I had quite a few people ask me for my notes so instead I decided to just post them. Enjoy and be encouraged to live free! We can do this people, we can let go of the law and live in the glory of the grace! Love you people.
The Freedom of Grace Message-Debbie Hornsby
Opening:
Continuing our grace series today, our topic is the freedom
of grace. You see before grace entered
our lives we were slaves, the exact opposite of free; Slaves to sin, slaves to the law, slaves to
fear, slaves to the world. BUT
Jesus…..set us free! The question is then why don’t we live like
we are free? Many of us seem to
return to being shackled to fear, the law, the world, etc.
Let’s Pray: wisdom, revelation, hope, transformation
Slide 1 Let’s start
off by looking at Galatians 3
13 Christ (Remember
we have been teaching that Christ was grace in bodily form…the manifestation of
what we could not earn ourselves.) redeemed us from the curse of the
law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who
is hung on a tree." 14 He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to
Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we
might receive the promise of the Spirit.
Gal 3:13-14 (NIV)
Don't we all wish we could be free
from sin and its consequences once and for all? Well, according to Galatians 3:13, we already are! We just haven't comprehended it yet! Let me give you an illustration of this before we dive into our teaching today…..I heard a story once about a man who had a goat he dearly loved.
Very late one night, he received a telephone call from the local police, who informed him that his goat had wandered away from home, had been hit by a car, and now lay dead in a ditch by the side of the road.
This man was grieved and brokenhearted,
but he knew he needed to retrieve the dead goat. When he approached the ditch
where the goat lay, he saw that the goat was very much alive! Its legs were
bound with rope, which let my friend know that someone had kidnapped the goat
and then dumped it in the ditch on the side of the road.
Jubilantly, he leaped into the
bottom of the ditch, pulled out his pocketknife, cut the ropes, slapped the
goat on its backside, and said, "Get
up!" But the goat just lay there with its legs still clinging to each
other as if they were still bound with rope. He hit her a second time, then a
third time. Then he yelled at her one last time, "Get up!"
This man thought to himself, Bless this dumb ol' goat! It's free and
doesn't even know it!
He reached down and pulled apart the
goat's legs; then he lifted it and set it on its feet. Only then did the goat
realize it wasn't bound anymore.
When I heard this story, it made me
think about us as believers.
Slide 2 We don't need to get free—we are
free! Jesus' work on the Cross totally purchased our redemption and freedom.
Although Jesus broke the bonds of
slavery and the devil has no legal hold on believers anymore, most believers still lay on their sides in the
bottom of the ditch, wishing they could get free. The chains that hold them
are an illusion, because Jesus already paid the price for their release!
That word redeemed in Galatians is a
beautiful greek word that paints a picture….the word is a compound of two words ex
which means out and agoridzo
which most often depicted a slave market. A slave market where human beings were
treated like animals and bought and sold, given no value other than for what
service/work they could provide.
Together these two words reveal the
picture of someone going in with the intention of purchasing a slave for the
sole purpose of setting them free….permanent removal from captivity.
Slide 3 In Isaiah we see the foreshadowing of
Jesus in the statement Isaiah 61:1-11
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news
to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim
freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, 2 to
proclaim the year of the Lord's
favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, 3 and
provide for those who grieve in Zion-- to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of
praise instead of a spirit of despair.
Isaiah 61:1-3 (NIV)
God sent Jesus not just to inspect
our condition of slavery and locate us in our sinfulness but to buy
us out of our miserable condition and then place us into his family as his own
child. Forever removed from the curse
of sin and the law. It’s a done deal…
No longer slaves to the law
You see the Law came by Moses but
grace and truth came through Jesus.
You see the law says…..btw 613 laws The law says…..You do your part and then
God will do His part.
You do good, you get good.
You do bad, you get bad. You have
to pay for what you do wrong….We tend to get caught up in this bad
theology. It’s true there are some
natural consequences to doing good or doing bad but let’s be honest….when we
carry this theology of Law into our lives we diminish the finished work on the
cross.
We strive to be good enough to earn
God’s love, we worry
that we haven’t been good enough so God might allow something bad to happen to
us or our family, We try to control things because this theology leads us to
think we can somehow manipulate God into treating us well….This is not freedom.
We become
those who are always looking for the perfect equation to get what we want from
God.
We become
those who are always performing like a circus monkey trying to get a treat.
You see when
we are still returning to the law….it is only a fraction of the glory the Lord
intends for us…are you saved yes…..are you living in freedom? Are we living in the full glory?
Slide 4
7 The old way, with laws etched in stone, led to death,
though it began with such glory that the people of Israel could not bear to
look at Moses’ face. For his face shone with the glory of God, even though the
brightness was already fading away.8 Shouldn’t we expect far
greater glory under the new way, now that the Holy Spirit is giving life?9 If
the old way, which brings condemnation, was glorious, how much more glorious is
the new way, which makes us right with God!10 In fact, that first glory was
not glorious at all compared with the overwhelming glory of the new way.11 So
if the old way, which has been replaced, was glorious, how much more glorious
is the new, which remains forever!
