DON’T ABUSE FREEDOM

Friends, I want you to know that Jesus absolutely sets us free when we accept Him as our savior. Free from guilt. Free from sin. Free from death. Free to live in His perfect love.

As Americans we like those promises of freedom. Strangely we’ve voted in a lot of leaders who seem to want to take more and more freedom from us, but I still think most of us like the ideal of being free. In fact, we might like the idea a little too much. How many of us feel free to ignore rules we don’t agree with, like the speed limit or reporting things you bought in another state, and didn’t pay WV sales tax.

Unfortunately this “license” to ignore rules we don’t like affects our walking in the freedom of salvation too. There are lots of people who call themselves “Christian” that don’t see any problem with cussing like a sailor or being sexually active outside marriage. The Apostle Paul says that should not be the way of Christ followers. Our freedom in Christ is not an excuse to sin all we want, just because we are forgiven. If you can sin without feeling some conviction over it, you may not even be saved.

Freedom from trying to earn salvation by being good enough also includes freedom to repent when we slip up and freedom to say no to the temptations that when we give in, will wreck our fellowship with Jesus.

I hope you all have a great independence day this week, but even more I pray you are living truly free in Christ regardless of the rules our politicians pass.