LIBERTY AND THE STANDARDS OF JESUS

[anna274]

Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free...  Gal 5:1

...
We are not asked to believe the Bible, but to believe the One whom the Bible reveals (see John 5:39-40)  We are called to present liberty for the conscience of others, not to bring them liberty for their thoughts and opinions.  If we ourselves are free with the liberty of Christ, others will be brought into that same liberty--the liberty that comes from realizing the absolute control and authority of Jesus Christ.

from Daily Devotionals by Oswald Chambers



=======================

John 8:31-32
Then said Jesus to those Jews WHICH BELIEVED ON HIM,  If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed.

And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

[Seth]

And I think we need to understand (especially us in UR) what liberty means. To me, I see it as free FROM sin, rather than free TO sin. A life devoted to sin is slavery in itself. And our freedom from sin allows for less legalism because the Law is not for the righteous but for "for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;" 1 Tim 1:9-10

Be free from the bond of slavery to the carnal mind, and you will be free from all forms of legalism, free to search your own heart to see if you are led by Christ.

[ded2daworld]

Seth...  :thumbsup: :iagree:

[JulieTang84]

Simply beautiful Anna.

Yes Seth,, to even think of sin is to nullify the sacrifice of our dear Lord and Savior.

It is enough knowing that we all fall short of the glory of Father.

Love Julie :HeartThrob:

[Seth]

It depends on what you mean by "thinking about sin." Do you mean dwelling in sinful thoughts, or thinking about sin as a Biblical concept? The word sin/sinner appear 165 times in the Apostle's letters to the church. They were thinking about sin. They were talking about it too. In my opinion, the sacrifice of Christ was not intended to cause a lack of thinking or talking about sin. The sacrifice was intended to create a provision for mankind to LIVE within the sacrifice continually. This is why John says,

1 John 1
6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, AND to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

We have two things in operation there. Confess > God will forgive > AND he will cleanse. Watch what David had to say about it:

Psalm 32
1 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 2Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, AND in whose spirit there is no guile.

3When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. 4For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah. 5I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.

6For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him. 7Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah.

(watch this)

8I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.

See, the forgiveness is a response to the humility to confess. BUT the cleansing is in the instruction and the guidance. If man doesn't think about sin, he will not confess, and will keep silent, then God will turn him over to his pride to be brought low like a Prodigal Son. THEN, we will confess, for God gives grace to the humble but resists the proud....

[Seth]

You might notice that John says that the "blood of Christ" cleanses us from sin. So we need to think about why Jesus said we must "drink his blood" and why at the Lord's Supper, he said to drink from his cup, and they drank the wine.

He didn't tell them to pour it over their heads, as if to hide away from God. He told them to drink the wine to provide a hiding place from the corruption of the heart, being hid in Christ. The idea is that the inward cleansing hides us away from "this wicked generation" by changing the inward part.

[JulieTang84]

Every moment thinking about sin, is a time not spent loving Father,. Who can afford to do that?

Who can claim perfection to never fear sin?

How about who has no fear of sin?

Sin is only as big and ugly as one chooses to see it. I chose to focus on Love for Father and trust that he knows my heart better than I could. What association has light with darkness? I have many loved ones who can only see the darkness in their hearts, I see a tiny flicker of light even in myself. I will never ignore any tiny spiritual light again. And Icertainly will not force Jesus to be crucified time and time again as many do. .

Love heals and blots out all wrongs. Love is always the best option.

Love Julie  :HeartThrob:

[anna274]

It depends on what you mean by "thinking about sin." Do you mean dwelling in sinful thoughts, or thinking about sin as a Biblical concept? The word sin/sinner appear 165 times in the Apostle's letters to the church. They were thinking about sin. They were talking about it too. In my opinion, the sacrifice of Christ was not intended to cause a lack of thinking or talking about sin. The sacrifice was intended to create a provision for mankind to LIVE within the sacrifice continually. This is why John says,

1 John 1
6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, AND to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

We have two things in operation there. Confess > God will forgive > AND he will cleanse. Watch what David had to say about it:

Psalm 32
1 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 2Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, AND in whose spirit there is no guile.

3When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. 4For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah. 5I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.

6For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him. 7Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah.

(watch this)

8I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.

See, the forgiveness is a response to the humility to confess. BUT the cleansing is in the instruction and the guidance. If man doesn't think about sin, he will not confess, and will keep silent, then God will turn him over to his pride to be brought low like a Prodigal Son. THEN, we will confess, for God gives grace to the humble but resists the proud....

Oh my, Seth you must have been typing this while I was "searching" the Psalms...I was eager to see how many times the word "joy" appeared in the Psalms.  19 X's in the KJV
I especially noted Ps 32:11  Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart. because Psalm 32 has been one of the most comforting, faith-building Psalms since May, 1979.  May 16, 1979, God delivered me of alcoholism, etc., a week later after my first AA meeting, an elderly gentleman approached me and gleefully told me that he was happy that he is an alcoholic ... and before I could say anything, he quickly added.  "I know my sin and so I went to God and He forgave me; my family and friends know only my sin, and so they have no need to go to God for forgiveness and they will not know the joy of being a forgiven sinner.  Psalm 32:1-5 truly speaks to my own experience of finally acknowledging my sin and being forgiven.   Ps 32:8 became very, very important to me as I became aware of just how He was instructing me... Oh the great, great joy of being a forgiven sinner.

I appreciate your entire post... really, really appreciate the reminder that the sacrifice of Christ is a continuing/ongoing provision to LIVE... oh the great joy of being a forgiven sinner.

[Seth]

Yes, and not only to be forgiven but delivered. There were so many things that held me in a snare that no longer do. Alcoholism is a good example. For me it was other things. But to be delivered, now that's what it means to stand on the mountaintop and declare victory in Christ.  :dsunny: