It’s time to ask ourselves a question at it relates to the message of the gospel and the New Covenant of Jesus Christ: How can we be forgiven for something that God says He no longer remembers?




GRACE BLOGS COLLECTION
by kingdomlife
Anytime that we discuss freedom as it relates to believers in the kingdom of God, we must realize that freedom means different things to different people!
In Acts 22, an incident in the life of Paul powerfully illustrates the New Testament truth regarding Christian freedom in the kingdom of God!
And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said unto the centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned? When the centurion heard that, he went and told the chief captain, saying, Take heed what thou doest: for this man is a Roman. Then the chief captain came, and said unto him, Tell me, art thou a Roman? He said, Yea. (As a Roman Citizen or a FREE man, Paul had rights!) And the chief captain answered, With a great sum obtained I this FREEDOM. And Paul said, But I was born FREE. —Acts 22:25-28 (KJV)
Freedom meant something totally different to the Roman captain than to Paul.
Many today believe that their Christian May freedom is obtained by ‘paying a high price’—hard work, moral discipline, personal sacrifice! They think that if you sacrifice much in zealous pursuits of Christian discipline, you are ultimately rewarded with victory and freedom.
But I like what Paul said, “Maybe your freedom cost you a high price, but I was born FREE.” Before we can understand and experience true freedom, we have to know that it’s not something we obtain through personal sacrifice, we are born into it!
That doesn’t mean that our freedom was without cost. It came at a very high cost—THE LIFE OF THE SON OF GOD. The degree to which you understand and believe in the freedom you are born into in Christ is the degree of true freedom you will experience in everyday life!
Proverbs 23:7 says, “For as he [man] thinketh in his heart, so is he.”
“Thinketh” means “to calculate; to put a valuation on.” “What” and “who” we value in our hearts determines where we go and what we become! Therefore, the way I believe about God and our relationship, controls the way I see and relate to myself and others.
Before we can understand and experience true freedom, we have to know that it’s not some- thing we obtain through personal sacrifice, we are born into it!
All the experiences of our lives, can be directly linked to the condition of our hearts or our belief system! (Prov. 4:20-23)
You can be a God-fearing, Holy Spirit-filled, Bible-quoting, morally-disciplined Christian, living in a reclusive commune! But if your beliefs are still deeply rooted in performance religion, you’ll never be free from the destructive behaviors and bondage that dominate your life.
Unfortunately this is the sad reality of many Christians in the church today.
The Jews served God based on performance religion that unknowingly kept them in bondage. Jesus said to them:
And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? —John 8:31-33 (KJV)
They didn’t even recognize the religion they were in. They thought that everything was just great!
They served God under a system governed by rules, regulations and performance that could never make them acceptable before God. This is what they needed to be set free from, and it’s the same for many today.
Jesus said, “you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.” That truth is relationship with God—free from legalism, self- righteousness and the guilt of the law! Jesus came to give us freedom and abundant life in Him. Celebrate the freedom you were born into every day!
Blessings, Arthur
by kingdomlife
Throughout my years as a Christian, I’ve observed that most of the struggles believers face have their origin in the inaccurate or erroneous beliefs we hold regarding the true nature and character of God.
Just as there is a grossly inaccurate belief in the hearts of many believers regarding the true nature and character of God, there is also an equally destructive and crippling view regarding the true value, worth, dignity and identity of man.
If we are not taught a proper, biblical sense of identity and self-worth, we will seldom experience God in an intimate and meaningful way!
And if what we believe about the Bible, God, and ourselves doesn’t agree with the revelation of the gospel in the New Testament, we may never experience God’s Word working consistently and effectively in our lives!
Establishing a Biblical Self-Worth
Religion and legalism have caused many to lose track of their true identity and worth, leaving them stripped of a healthy, biblical sense of who they are.
Traditionally we’ve been taught that being human is either evil, weak or deeply unspiritual. In many ways, true “spirituality” is believed to be about denying, disowning and escaping our humanity through legalism and moral discipline
Something Other than Human
As Christians, we’ve been encouraged to disown our basic humanity by doing all we can do (prayer, fasting and imposing moral disciplines) to reject our human emotions, passions and instincts!
As a result, many believers struggle to reconcile who God is and who they are as human beings!
For so many, it’s almost unthinkable that a holy God would have any connection with their deepest human dreams of enjoying everyday life. But it’s only in our union with God that we discover the fulfillment of being human!
If we correctly interpret Scripture, we find that God’s whole purpose for creating us is to be HUMAN. In the eyes of God, the very fact that we are HUMAN defines our true identity and value to God!
For so many, it’s almost unthinkable that a holy God would have any connection with their deepest human dreams of enjoying everyday life. But it’s only in our union with God that we discover the fulfillment of being human!
God’s Eternal Intentions, Plans, and Purposes
According as he hath chosen us in him (Christ) before the FOUNDATION of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will. —Eph. 1:4-5 (KJV)
God’s eternal plans have always been for us to find our origin and identity in Jesus Christ!
EMMANUEL—God with Us!
Who, although being essentially one with GOD and in the form of GOD [possessing the fullness of the attributes which make GOD GOD], did not think this equality with GOD was a thing to be eagerly grasped or retained, But stripped Himself [of all privileges and rightful dignity], so as to assume the guise of a servant (slave), in that He became like MEN and was born a HUMAN BEING.—Phil. 2:7-8 (AMP)
EMMANUEL—God One of Us!
Therefore God will never be ashamed of you being part of His family!
For the one (God) who makes men holy and the men who are made holy SHARE A COMMON HUMANITY. So that he is not ashamed to call them his BROTHERS … And again …in these words: ‘Here am I and the children whom God has given me’. Since, then, “the children” have a common physical nature as HUMAN BEINGS, he (God the Son) also became a HUMAN BEING, so that by going through death as a MAN he might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil; …It is plain that for this purpose he (God the Son) did not become an ANGEL; he became a MAN, in actual fact a descendant of Abraham.—Hebrews 2: 11-18 (Phillips)
Therefore, the gospel is an emphatic declaration that GOD NOT ONLY LIKES HUMAN, BUT LOVES HUMAN!!
HE ACTUALLY BECAME ONE!