(Read Galatians 5:19-21)
This morning we continue our series “Grace that is Simply Amazing” by continuing to look at The Law given under Moses vs. the Grace provided by Jesus. In our last message we learned about the Law of Love. As we continue to walk through Paul’s letter to the church in Galatia, the Apostle Paul once again drives home the point that living under the freedom of God’s Grace is NOT a freedom TO sin, but rather a freedom FROM sin. Being forgiven of your sin does not in turn give you the authorization to go right back into what Christ Jesus died to deliver you from.
Once again, Paul teaches that even after you are Born-Again, you will have to renew your mind to be free from your old way of thinking. Because if you do not, you will experience a constant battle in your mind between the righteousness the Holy Spirit will lead you to live in and the sin your old way of thinking will attempt to draw you back into. While the Holy Spirit will certainly give us the power to overcome and win the war within, we must be willing to submit to His leading in order to do it.
After contrasting the Spirit-led life with the life you might live if you do not submit to the leading of the Holy Spirit, the Apostle Paul said, “When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, 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.”
So what does this mean to you today? A few things:
1. While the Bible is clear on the fact that we now have access to God’s Grace through His Son Jesus, the Bible is also clear that Grace is not an authorization to sin.
2. You cannot fully embrace God’s grace, but then, at the same time, freely live in sin. If you are living in sin, and you think you are just fine because of God’s grace, then you missed the message of grace.
3. The Grace of God does not give you a freedom TO sin, it gives you freedom FROM sin.
4. Jesus died to deliver us from our slavery to sin into a new slavery, a slavery to righteousness. Paul said, “Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living” (Romans 6:18).
5. We were all born in sin and many become so accustomed to sin that they get entangled in the bondage of it; falling prey to addictions and seemingly uncontrollable urges. Jesus died to deliver you from the power of sin.
6. While it is true that you were born in sin, it is also true that you were Born-Again righteous. Now that you are Born-Again you have the power, through God’s Grace, to live free from the power of sin.
7. If you are a Born-Again believer the Holy Spirit will convict you when you sin. The Holy Spirit will not condemn you, because that is what satan will attempt to do, but He will surely convict you. But to be clear, the Holy Spirit will not come to convict you of SIN, because He is not focused on the negative. The Holy Spirit will come to convict you of the RIGHTEOUSNESS Christ Jesus died to give you. The Holy Spirit will remind you who you are in Christ and convict you, in your heart, when you are living short of God’s best for your life.
Closing Confession: Father, I thank You for making plans for me before the foundations of the world, for sending people to share Your Gospel message with me, for loving me even while I was a sinner, and for saving me from eternal death. I am now Born-Again. I am in You, You are in me, and I have access to the life You destined for me to have. I now consciously make an alignment with my divine assignment and I get to enjoy the life You designed for me. You have not revealed the entire plan to me, but I know it has already been written. Little-by-little You reveal Your Kingdom plans and purposes to me, and I submit to those plans. I may not know all the answers, but I know who I am following and I know You will always give me vision and insight for the season I am in. I am too focused on my purpose to be entangled again with sin. You delivered me from the power of sin and I declare, by faith, that sin has no power over me. I am free from every addiction, stronghold, curse, hex, vex, spell, and all generational or geographical bondage that I had been born into. I am new in Christ Jesus and I walk in the freedom Jesus died to give me. When I sin satan comes to condemn me, so that I may be stripped of my confidence in You. But instead of condemning me, the Holy Spirit comes to convict me of the righteousness Jesus died to give me. The Holy Spirit reminds me of who I am in You and whom You have called me to be. Therefore, I am quick to repent and to get back on the path to Your desired destination for my life. I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
