This morning we continue our series entitled, “Power of Fellowship.” For the past couple of days I have been teaching you portions of a message I preached this past Sunday entitled, “From Slaves to Sons.” Today I will continue to flow in the same vein.
In John 8 Jesus said the following to a group of Jews who believed on Him. Jesus said, “If you continue in my word, you will be my disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth you know shall make you free.” (John 8:31,32). Jesus had run-ins all the time with Jews who were very religious. In this case He was addressing a group of Jews who actually believed what He was saying. So He had a captive audience. To this group Jesus explained that if they continued in what He was teaching, they could come to a point where they got a true revelation of who He is, and that point they truth that Jesus came to usher us into the Grace of God would make the free. The group went on to tell Jesus that they did not need to be free, because they were not bound to anything. They did not realize it, but they were bound to the Law of Moses. Anyone who focuses on complying with rules to make them right with God is bound. This is what I will discuss today.
So what does this mean to you today? A few things.
1. The danger of a religious mindset.
a) One of the major reasons why Jesus was misunderstood by many of the Jews He encountered in His day is because they were raised under The Law. Their focus was on obeying The Law, while Jesus’ focus was on obeying The Father. They were living by laws that were written on stone. He was living by instructions that were spoken into His heart by the Holy Spirit. These are completely different ways to live. Pause for a moment and think of these two images. Which one are you most like? Do you resemble someone who is attempting to comply with a bunch of external rules, or are you being led by the Holy Spirit from the inside?
b) The Jews Jesus encountered were doing their best to comply with The Law. When you live under The Law you are living your life based on best-effort and human performance. You don’t see yourself as a SON of God. You see yourself as a SERVANT of God. There is a huge difference.
c) Servants are working for everything they get. Sons don’t have to work to be sons. Sons are just sons and they can rest in the fact that they are loved by their Father.
d) The Law put emphasis on man and what man could do for God. It was all about human performance. Under the New Covenant the emphasis is on God, and what God has already done for man. It is not about our performance.
e) Under The Law man strived to please God with his best-effort. This created an environment where everyone was attempting to do everything right and unfortunately, the environment also lent itself to people who were very judgmental. People were so focused on their performance that they looked down on those who were not performing on their level. This is why Jesus had so many issues with them and they had so many issues with Him. They were judging themselves amongst themselves, while Jesus was operating in love and treating people like they were children of God, not slaves to service.
2. Jesus came to make us a member of God’s own family.
a) My Pastor, Tony Brazelton, said, “Love is the death of duty and duty is the death of love. God’s love is not based on our performance. God’s love is not based on whether or not we are right or wrong.” God’s love is not based on whether we are right or wrong, because we are ALL WRONG! We are only right because of Jesus. We are not righteous because of what we do or what we fail to do. We are only righteous because of what Jesus did.
b) Jesus said, “The Father gives me my people. Every one of them will come to me. I will always accept them and I will never cast them out!” (John 6:37). The Jews Jesus encountered, who were very religious, were quick to cast people out because they were focused on rules, instead of on being a family, united by the love of God.
c) This series is about fellowship. You are going to have a hard time having true fellowship with other people if you live your life under The Law. Because you will inevitably judge their performance with yours and either you will look down on them (if you judge your performance to be better than theirs) or down on yourself (if you judge their performance to be better than yours). Jesus did not come so we could live our lives on performance or judgments. He came so we could live our lives on love. So we could be a global family.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I thank You for loving me enough to look past my faults, flaws and failures. I am Your Son. You will never cast me out. You are not moved by my performance. You are only moved by Your love for me. I am Your Son and nothing I do, good or bad, will change that. I embrace this truth. It changes the way I look at You, the way I look at myself, and the way I look at others. From this day forward I will appreciate my brothers and sisters and I refuse to live my life with a judgmental attitude. We are family and I will live like it! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