2 Cor 3:7-11 (NLT)
Slide 5 Not under law but under grace 14 For sin shall not be your
master, because you are not under law, but under grace.
Romans 6:14 (NIV)
Have you ever told someone an argument was finished, only to
have them start arguing again? Stop
arguing with Jesus, we are not under the law….just believe.
But still we return to the Law….striving and judging,
performing and trying to earn…
God is not impressed with our performances because His son
already did it all and now we think we can somehow improve of what Jesus has done.
Don’t get on the cross, your blood won’t work.
When Jesus
hung on the cross he said it is finished.
We don’t have
to earn His grace. Grace came in the
form of Jesus.
We don’t
have to behave perfect. Grace came and
perfected us.
We don’t
have to be afraid of failure. Grace came
and won….once and for all.
No earning,
no striving, no rule following….whaaaaaat that’s crazy?
·
WE
live under the covenant of grace. The
law of grace.
·
The new covenant is heaven’s solution
to man’s faithlessness.
·
God
rigged the system by downloading His thoughts and guidelines into our hearts
when we accept Christ.
·
Grace
means we no longer live under the law but under the Holy Spirit.
·
I’m
not saying this is license to go wild, I am saying let your heart settle on the
greatness of this. We don’t want to
abuse grace but we do want to live in it.
Slide 7
6 But now we have been released
from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we
can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the
new way of living in the Spirit.
Romans
7:6 (NLT)
Slide 8 No longer slave to the flesh
Gal 5:18 16 So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your
lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.17 The sinful nature wants to do
evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives
us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two
forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out
your good intentions.18 But
when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of
Moses. Gal
5:16-18 (NLT)
·
Don’t keep the law but be filled with the
Holy Spirit.
·
You
don’t’ need law when you have fruit of the spirit. Remember Jesus said the law could be summed
up in these two statements. Love the
Lord and Love your neighbor.
·
When
we are caught up in sin, we have a love problem……
You can’t have both the law and the
fruit….the law chokes out the fruit of the spirit. Of which the greatest is
love.
The law tells us what to do but the Sprit tells us how to do
it. Ex:
law tells you to love your wife, the Holy Spirit teaches you how to love
your wife.
Let me see if I can explain this differently.
The law….which
created legalism and took away freedom, put the Israelites in bondage to the
High Priest. Under the law there was
condemnation. Under the law we were
slaves to sin.
·
So
basically that was behavior modification.
·
Jesus
came to bring transformation not behavior modification.
·
The Law
is fear driven motivation whereas, love
is the motivation of grace.
·
Fear is
not the best motivator, love is! LOVE
WINS
Christ was obedient
to the point of death not out of fear of His heavenly father but for the joy
that was set before him, for love.
Jesus is whispering
gently to us….just believe it is finished.
The Spirit has come that you might have life and life abundant…..don’t
return to the law and its dead works.
In this fallen, broken world we just can’t believe it
could be that easy….Just believe, stop arguing.
Let go of the law so
you can live under the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
Slide 9 Freedom from Condemnation
1 Therefore
there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of
the Spirit of life [1]in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. 3 For
what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did:
sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering
for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the requirement of the
Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but
according to the Spirit.
Romans 8:1-4 (NASB)
I want to explain something to
you. Condemnation is the work of
Satan. He wants to put you back in
slavery to him. When we condemn
ourselves we are actually lessoning the finished work of the cross. WE
are effectively not believing that the blood of Jesus is enough to cover
our sin.
Condemnation becomes the breeding ground for separation from
God….not on God’s part but on our
part. Remember God looking in the garden
for Adam and Eve, they had separated themselves and hidden.
When we condemn ourselves we are
putting ourselves back under the law.
Making ourselves judge….separating ourselves from God…often times
walking away from God because we feel that we are now unlovable or too far gone
for his grace.
Starting a vicious cycle of believing that we can somehow
lose the grace of God putting ourselves back under the condemnation of the law
and then we put everyone else under the law as well. We become religious, regulated and condemning
based on fear instead of love.
All the while Jesus is whispering,
just believe. It is simple. Grace, the freedom gift. Believe and receive it.
No longer
slaves to fear. Almost all fears can
fall into one of two categories.
Fear of death and
fear of man. All of us struggle to
some degree with these….
We know
death has lost it’s sting….we no longer die but live! Yet, we all can allow fear to creep in…death
is scary, grief is hard, here is the thing….we are all going to die….
So if Satan can get us preoccupied
with fear of losing someone or our own life….he can keep us from living in the fullness of Joy
…he can make the Christian world look just as hopeless as the unsaved world and
damage the cause of Christ.
Fear of
Man. Jesus died so that we would have
full confidence in our identity so that we would be set free from the fear of
man…..so what is the fear of man?
