Spies of Our Liberty

Galatians 2:4

Liberty in the finished work of Jesus Christ is a beautiful thing, but it does not come easy for most of us. We are pre-programmed to work for everything and to do penance through the way that we live. Pure liberty, given freely by Christ’s finished work often seems too good to be true.
Paul exhorted the Galatians to “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage” (Galatians 5:1). He knows that most of the battle is found in simply trying to stand in liberty and that the alternative is to be entangled “again”. Why does the Apostle use the phrase “again”? We were in bondage to the performance of the law before we came to Christ, but His perfect sacrifice has made us free from that entanglement.

Each Christian is actually called into liberty. Their conversion calls them out of the bondage of works based religion and into the glorious light of Christ’s freedom. “For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another” (Galatians 5:13). This call is for us to live free, but not to use our freedom to indulge our flesh. There is a pre-programmed inclination towards sin in all of humanity, even those who are saved. Our liberty gives us no laws or restrictions (1 Corinthians 6:12), but we know that using that liberty wrongly can cause a brother to stumble or fall or even cause us to come beneath sins power.

In the ministry of the Apostle Paul, some came to join him in the work that knew the right words to say, and how to act to make those around them think that they were a true believer. These joined up with Paul so that they could observe him living in his “liberty” and then use those things against him to bring him into condemnation. Jews were not to eat certain foods under the law, nor were they to do anything on the Sabbath day. Paul was free from the law through Jesus so he ate what he wanted and did whatever he desired on the Jewish Sabbath day. These actions were used against him to try and discredit his ministry.

People will use your liberty against you for a number of reasons. Some will do so to try and make themselves feel righteous. If they can accuse you of something, then it makes all of their good deeds feel so much better. Another reason is to bring you under condemnation. This trick is used frequently of the enemy as he tries to make saints feel guilty for enjoying life and having a good time. The church often jumps in on this too, trying to suppress any entertainment or leisure activity. Soon, the saint begins to feel bad for any and all activity that is not wrapped up in the church and they go back under the bondage of law.

As a believer, use your liberty to promote the wonderful love of Jesus Christ and His finished work. Live free in Christ. Laugh a lot, live life to the fullest and never feel that joy is a crime. Many have been turned away from the modern version of Christianity because the ‘saints’ seem miserable. Oftentimes they are the rudest, angriest and most unhappy people that you will ever want to meet. Stand fast in your liberty today and change the perception that the world has about what it means to be a child of the King.

Roast With Fire

Exodus 12:8-10

When is the last time that you observed Communion? God gave the church this glorious ceremony as a way of remembering the perfect price that His Son paid for us at Calvary. Each time that you partake properly, you are showing forth the Lord’s death, while exercising your faith in His finished work. Miracles never come by our works, but they do come because of His finished work.

On the night before Israel was to come out of Egyptian bondage, God gave them instructions for what would come to be known as Passover. They were to kill a spotless lamb and mark their doors with its blood. Then they were to roast the lamb with fire and eat all of it. These two were the shadow of a future substance (Hebrews 10:1); the blood on the door being the shed blood of Jesus, applied to the heart of the believer and the roasted body being the body of Christ, judged at Calvary by the fire of heaven, broken for our wholeness.

It was crucial that the Israelites follow the instructions to the letter. Each step in this ceremony is a perfect type of the work that Jesus would accomplish at Calvary. The roasting by fire was symbolic of Jesus receiving into His own body, the judgment of heaven. He was made to be sin for us so that we could be made the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:17). They were told, “Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water” (Exodus 12:9) because we must always see Jesus as crucified and judged for us, not as a baby in a manger. Any reference to Jesus as deliverer that excludes the finished work of the cross is partaking of Jesus raw and soaked with water.

They were also told to eat “his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof” (verse 9). This meant that the Israelites were to consume everything, leaving nothing until the next day. The “purtenance” includes the kidneys, liver and intestines, meaning that God was serious about this lamb! Each part that they ate was a type of Jesus, with them taking His strength for their needs into their own bodies.

Psalms 105:37 says, “He brought them forth also with silver and gold: and there was not one feeble person among their tribes”. It seems impossible that of nearly 3 million slaves, there would not be one person who was sick or feeble, but the text bears it out. How might this have been accomplished? It was the roasted lamb!

If their intestines were hurting, they ate the intestines of the lamb. If their head was wounded, they ate the head of the lamb. If their eyes were failing, they ate the unfailing eyes of the lamb. When Christ died on Calvary, His appearance was so marred that no one could look upon Him (Isaiah 52:14). The reason for this was that Jesus took upon Him all of our cancers and tumors and diseases while He hung on Calvary and died. Matthew said, “Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses” (Matthew 8:17).

When you partake in communion, see your sickness and your disease in the body of Christ. He said to His disciples, “Take, eat; this is my body” (Matthew 26:26). Don’t wait for your local church to have communion again, partake on your own. Paul said, “As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup…” (1 Corinthians 11:26), so there is no such thing as too much!

