Freedom is Found in the Living

New Life in Christ

Ephesians 4:17–24 “Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”

Ephesians 4:25–32 “Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”

True Freedom in Christ

Principle Truth: This entire series of messages can be summarized in this one truth….

True Freedom is not getting to do what you want to do whenever you want to do it….

Freedom in Christ is the freedom to do ONLY what, in his perfection, God created you to do & created you to be.

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:1–2, ESV)

Having taken the path, following Jesus, through the wilderness and to the cross, we come through the tomb into resurrection no longer desiring to do what WE want to do, but rather finding in the ways of Jesus the LIFE we were meant to live.

Here’s the trouble…the church too often forgets that our Kingdom Identity supersedes our national identity (or tribe identity. or even biological family identity): The U.S. Declaration of independence says, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

But Jesus says… Mark 8:34 “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”

Unpopular Peaching: The Way to Freedom in Christ comes through living a Holy Lifestyle

Growing up in my Pentecostal tradition is was very common to hear people say this on testimony night: “I’m Saved, Sanctified, and Filled with the Holy Ghost!” Most people know about being “saved” and many understand be filled with the Holy Spirit…but we have largely lost the need for what was called “Sanctification”. Sanctification just simply means “Holy Living” or living like Jesus in every area of my life.

1 Peter 1:15–16 “but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.””

“…holiness is…being cleansed from sin, ‘from all filthiness both of flesh and spirit;’ and, by consequence being endued with the virtues which were in Christ Jesus, being so ‘renewed in the spirit of our mind,’ as to be ‘perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect’…

Having that ‘mind in us, which was also in Jesus,’ when in every motion of our heart, in every word of our tongue, in every work of our hands, we pursue nothing but that which glorifies him, and in surrender to his good pleasure.”

- John Wesley (January 1, 1733)

Wesley famously called this “Christian Perfection”

What concerned Wesley was this…There is a way by which we can live eternally saved in our spirit but remain living in the bondage of sin in our everyday life.

Wesley would go on to say, man can not only be saved…he can be saved to the “uttermost!”

Christian Living Q&A

Can I live in holiness all the days of my Christian life?

Yes! According to Scripture, Jesus has provided deliverance from Sin for anyone who would continually surrender to him.

Is holiness a permanent spiritual state?

No! Day by day we must surrender to the leading of the Holly Spirit only. It’s a process!

What will it require to live in perfect love for God and perfect love for others?

A daily surrender to Jesus and a repentant heart.

How can I experience this Freedom?

By receiving the power of the Holy Spirt and walking in the ways of Jesus.

It is for FREEDOM you have been set FREE

Galatians 5:1 “It is for freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”

Don’t continue to settle for a spirit that knows the freedom of Jesus, while living in with a soul still bound-up like Lazarus in grave clothes… “Loose that woman and set her free!”

- Jesus

Holy Living begins with the everyday habits of your life.

Ephesians 4:20–24 “But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”

Holy Living is born out of intimacy with Jesus.

Can people tell that we have been with Jesus, or does it just seem we know ABOUT Jesus?

There’s a difference! …knowing about Jesus is about what you say you believe…being with Jesus is about how his presence has transformed your life, your talk, your attitude, your thinking, your reactions, etc.

Holy Living is sustained ONLY through the power of the Holy Spirit in your life.

Romans 8:11 “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”

Holy Living is a testimony to the world. People knows Jesus more by how we live than by what we preach.

Ephesians 4:26–32 “Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”