Untitled Sermon (15)
FREEDOM
4 Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, “Oh that we had meat to eat! 5 We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. 6 But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.”
Freedom= Forgiveness + Healing
A Clear Conscience
POSERS- Fake it till you make it.
Galatians 2:6
6 And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me.
“What sign were you born under?” Good night! There are a lot of people who have put themselves under bondage to these things. It’s fatalism. They think that their future is in the stars or in circumstances. You see, in legalism, we get under bondage to ourselves; in criticism, we get under bondage to others. And in fatalism, we get under bondage to circumstances. Now the child of God is not to be under bondage to any of these things.
For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
“You cannot beg it. You cannot buy it. You cannot borrow it. You cannot steal it. You cannot earn it. You cannot learn it. You cannot merit it. You cannot inherit it. It is internal, external, eternal. By the work of Christ on the cross it was completed, and can never be depleted or repeated
A. It Is an Executed Life
The life of liberty is an executed life—an executed life. “I am crucified with Christ” (Galatians 2:20). The old person you were has been executed. He has been put to death. When Jesus died, He did not merely take your sin to the cross. That would still leave you. When He died, not only did He take my sin; He took myself. “I am crucified with Christ.” His death had my name on it. When Jesus Christ died on that cross, Adrian Rogers died on that cross. You died on that cross. Paul died on that cross. Paul said, “I am crucified with Christ.”
Now if I am crucified, if I had been executed for my crimes, then I could never be brought into double jeopardy. The penalty is paid. What can you do to a dead man? You see, I am crucified with Christ. I died with Him. And so it is an executed life. He took my sin and He took my self to the cross. The old Adrian is dead. It is an executed life.
B. An Exchanged Life
Then, it becomes an exchanged life. Now look at it again, in verse 20; look at it carefully: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me” (Galatians 2:20). Now you see, it is not merely a changed life; it is an exchanged life. When He died, He died for me. When He rose, I rose with Him. He lives in me. He gave Himself for me, that He might give Himself to you. And so I’m not with Him in a tomb. He has a life that the grave could not keep, and that life is mine. I live because He lives. Now I don’t know whether you’re understanding this or not, because only the Holy Spirit can help you understand it, but I’m going to give it to you. And you pray, “God, help me to understand this,” okay? I am crucified with Christ. That’s an executed life. Now I live with Christ. That is an exchanged life.
C. An Energized Life
And now it becomes an energized life. Now look at it again. The executed life is the exchanged life, which is the energized life. “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me:”—now, watch this; here is the energized life—“and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God …”—not “faith in the Son of God”—“the faith of the Son of God …”—Him in me—“the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).
Now He gave Himself for me, that He might give Himself to me, that He might live His life through me. And when I understand that—when I understand that—I am free. I am free from legalism. I am free from criticism. I am free from fatalism. I am free, indeed! And that’s the reason the Apostle Paul goes back to our text that we began. Look at it, in chapter 5, verse 1: “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage” (Galatians 5:1).
“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ that liveth in me” (Galatians 2:20)