faith journey in the first place.

To experience freedom.

I accepted Jesus to be free from

guilt…

depression…

shame….

anger….

bitterness

We step into this faith journey with a promise that we are going to be free from some of the terrible things that we have been carrying with us.

That’s what our text is all about…WE ARE CALLED TO BE HOLY…BECAUSE WE ARE CALLED TO BE FREE.

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HOLINESS = FREEDOM

Holiness gets a bad wrap...

Being holy = Being free from sin

It’s a topic we don’t look at very often because it’s intimidating

But It is God’s Will for us to be holy!

The ultimate calling of a Christ follower is a life that is without sin.

We often shy away from that truth because we live in such a sin crazed culture.

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Not exclusive to our culture

We aren’t the first…Paul lived in a sin crazed culture as well.

Paul lets us know that just because something is culturally normal doesn’t mean that it should be acceptable to us as believers.

He follows up that truth by saying to avoid sexual immorality (which was essentially saying be different than the culture around you!)

As Christ followers we are called to change the culture not be changed by it.

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My main problem...I HAVE FLESH

God wants me to be holy…I want what God wants…so I want to be Holy as well.

The struggle comes in when I realize that I have been called out of sin but am still allured by it

I’m saved….but I still have a flesh that wants to sin.

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Sin is like Taco Bell.

I know I’m going to feel awful afterwards but I still end up in the drive through.

So what does being called out of sin but still being allured by it have to do with counterfeit?

Because counterfeit freedom is one of the most subtle and deceiving counterfeit jobs our enemy pulls off.

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WHITE SHOE FREEDOM

When you accept Jesus you are immediately made free.

Past erased…sins forgiven…new life in Christ granted…eternity booked….Literally reborn.

This typically results in a change of behavior.

We are typically protective of what we’ve received.

JUST LIKE MY NEW WHITE SHOES

I take every step with my shoes in mind.

Ephesians 5:15 NKJV

See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise,

This is what it usually looks like after we follow Jesus

We realize we need to avoid some of the places we used to go.

We realize I need some distance from some of those influences that make me go wild n out.

We are very intentional to protect our new found freedom.

But over time…we become less careful

Familiarity breeds frivolity

Over time we become less cognizant of the environmental threats around us.

Scripture tells us to be sober and vigilant because we have an adversary looking for opportunity.

There are temptations at every turn and there are forces of darkness just waiting for you to take the bait

How many of you know that no matter how hard we may try…when you dwell in a dirty environment it’s hard to stay clean.

We live in a world so ravaged by sin…that it’s difficult to avoid it entirely.

Inevitably we end up making a mistake and committing that thing we’ve been called out of….sin.

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THE ENEMY’S COMMENTARY

When we mess up….Our adversary shows up and begins to tell us what just happened.

“Wow…I guess you really didn’t get free from your past when you accepted Jesus did you?”

“Looks like you’ve forfeited all the progress God was making in your life.”

“What a failure.”

And more times than not….we (or at least I) take his word for it.

In these moments we are accepting a counterfeit form of freedom.

According to his claim…

We are free until we fail to practice our freedom.

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He’s really good at what he does…(angel of light.)

He presents shame in the disguise of conviction...

For some reason we tend to believe that when Satan is up to something in our lives he’s going to be obvious about it.

Like His plans will always be highlighted with pentagrams and goat sacrifice event notifications on facebook.

Our enemy is described in scripture as being an angel of light.

He is so clever that he can seduce you into his plans and do so making you think you are following godly advice.

He does this by giving us a false representation of what righteousness is…

Remember I was free until I failed to practice my freedom.

Now because I failed I have forfeited my freedom.

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PERFORMANCE BASED FREEDOM

He loves to allure us into a performance based faith journey.

Freedom based on my performance is counterfeit freedom.

When we accept his counterfeit freedom…we live on a faith roller coaster.

Because performance based freedom is heavily effected by feelings.

When emotions are high…we can walk in holiness.

Powerful worship experience, great conference, mind blowing message….I can say no to sin with resolve and passion.

But let church be dead for a couple of weeks and your one year bible put you in the book of Leviticus for a month.

It doesn’t feel as good and so I’m more vulnerable to temptation.

When the foundation of our freedom is the fact that we're “feeling it” then when we are discouraged, tired, or frustrated…failure becomes inevitable.

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Counterfeit freedom is fragile freedom.

This type of freedom places far more weight on failure than it does on success.

You can go a year without partaking in “your sin” and then have a day where you fall prey to temptation.

Counterfeit freedom looks at these moments and allows them to nullify seasons.

KENTUCKY’S UNDEFEATED REGULAR SEASON

We beat like four top five ranked opponents….we beat every rival we had….we won thirty eight games that year

But no one talks about any of those games.

We talk about the Wisconsin game….the 1 on our 38-1 record.

This is the way many of us are living out our Christian life.

We only talk about and focus on the losses.

We discount the work that God has been doing in our lives based on our failure in an instance.

"Don’t let a moment of weakness define a season of victory."

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PAUL DID THIS TOO

While we commonly do this we aren’t the first to fall into this trap.

One of the greatest Christ followers in history did as well.

While writing a letter that would become one of the most valuable pieces of doctrinal literature in the entire New Testament look what Paul said.

Romans 7:15–21 NKJV

For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good.

I don’t understand myself.

I want freedom

I accept freedom

I want to walk in freedom

But then I screw up

And when I screw up I forfeit all that Christ has done in my life.

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THIS MESSAGE IS BORN OUT OF YEARS FRUSTRATION

I wish that I could properly convey the frustration that this message has been born out of.

Because I believe in and preach a gospel that promises the power to set us free from sin….but in the same breath tell people that they will still sin.

It’s like the direct sales pitch that says you can earn as much as $50,000 a month but will probably earn about $40.

I find myself saying God what am I doing wrong?

Why am I still susceptible to temptations.

Why aren’t people really free?

Why don’t we see life change like we want to?

Because in large part we are propagating a counterfeit version of freedom.

__________BRING IT HOME

Counterfeit and authentic are only differentiated by their printing point.

Here’s the question that shifts the entire discussion….

At what point in my faith journey did my freedom become “me dependent”?

We can all agree that we couldn’t earn our salvation.

Scripture tells us that our righteousness is like filthy rags.

So if I couldn’t earn my salvation based on my works than why in the world do I think that I could maintain my salvation based on my works.

We’re trying to stay free based on a counterfeit freedom.

A freedom that is based on our works.

God reminded me of something….

the only difference between the counterfeit and the authentic is its point of origination.

A good counter-fitter can make money look real, feel real, smell real….

but only federally authorized currency…that has actual value! can be printed at the federal printing press.

It’s the source that produces it that gives it legitimacy.

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Our freedom has to be born out of what Jesus did.

The enemy has found a way to shortchange the complete work of calvary by convincing us that our freedom is based on us.

It’s not about you!

GOD KNEW OUR TENDENCY TO DO THIS…(MAKE IT ABOUT OURSELVES)

God knew this would be a natural tendency for us.

He knew we would try to make this something we had done.

His word is a weapon to fight off our enemy.

It doesn’t only fight off sickness and oppression….His Word is a weapon to fight agains deception.

Ephesians 2:8–10 NKJV

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

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WE’RE A MASTERPIECE

This passage in Ephesians is about four years later and so he dives into that concept a little more.

He says we are God’s workmanship.

This word means we are God’s finished product.

The NLT says we are his masterpiece.

I don’t know about you but I don’t always feel like a masterpiece….

There are times I feel like I should be in the garbage.

But that is because I have accepted counterfeit freedom as my measuring stick.

The key to being a masterpiece is found in the next phrase…..”created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

The reason we are the masterpiece or the finished work of God is not because we’ve gotten our act together….it’s because Christ was our substitute.

WHEN I AM IN HIM…I AM A MASTERPIECE…WHEN I STEP OUTSIDE OF HIM…I AM BROKEN..

This changes our measuring stick for freedom.

It’s not about staying in line, it’s about staying in Christ.

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Many of us are not enjoying the freedom of God because we have been trusting in the wrong source and consequentially walking in counterfeit freedom.

This realization will lead you to understand that you can walk in moral excellence and still not be spiritually free.

If you’ve been raised in church you probably were a part of a context that told you your freedom was based on what you don’t do, where you don’t go, what you don’t watch, listen to, etc...

Abstaining from these things is not bad

But it can’t be your source.

Many of us have lived from the mindset that if I can just remove enough of the world I can experience freedom.

There are morally excellent people that are not spiritually free.

The enemy will gladly allow you walk into a spirit of legalism if it means we don’t tap into the spirit of freedom.

THIS ISN’T A LIVE HOW YOU WANT TO MESSAGE

I can hear the religious people…and the theologically thoroughly people alike….is he saying that we can live how we want to?

No, remember the whole basis of this message is that we are called to be holy.

But that holiness is acquired and experienced through putting our trust in the finished work of Jesus…

As we trust Him….we progressively become like Him.

When we are saved we are made righteous in God’s eyes….but the Christian walk is a progressive journey of seeing the righteousness that we inherit internally manifest itself externally so that we can properly and effectively represent Christ to the world.

IN CHRIST ALONE

Legitimate freedom can be found in one place and one place alone….In Christ

I am believing that someone is going to be delivered from some of the illegitimate sources of counterfeit freedom.

It’s not in discipline.

It’s not in religion

It’s not in promotion.

Any freedom that is not founded in and fixed to the finished work of Christ on Calvary is counterfeit.

Freedom is in Christ.

Freedom can be had today.

No matter what bondage you carried in here today.

Drug addiction

Alcoholism

Pride

Anger

Insecurity

Freedom is as close as placing your trust in what Jesus did on calvary.

Bondage is broken by trusting in Jesus!