Vision
The Christian life is meant to be marked by simplicity. Jesus summed up our purpose with two statements: love God and love people. But in our humanity we have made complex what God designed to be peaceful, purposeful, and simple. A. W. Tozer remarks in The Pursuit of God, “Every age has its own characteristics. Right now we are in an age of religious complexity. The simplicity which is in Christ is rarely found among us. In its stead are programs, methods, organizations and a world of nervous activities which occupy time and attention but can never satisfy the longing of the heart. The shallowness of our inner experience, the hollowness of our worship, and that servile imitation of the world which marks our promotional methods all testify that we in this day, know God only imperfectly, and the peace of God scarcely at all. If we would find God amid all the religious externals, we must first determine to find Him, and then proceed in the way of simplicity.” May we discover the peace and joy that come from pursuing a simple Christianity this week.
Scripture
“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” 2 Corinthians 3:17
Worship
No Longer Slaves | Tasha Cobbs Leonard
Devotional
2 Corinthians 3:18 says, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” Freedom from sin is not something we pay for with our own blood, sweat, and tears. It is not bought by any measure of human strength or will, but by the precious and powerful blood of Jesus Christ. Scripture tells clearly of the pervasive and liberating effects of Jesus’ death for all those who come to believe in him and claim him as Lord. May we be children freed from the bonds of slavery Christ died to set us free from.
Romans 8:1-4 says,
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
With the filling of the Spirit came a new law, a new covenant by which the chains of sin are broken. We are no longer condemned to live under the tyranny of sin, but rather freed to live under the new law of the Spirit. And “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”
The simple truth of Scripture in regards to sin is that freedom is ours through Christ Jesus. To experience true freedom from sin is to simply live in light of the powerful infilling of the Holy Spirit and the living and active word of God’s truth about you. Romans 6:6, 18 and 22 say, “We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin . . . . And, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness . . . . Now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.”
You are a slave of this world no longer. Your past does not define you. The future before you is one of peace, joy, and freedom in the Spirit. God has incredible plans in store for you that far surpass simply overcoming sin. Jesus died to give you abundant life here in which freedom and love are your portion, not habitual sin and destruction.
Renew your mind to the law of the Spirit to which you now belong as you spend time in guided prayer.
Prayer
1. Meditate on the freedom available to you through the death of Christ and infilling of the Holy Spirit. Allow Scripture to renew your mind and change your perspective on sin and freedom.
“We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.” Romans 6:6
“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” 2 Corinthians 3:17
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” Romans 8:1-4
2. What sin seems to continually entangle you? What victory do you feel the enemy has over you?
3. Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you with his perspective in regards to your sin. Ask him to show you the path to freedom. View your sin through the lens of Scripture and put it in its proper place.
“And, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.” Romans 6:18
“But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.” Romans 6:22
“In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.” Galatians 4:3-7
Go…
Extended Reading: Romans 8 or watch The Bible Project’s video on Romans 5-16.