Freedom

I often wonder whether we Christians enjoy our relationship with God. Whilst this may sound a tad absurd it's actually an important question to ask ourselves.

Do I enjoy my relationship with God?

Or better still, who is God to me?

Is He someone I feel obliged to worship and obey for fear of the consequences of not doing so?

Or 

Is He someone I worship and obey so that I can have a good life - to be blessed.

Thankfully God's Grace covers all things, so either way is okay.

But are either of the above reasons healthy?

In other words do we feel free, or shackled by a never-ending fear of failure, in our quest for God to be at peace with us?

The dictionary says that freedom is 'the state of not being imprisoned or enslaved.'

Do we feel free with God?  Or are we more or less imprisoned in our fear of disobeying God's commandments / laws, and thereby incurring His wrath?

I hazard a guess to say that many of us are living in 'fear' of what might happen if we disobey God's commandments. In other words our constant efforts / works to attain righteousness have actually placed us in a surreal state of imprisonment. 

We are imprisoned by our fears of what might or might not happen if we fall short of God's righteousness / commandments.

I won't keep you too long this morning. Indeed I've realised that just as it took Jesus to open my eyes in order to fully understand Grace it will be the same for you. 

I have being hearing the message of grace for many years; read a number of books on it. I had even written about it several times. But my eyes only opened properly in July, this year. Until July, though I liked the sound of the message, and although I loved to write about it, I wasn't really living it. I simply couldn't fully flow with the notion that Christ has done everything to attain my righteousness. The common sense, or better still, the pride in me refused to accept that no works / effort was required from my side.

So no matter how eloquently I write, unless Jesus says it's time for you to understand, ain't nothing gonna happen. But believe me, That time will come sooner rather than later. And I can't wait till it does; to see that big beaming smile on your face - That smile that says 'hey, I can't believe how much God loves me - how wonderfully loved and blessed I am - how amazingly righteous I am.'

There is nothing more powerful than the realisation of your perfect Righteousness through Jesus Christ. The moment you accept that Christ makes you righteous, the fears, condemnation, and guilt instantly begin to fall by the wayside. 

Trust me, it will definitely happen. 

But until then I'm going to play my part, and simply point out some verses in the bible to you.

Let's look at two verses this morning.

1. 'Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and saught to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness.'

Romans 10 vs 8

In other words, like I did for many years, rather than accept that Christ makes me righteous - that He has already done everything to make me righteous - many of us simply cannot fathom being in Right Standing With God without our own works/ efforts.

Christ makes you righteous. Not your works/ efforts.

2. 'Did you receive the spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?'

Galatians 3 vs 3

Grace and works do not go together. If they did, then grace (Unmerited Favour) wouldn't really be grace, and Christ needn't have come in the first place.

Grace, through our acceptance of Jesus as our Lord and Saviour is what has ALREADY attained our Righteousness; not our works / efforts.

Ask Jesus to give you a deeper understanding of grace this morning. 

There is no greater blessing, no greater power, and no greater joy than the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.