Goodmorning and welcome in everyone. Today, we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture, but before we do that, I wanted to tell you a little story.
In 1752 there was a large bell that was ordered from the London firm of Lester and Pack. It was owned by the city of Philadelphia and apparently weighed around 1 ton. It used to be kept at the Pennsylvania state house which is now Independence Hall. This bell is commonly known as the Liberty Bell. But the very interesting thing about this bell, is when it was first rung, it cracked! So two men named John Pass and John Stow completely melted down and recast the bell. They tried adding an ounce and a half of copper per pound to strengthen it, but guess what, it cracked again! These men were very busy, because for the second time they had to melt it down and remake it again!
This reminds me of the Christian Life.
The truest Liberty of all, is the freedom from sinful living. When the Bible speaks about liberty, it teaches us about casting off the works of darkness and walking in the light. This means destroying the old sinful person within each of us, and recasting a new one, one that is forged through the fire of the Holy Spirit, through belief in God’s Word.
John 8:30-36 As he spake these words, many believed on him. Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 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? Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
Many people think of liberty as the freedom to do things in this country. Freedom to walk in the woods or to go for a hike with your family. Freedom to eat the kinds of foods that you like or go to a rummage sale. Freedom to take a drive from ocean to ocean and look at all of the beautiful scenery. Freedom is defined as having the ability to act without constraint, rather than in confinement or under physical restraint.
But there is a difference between worldly freedom and biblical freedom. Many people feel that they are free, while the truth is that they are not, because they are enslaved to their own sinful living. True Liberty from a Christian standpoint, is freedom from your sins when you believe the truth of Holy Scripture. This will result in turning away from sin in order to do the perfect will of God. To possess true freedom, one must become obedient to the teachings of scripture. True Liberty is to go and sin no more. True disciples of Jesus will continue in His teachings because it’s the acceptance of biblical truth that frees you from being enslaved to sinful living.
The Lord Jesus frees us from our sin by His grace, so that we are no longer enslaved to that life anymore. He grants us a gift of forgiveness so that we can turn to him in faith, so we can obediently serve Him from our heart. You are a slave to whatever you choose to obey. Jesus is our Lord and Master, and to become a Christian one must serve Him as our Master. This requires believing the truth of His word, and obeying the teachings of His church.
Romans 6:16-18 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.
God’s Word is truth, and we are sanctified by it through faith. Genuine faith results in love and obedience to Christ. When we truly believe His word, we will be converted, possessing a great eagerness to please Him, no longer abiding on the wide world of sin, but breaking the chains of sinful living. This is so we can walk the narrow road of righteousness, and serve Him.
The truth of God’s Word is like having a bolt cutter in your possession. When you believe it and accept it, you can use it to cut the chains of sin away, so that you can begin a brand new life. To truly break those chains, we must submit to biblical teaching. We want to become obedient children to the heavenly father. Sinful living and the deeds of the flesh will only lead to death. To live, we must cut sin out of our lives, and walk in the truth. It first requires changing your mind, because if you cannot change your mind you cannot change anything in your life for the better. God desires to free us from our sin, but we need to cooperate with Him and the leading of the Holy Spirit through obedience. If faith doesn’t result in obedience, then you are only deceiving your own heart. This is just what the beloved Apostle James taught.
James 1:21-25 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
The Apostle teaches that the Word of God is able to save your soul, but you need to obey it. Notice that he calls it the perfect law of liberty. The law of liberty is believing the truth of scripture, and doing what it says. When you do what it says you are not sinning anymore. That is true freedom. A person in that state has cut the chain, in order to serve God in truth.
There are many false prophets in the world today who preach liberty, but it’s not the law of liberty that’s spoken of by James. They are leading people astray from the truth, and are corrupt, appearing as angels of light but are the sons of darkness. Christian liberty is not freedom to sin, it’s freedom from sin, which results by obeying biblical truth. Those who teach otherwise are unspiritual frauds, disobedient and corrupt.
2 Peter 2:18-19 For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.
In order to completely be freed from our sins, we have to accept the truth of our sinful condition. We have to understand that the things that we are doing are wrong in the eyes of God. It’s only then that you can turn away from it, and do what is right in His sight. If you don’t accept biblical truth,you will never turn away from the wrong things that you do.
2 Timothy 2:19 Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.
If you continue to live in sin each day, that isn’t freedom, it’s called rebellion. It’s not breaking the chains of sin, it’s forging them. It’s not setting yourself free through a life of obedience, it is incarcerating your soul. It’s the hammer of spiritual truth that we need to work upon our hearts, reforging the sinner into a saint. It’s the hammer of truth that can help us break the chains of darkness. It’s the hammer of truth that each of us need to allow into our lives so that we can eventually ring……
……The Liberty Bell.
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you all, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody.❤️
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