Spies of Our Liberty

Galatians 2:4

Liberty in the finished work of Jesus Christ is a beautiful thing, but it does not come easy for most of us. We are pre-programmed to work for everything and to do penance through the way that we live. Pure liberty, given freely by Christ’s finished work often seems too good to be true.
Paul exhorted the Galatians to “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage” (Galatians 5:1). He knows that most of the battle is found in simply trying to stand in liberty and that the alternative is to be entangled “again”. Why does the Apostle use the phrase “again”? We were in bondage to the performance of the law before we came to Christ, but His perfect sacrifice has made us free from that entanglement.

Each Christian is actually called into liberty. Their conversion calls them out of the bondage of works based religion and into the glorious light of Christ’s freedom. “For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another” (Galatians 5:13). This call is for us to live free, but not to use our freedom to indulge our flesh. There is a pre-programmed inclination towards sin in all of humanity, even those who are saved. Our liberty gives us no laws or restrictions (1 Corinthians 6:12), but we know that using that liberty wrongly can cause a brother to stumble or fall or even cause us to come beneath sins power.

In the ministry of the Apostle Paul, some came to join him in the work that knew the right words to say, and how to act to make those around them think that they were a true believer. These joined up with Paul so that they could observe him living in his “liberty” and then use those things against him to bring him into condemnation. Jews were not to eat certain foods under the law, nor were they to do anything on the Sabbath day. Paul was free from the law through Jesus so he ate what he wanted and did whatever he desired on the Jewish Sabbath day. These actions were used against him to try and discredit his ministry.

People will use your liberty against you for a number of reasons. Some will do so to try and make themselves feel righteous. If they can accuse you of something, then it makes all of their good deeds feel so much better. Another reason is to bring you under condemnation. This trick is used frequently of the enemy as he tries to make saints feel guilty for enjoying life and having a good time. The church often jumps in on this too, trying to suppress any entertainment or leisure activity. Soon, the saint begins to feel bad for any and all activity that is not wrapped up in the church and they go back under the bondage of law.

As a believer, use your liberty to promote the wonderful love of Jesus Christ and His finished work. Live free in Christ. Laugh a lot, live life to the fullest and never feel that joy is a crime. Many have been turned away from the modern version of Christianity because the ‘saints’ seem miserable. Oftentimes they are the rudest, angriest and most unhappy people that you will ever want to meet. Stand fast in your liberty today and change the perception that the world has about what it means to be a child of the King.

Roast With Fire

Exodus 12:8-10

When is the last time that you observed Communion? God gave the church this glorious ceremony as a way of remembering the perfect price that His Son paid for us at Calvary. Each time that you partake properly, you are showing forth the Lord’s death, while exercising your faith in His finished work. Miracles never come by our works, but they do come because of His finished work.

On the night before Israel was to come out of Egyptian bondage, God gave them instructions for what would come to be known as Passover. They were to kill a spotless lamb and mark their doors with its blood. Then they were to roast the lamb with fire and eat all of it. These two were the shadow of a future substance (Hebrews 10:1); the blood on the door being the shed blood of Jesus, applied to the heart of the believer and the roasted body being the body of Christ, judged at Calvary by the fire of heaven, broken for our wholeness.

It was crucial that the Israelites follow the instructions to the letter. Each step in this ceremony is a perfect type of the work that Jesus would accomplish at Calvary. The roasting by fire was symbolic of Jesus receiving into His own body, the judgment of heaven. He was made to be sin for us so that we could be made the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:17). They were told, “Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water” (Exodus 12:9) because we must always see Jesus as crucified and judged for us, not as a baby in a manger. Any reference to Jesus as deliverer that excludes the finished work of the cross is partaking of Jesus raw and soaked with water.

They were also told to eat “his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof” (verse 9). This meant that the Israelites were to consume everything, leaving nothing until the next day. The “purtenance” includes the kidneys, liver and intestines, meaning that God was serious about this lamb! Each part that they ate was a type of Jesus, with them taking His strength for their needs into their own bodies.

Psalms 105:37 says, “He brought them forth also with silver and gold: and there was not one feeble person among their tribes”. It seems impossible that of nearly 3 million slaves, there would not be one person who was sick or feeble, but the text bears it out. How might this have been accomplished? It was the roasted lamb!

If their intestines were hurting, they ate the intestines of the lamb. If their head was wounded, they ate the head of the lamb. If their eyes were failing, they ate the unfailing eyes of the lamb. When Christ died on Calvary, His appearance was so marred that no one could look upon Him (Isaiah 52:14). The reason for this was that Jesus took upon Him all of our cancers and tumors and diseases while He hung on Calvary and died. Matthew said, “Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses” (Matthew 8:17).

When you partake in communion, see your sickness and your disease in the body of Christ. He said to His disciples, “Take, eat; this is my body” (Matthew 26:26). Don’t wait for your local church to have communion again, partake on your own. Paul said, “As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup…” (1 Corinthians 11:26), so there is no such thing as too much!