Why Grace is a matter of freedom.

I remember seeing her wrestling with the ideas in her head.  Believing in Christ was supposed to set her free.  But she had been told so much that when she became a Christian she had to follow certain rules.  (The fact that the rules she was trying to uphold were arbitrarily selected from the whole Law of God never entered her mind as something to question.)  She was in a crisis of faith.

Most of us who believe in Christ face this.  Many of us would never say it, but most of us hold to some version of Christianity that says, “I came to Jesus and was saved by grace through faith and he forgave me of everything I did wrong in the past.  Now, I have to work hard to stay in good standing with Him.”  The problem with that view is this: It’s not Christian or Biblical.

If He who knew no sin became sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him, how do we determine that we are going to be able to add to that accomplishment?  Our sin is paid for.  It is gone.  Maybe we should say, “It is finished.”

Romans 8:1-2 says:

Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. (NASB)

We live life as though Jesus gave us a great gift in our Salvation but now that it is in our hands it is like a priceless fabergé egg.  It is not.  It is the single most solid truth of all the universe.  It cannot be shaken or broken or lost.  You live free in Jesus because nothing can change who you are in Him.

Same chapter, Romans 8:38-39

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (NASB)

Don’t be bound by what you were told to keep you in line as a kid.  The Gospel is rebellious and freeing.  Your standing with God is not based on your performance, but on Christ’s performance.  He has earned your place at the table.  Trust in Him and love Him.  Know that you belong to Him.  Because as a follower of Christ, you do.