·
Fear
of rejection
·
Perfectionism (see above)
·
Fear
of failure-which often causes procrastination or complete paralysis of analysis
·
Fear
of not being good enough
·
Fear
of bad things happening so we control
·
Fear
of being hurt so we don’t freely love others.
·
Fear
of being exposed as a sinner so we don’t live authentic lives
Scripture
teaches us that perfect love cast out fear.
Why?
Perfect love
is Jesus. Understanding and knowing Who
he is and who we are….changes everything….
When I understand there is no death,
that we are all just pilgrims passing through, that death has lost it’s
sting, When I understand that there is
nothing that man can do to take me out of God’s hand, when I live in the abiding presence of a faithful, loving, forgiving
God I am no longer moved by others approval because His is more enough.
When I
understand my position in Him then I can rest in that knowledge and flourish in
that freedom.
Let’s look at the story of the Roman Officer because it
really teaches us something about position and authority.
Slide 10
The
Faith of a Roman Officer
5 When Jesus
returned to Capernaum, a Roman officer came and pleaded with him,6 “Lord, my young servant lies in
bed, paralyzed and in terrible pain.”7 Jesus
said, “I will come and heal him.”8 But the officer said, “Lord, I am
not worthy to have you come into my home. Just say the word from where you are,
and my servant will be healed.9 I
know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have
authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, ‘Go,’ and they go, or ‘Come,’
and they come. And if I say to my slaves, ‘Do this,’ they do it.”10 When Jesus heard this, he was
amazed. Turning to those who were following him, he said, “I tell you the truth, I haven’t seen faith like this in all
Israel!11 And I tell you this, that many Gentiles will come from all
over the world—from east and west—and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
at the feast in the Kingdom of Heaven.12 But many Israelites—those for whom the Kingdom was
prepared—will be thrown into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and
gnashing of teeth.”13 Then Jesus said
to the Roman officer, “Go back home. Because you
believed, it has happened.” And the young servant was healed that same
hour.
Matt 8:5-13 (NLT)
Slide 11 This Roman officer understood something
very important. He understood position
and authority. Because of his experience
in the military he knew what it was to have the position of an officer and that
it carried with it the authority of whom he was positioned under.
We are positioned under Christ, he is
the head and we are the body. He has
given us all authority. We honor Him when we believe this.
When we live in a way that is
demolishing strongholds and speculations, that is walking in His authority, when we believe that it is finished work.
We too like the roman soldier have been
given power and authority. We don’t have
to be fearful but only to live in the certainty of our position and authority.
When fear comes we can say to that
fear….go! I don’t have to be perfect
because Jesus has empowered me for success and that may mean some failure along
the way. The success is already finished
on the cross because I am His.
When fear comes about what someone will
say or about their rejection we can say to that fear….Get out of my head, I am
a child of God, deeply loved and I have a total acceptance in his grace.
When fear comes that would make me
want to jump in and control things, I can say….Jesus you just say the word and
I believe it is finished.
·
As New Testament Christians we can live in the
freedom that comes from knowing it is finished, Jesus finished it.
We are no longer under the law, we
can respond to life from the perspective of it is already finished….
Use our faith to
appropriate what is already done. Not beg God to help us based on our
merits….trying to earn his favor…This is fear based theology…..
Instead we simply are believing in position and
authority.
I believe for this “for the finances we need”…..thank you
Jesus that it is already a finished work!
·
Christ is the end of the Law. The law fulfilled, the ransom paid, there is
nothing we can do….nothing!
·
The requirements of the law have been fully met
in us. Rom 8:3
It is time
for us to live in the grace of God, not just its shadow.
Living day by day
with our savior…as Paul said
I no longer
live but Christ who lives in me. The
life I now live by believing in God’s Son, who loved me and took the punishment
for my sins.
This grace
filled life blossoms by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit…not our strength but His.
We live beyond the rules and earning God’s
love we live in the freedom born from the fullness of God’s grace in our lives
causing us to live in a way that honors God and that is summed up with one word …..Love!
This grace
allows us to walk in the perfect law of liberty…. Jesus set us free from
fear based motivation, set us free from condemnation and set us free to enjoy life to the
fullest.
6 But now we have been released
from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we
can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the
new way of living in the Spirit.
Romans
7:6 (NLT)
Jesus is whispering to
us….believe. Believe that you are the sons
and daughters. Believe that you have
that position and authority. Believe
that you are free….don’t go back to the old way, you are free of that.
We don't need to get free—we are free! Jesus'
work on the Cross totally purchased our redemption and freedom.
Know that all that you have need of, is
already finished.
Altar Call
·
Repentance for returning to the law
·
Lessoning the finished work of the cross
·
Help us to live in the freedom of grace
Prayer: Help me to renew my mind so I can enjoy the
freedom you purchased for me. Help me
experience your freedom in area of my life and give me a determination to
reject any form of bondage that tries to hang onto me. I have been bought out of slavery ….I am no
longer a slave to fear of any kind, to condemnation, I will walk in the freedom
of grace. ..The finished work of the cross.
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