Tied up in Knots

Good morning and welcome in everybody.  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…

I can remember when I was a young boy, coming home on the weekend with a kit from the hardware store.  A few of us would sit down in the living room and begin making kites.  The wind was just starting to blow across the snow covered lake, shaping up to be a perfect day for flying them. We would buy bags of string which we would tie together, and with the use of a drill, wrap them onto wooden dowels, creating enormous spools of string.  When we finally got all of our winter clothing on, we would venture out onto the thick ice, where we had plenty of area to fly our kites. We would fly those kites so far up in the air that the only way that you knew they were still there, was because of the string coming down from the sky. But when it came time to wind them back in, there was so much string to haul in, that it would all get tangled up in knots. The best thing to do was to cut the kite from the spool and throw the string away.

This reminds me of the Christian Life.

There were many rules and regulations contained in Judaism, but now, through Jesus Christ we are completely freed from them.  As a Christian, we are not supposed to try to put the string back on the spool by trying to keep things that Jesus has already freed us from.  To do so is to fall from grace. For a Christian making the attempt to keep the Old testament will only entangle you in bondage.

Galatians 5:1-4  Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.  Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.  For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.  Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.

Liberty has been defined in the dictionary as being freed from something, such as restrictions imposed upon others by an authority figure. There were numerous restrictions in the Old testament that we are freed from when we become a Christian.  Don’t get me wrong, there are certain restrictions in the New testament as well, but not nearly what there were in the old. The Lord Jesus came to free us from the Old testament and being in bondage to its requirements.

Matthew 11:28-30  Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Jesus did what nobody else did, he fulfilled the requirements of the Old testament perfectly.  Even though some people felt blameless according to the law, nobody kept it, and at one point in their life would eventually make a mistake. The law was created to convict us of our sinfulness so that we would come to Christ for forgiveness. 

John 7:19  Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill me?

Galatians 6:13  For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law; but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh.

Romans 5:20  Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:

Today, there are an incredible number of people who profess to be Christians who are making the attempt to follow the teachings of Judaism, but when they do, they are abandoning Christianity. They think that they will be a better person if they keep something that nobody else did.  This is because they lack the true grace of God inside of their hearts. They are not completely trusting in Christ.  They try to justify themselves, while as a Christian, our justification comes through faith in the one who already fulfilled the demands of the Old testament. 

Galatians 4:21-31  Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?  For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.

But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.  Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.  For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.  But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.  For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.  Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.

But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.

Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the free woman.

So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.

As a Christian we are to cast out the bondwoman and her son.  We are freed from the demands of the Old testament, and saved through God’s grace. Abolish means to put an end to a system or practice, which is what God has done with Judaism.  We are not to allow others to judge us according it’s requirements.

Ephesians 2:15  Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;

Colossians 2:13-17  And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;

Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;

And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:   Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.

Normally when we came into the house after flying kites, there might be moments when we would look at that spool of string, thinking that it was salvageable, but what we eventually did was take a scissors, cut away the spool, walk over to the garbage can and throw it away.  

2 Corinthians 3:13  And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished:

Like cutting a kite from the spool, we are set free from the bondage of the Old testament. To reach into the garbage can and attempt to reconnect what has been abolished, will only lead to sorrow.  It is to reject the freedom that is found in Christ.  As a Christian, getting entangled with the Old testament is returning to the spool that was cast away,…….

 ….Tied up in Knots.

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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