Freed to be a Slave of God
Hope Discovery of the Day:
We had to be enslaved to sin to be able to know what it means to be set free.
Scripture of the Day:
Galatians 4:3-4
“So also we, when we were minors, were enslaved under the basic forces of the world. 4 But when the appropriate time had come, God sent out his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we may be adopted as sons with full rights. 6 And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, who calls “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if you are a son, then you are also an heir through God.”
Galatians 3:22
“But the scripture imprisoned everything and everyone under sin so that the promise could be given–because of the faithfulness of Jesus Christ–to those who believe.”
1 Peter 2:16
“For you are free, yet you are God’s slaves, so don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do evil.”
One of my favorite worship songs today is “No Longer Slaves” by Bethel. This song speaks about the freedom we have over fear because we are a child of God. Many of us are too privileged to identify with what it means to be a slave. Pretty sure most of us never considered ourselves slaves. We likely thought we chose the sinful path we embraced before Christ. That’s what spiritual slavery is – we are unable to make righteous choices because of our predisposition toward sin. In our deception, we cannot even see how lost we are. In this hopeless state, God came as one of us to fulfill the law and overcome the demands of the flesh that we could not.
He came to set us free from ourselves. We probably did not know we needed that, but the flesh we are in likes to boss us around and lead us astray. But God. I love those two words. God always has a way of interrupting our sinful ways and introducing us to another way. What a faithful God. It does not matter what is going on in our world – God can always interrupt with grace.
Sin imprisoned us because God’s Word exposed our sinful condition. Without Scripture, we would remain in ignorance. With Scripture, we are condemned in our sin, imprisoned until we accept the remedy offered by the One Who made us and His perfect law. We could never fulfill His law, never meet the righteous demands of a Holy God, but God (there are those two words again) met us in our spiritually impoverished state and bore every single sin that was shackled to our hearts and minds.
We could never fulfill His law, never meet the righteous demands of a Holy God, but God (there are those two words again) met us in our spiritually impoverished state and bore every single sin that was shackled to our hearts and minds.
Criminals before a Holy God, He took our prison sentence from us and freed us from the bondage, decay, and consequences of the sin that had us trapped. We have been set free. Today, as we contemplate freedom as a nation, let us not forget the greatest freedom ever given – to become a child of God.
The enemy will try to take this freedom from us, try to steal the joy of our salvation. But God. This gift of freedom can never be taken away. Various freedoms that man gives can falter, but not God’s. Sure, we still struggle. Sin is at work in our flesh, but God is at work in our Spirit. And His power trumps every other power.
We had to be enslaved to sin to be able to know what it means to be set free. He did not just save us from slavitude. He made us an heir. We are the King’s kids, lavished with grace and love. Set free to live differently. When He set us free from sin, the cost was the highest cost. His life. This freedom was not so we could become slaves again to sin, claiming grace covers our actions. No, we are now slaves of the living God, who owe our lives to the One Who gave us His. Our flesh does not like that word slave, but a slave of God is one who has received extravagant grace, adopted as a beloved child. May we be slaves toward righteousness, freed to obey God. He whom the Son has set free is free, indeed. Walk in your freedom today.
Lord, thank You for giving us the freedom to worship You. Help us to not grow weary of putting to death the misdeeds of our flesh so we can walk in the Spirit and know You more. We love you, Daddy.
