Gospel Freedom

 

    How you live out your Christianity says a lot about your faith.  Do you you live it tied down to service to other people as a people pleaser?  Do you live like the world?  Do you live like you are still chained to the laws?  Or do you live a balanced life focused on God?  The picture will be different for everyone, but the focus should be the same.

    Fourteen years after Paul came to faith he was still serving with the same fervency.  He had helpers.  He was traveling with Barnabas (much needed partner) and Titus (disciple student).  He stepped out of the shadows of what was expect (focus the mission on the Jews).  Instead he focused his mission work on showing the Gentiles how to have a relationship with Jesus.  He even gave the Gentile leaders private lessons.  Paul focused on the Gentiles, so that Peter could focus on the Jews.

    Paul feared evil infiltrating the church.  It can happen so easy and without the Holy Spirit leading, it is impossible to control.  Once evil gets into the church it makes the people slaves similar to the world.  The perspective is either worldly or strict tradition.  The way to freedom is faith, trust, and letting go of what you can't control.  You have to believe that God does have control to find freedom.

    The Gospel does not change.  We do change and we should.  You can't grow without change.  It can be scary.  It can be confusing, but we have the Gospel.  It can keep us steady because we have the truth with us at all times.  

    Paul was entrusted with preaching the Gospel and teaching his students on the best way of living it out.  The world looks different than it did back then, but sin is sin.  Sin is still present, so what he taught is still relevant today.  We still need to understand how to live a Jesus focused life to find true freedom in living.  

    The Mosaic law is where we draw our healthy boundaries, but we are not to be consumed by them.  God doesn't have favorites.  There is no one person that is a better Christian than another person.  We just have different roles.  We are in different places in our Christian walk.  Comparisons only steal your freedom and hinder relationships.

    Do not be afraid to do ministry. The closer you move toward God, then you have more freedom you gain.  With freedom from sin there is less to fear and the more you can invest into relationships.  Ministry after all is all about relationships with God and people causing unity.

    At the same time keep yourself in check, so that you do not become a hypocrite.  It is so easy to fall into sin because it happens when we let our guard down.  It can happen when we relax.  That is why a Christian life needs to be a balanced life between focus and relaxation, alertness and rest, recharge and give of yourself, giving and accepting, tradition and stepping out on faith.  

    You find justification (righteousness) in your faith, so never set aside your grace from God.  Christians can be known for being judgmental.  That could be because the world of sin does not like to be called out.  However, there are a lot of Christians in the community that feel judged too.  Some that live in sin need to be held under church discipline, but in love.  Others just don't fit into a nice box.  We need to focus on our own walk and love each other.  The rest will work itself out as long as you stick to the truth of the Gospel.  

Galatians 2