Living Free

Living free isn’t always easy but it is rewarding.

Galatians 5 : 1, Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. NKJV

Living by faith while residing in a world filled with sin and corruption can be very difficult at times. Let’s look at this subject in a different light. The Lord didn’t put you in a huge mud puddle and then asked you to stay clean. He has saved us and instructed us to keep the sin that is in the world out of our heart.

Would you not agree that it would be very easy to live in sin and to enjoy the pleasures of sin as opposed to the pressure of living a holy and consecrated life before God? Jesus never told us life in this world would be easy but He has promised us that He would reward those who are faithful to Him.

Therefore, we must choose as Christians now that we’ve accepted Jesus as our Savior and Lord to walk by faith and to resist the pleasures of this world. This brings us to the point of today’s word for you. We must realize that there is something in this world that can cause us to backslide and lose our reward and the Lord wants us to be fully aware of this stronghold and break it off of our life. If we didn’t have a carnal or flesh nature that desires to violate the principles of God’s Word, then we wouldn’t struggle one bit with living a holy life.

Our struggle to remain free and to walk in the liberty that Christ has given to every believer stems from our flesh nature and not from residing in a world of corruption. This was the issue that Paul was addressing with Jewish believers in Christ in the church at Galatia. They had begun living their new life by faith but afterwards they chose to go back to living under the Law and works. They had gone back into bondage. Are you living a life of liberty in Christ today? Or do you believe in Christ and at the same time living in bondage to the flesh nature?

If you have placed your faith in Christ and you still struggle with living in bondage to the flesh nature, then know that in Christ the old man is dead and you don’t have to obey its lusts. You don’t have to give into guilty pleasures and live under condemnation. The same Christ who has delivered you from the death of sin’s wages is the same Christ that wants you to be free from the bondage of the flesh nature. The writer of Hebrews exhorts us to walk by faith. When we walk by faith and don’t try to keep the law or fulfill religious requirements, then God has promised for those who diligently seek Him that He would reward them.

Let’s seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness continually. Seek when you struggle. Seek when you’re weak. Seek when you don’t think you have the strength to seek. Always seek Him and His will over your own desires and God will supply all that you have need of and will reward your obedient faith. We’re not seeking pleasure but we are seeking life.

Seeking the Rewarder,
Pastor Asa Dockery