Freedom

New Living Translation Chapter 5

So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.

Look at these , , , Anyone want to take a guess as to what they have in common?

Look at these , , , Anyone want to take a guess as to what they have in common?

They all represent freedom:

16...This is the age when most of us remember gaining a little freedom from our parents. Up until this age we had to ask permission to go anywhere we wanted, we were dependent on our parents to drop us off pick us up and take us any place we wanted for felt like we needed to go.

The thing was though before age 16 our parents made the decision as to whether those places were important or not. So when we turned 16 we gained a little independence. We may have had to ask or let them know where we were going but once we left the driveway we were in control of how we got there and how fast or slow it would take…We were free from depending on our parents

18...This is the minimum age of adulthood. We can sign contracts, get married, move out and get a job, even get married without having to ask our parents for permission.

21…This is the official age of adulthood. This is that age in which we can engaged in behaviors that our parents and society told us that we were not ready for. We can sign contracts. In essence there is almost nothing that we cannot do at this age…we are free from the bonds of childhood forever.

16, 18, 21 are ages that we all look forward to because they represent freedom from control. We can do anything we want whenever we want and no one can stop us.

This is what most of us think about when we think of freedom. Even as we think about the 4th of July we celebrate freedom from Taxation without representation, freedom from a foreign monarchy controling every aspect of our lives.

We celebrate freedom from Communism and Fascism… we celebrated freedom to live anyway we want.

This is a beautiful privilege we have as Americans…worthy of celebration!

However Paul is not writing about this type of freedom at all. He is writing about a freedom that leads to Spiritual, Relational, and Emotional peace that cannot be found by simply doing what you want when you want. Let’s look at this together.

New Living Translation Chapter 5

So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.

New Living Translation Chapter 5

13 For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. 14 For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another.

We are free to encourage fellow Christians…not exercise the perceived art of criticizing fellow Christians…That is often disguised as discernment.

Discernment defined by Ignatius of Loyola finding God in all things so that we can love and serve God in all things.

The thing about this definition is that it has nothing to do with determining the rightness or wrongness of people or ministries. It is simply looking for God so that we can serve God.

The freedom that the Holy Spirit gives allows us to engage with the world in a way that is completely counter cultural. That is we engage with those in the Church and the World with an unconditional love.

We are free but not to do whatever we want without any limitations. Your freedom Our freedom does not give permission to us to hurt or marginalize ANY other person.

The ultimate

It give us the freedom to engage with the world in a way that is completely counter cultural. The freedom to Love everybody in the world Regardless of race, creed, religion, sexual orientation, politics, or Social position.

In the Church this starts with giving up selfish pursuits and embracing every person that is part of a faith community.

This then leads to the ability to exercise freedom to Love everybody in the world Regardless of race, creed, religion, sexual orientation, politics, or Social position. This is the freedom that Jesus models and desperately wants us to live out.

The freedom to Love everybody in the world Regardless of race, creed, religion, sexual orientation, politics, or Social position.

This is the freedom that Paul is talking about:

This is where the number 25 comes in…25 is the age where you are now free to rent a car. For some reason rental car companies think this is an appropriate age to be trusted with driving a car that does not belong to you on a contract.

At 25 we are not focused on freedom from something or someone but freedom to exercise a privilege.

Living the Christian life is truly a privilege to be lived out. Paul is telling us that we are not so much free from…but we are free to allow Holy Spirit to engage the world through us.

New Living Translation Chapter 5

16 So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. 17 The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. 18 But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses.

19 When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, 21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

When Holy Spirit takes over our lives we should see less of a desire to engage in selfish pursuits and more of a desire to to engage in eternal pursuits.

to be free to live our lives any way we want to.

Living

This leads to the peace that we hear about all the time. V22-23 spell out exactly what a life of freedom looks like. So many of us settle for one or two of these but I believe God wants to impart all of these traits in your life.

This leads to the peace that we hear about all the time. V22-23 spell out exactly what a life of freedom looks like. So many of us settle for one or two of these but I believe God wants to impart all of these traits in your life.

Instead of seeking what you and I think is right we are to discern where God is at work and ask God to help us through the power of Holy Spirit to be a part of what He is already doing.

This requires that we become indifferent to anything that God is not moving in.

“The capacity to recognize and respond to the presence of God in all of life is a spiritual habit and practice that keeps us connected with God’s larger purpose for us and for our world rather than being consumed by self-interest.” —Ruth Haley Barton— Sacred Rhythms

New Living Translation Chapter 5

24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. 25 Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives

The message here is that when we live in the freedom of the Spirit we are given the power not to follow our personal desires, but to surrender them for the mission of Jesus Christ .

To

When we truly surrender our entire life to the will of God we

It will not be until we completely surrender every aspect of our lives to the Lordship of Jesus that we can truly be free from any and all influence of the world.

You can get there. I do not believe that you and I are destined to constantly be influenced by secular philosophies…effected yes…controlled and influenced no. That is what it means to live a Sanctified life.

That means that we must be willing to allow God to challenge our intentions when we say or do things in the “Name of Jesus” To make sure that the result is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness, and self-control. In our lives and in the lives of every person we interact with.

Do people see love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Do people see love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Do you share love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control with people you come into contact with?

What do you need to do today to embrace the freedom Paul is talking about today?

Freedom is more dependent on what you are willing to sacrifice than what you are most likely to gain.

Altar is open for you to be free today. Would you like to begin the process of allowing God to Sanctify you Holy? James

This is not the same as salvation…salvation is basically free from....21, sanctification is when you are finally free too 25....Would you come and surrender your life to Jesus today…Would you surrender your self centeredness and finally receive FREEDOM

When we come to the table we remember that He freed us to take the message of freedom from Sin and death to the entire world.