GIG 198 - Freedom Comes Not Through Law But Through Faith

Christians, declare your independence from the Law! Many Christians, it seems, have not realized that Christ set them free from God's Law. But since it's the truth, we might as well know and understand it so we can live a life of independence from the Law and of true freedom in Christ!

There are over 600 Laws in the Bible. So which Laws are we talking about here? As everyone knows, there are two covenants - the Old and the New. In the Old, we see that there are laws that are broken into three categories: sacrificial laws, dietary laws... AND what is known as "moral laws," or The Ten Commandments. Most Christians have no problem with the understanding that we don't live by the old sacrificial and dietary laws. But as we check out Paul's words in Galatians this week, we find out what he has to say about the latter set of laws, which many Christian seem to think are there for us to live by. If you see things that way, you may be surprised at what the Bible actually says about that!

In short, let's just say that walking by Law means that we are in bondage! To walk according to God's promise - to walk according to freedom - means to walk by faith, not law. We are children of faith and of the promise, not children of the flesh and bondage!

Next week: If our lives in Christ are not to be by Law, then what is the motivation and source of good works and righteous living?

gigcast.graceroots.org

Walking by faith

What does walking by faith look like? Does it mean you you go to church, you read your Bible, you give to the church and to others, you get involved in church activities, you become a missionary, you pray without ceasing, and so on." Not that some or all of those things can't be a part of your own personal walk of faith.

But as I've read through the "faith" chapter of the Bible - Hebrews 11 - it's occurred to me that a life of faith is really far more deep and rich. There are really a lot of things that people have done "by faith" that really don't look "churchy" or "religious" at all. A man builds a huge ship in the middle of dry land. Another man moves his entire family to another country and lives as a stranger, camping in tents. An old, barren woman gives birth to a son. A prostitute receives spies and hides them. A baby is hidden by his parents. Kingdoms are subdued, righteousness is worked out, promises are obtained, lion's mouths are stopped, people are made strong out of weakness.

Others were tortured, mocked, scourged, imprisoned, stoned, sawn in two, etc... all because of their faith. I don't mean only that these things happened to these people because of their faith, but they walked into these things and willingly endured these things because of their faith.

All of these stories and so much more are packed into the eleventh chapter of Hebrews, describing what various people did "by faith." It's pretty amazing to me when I contrast all of this with the things that are expected today from Christians as acts of faith. Again, if you're involved in various sorts of "church activity," and you pray and you read your Bible and you give and you love it and know you're called to it, that's absolutely wonderful! My purpose here is to simply show how my own understanding of the life of faith has been greatly expanded far beyond "church life."

I realize that a few of the New Testament scriptures show what life in the early church was like. We can glean a lot of great stuff from all that. But if we limit our expressions of faith to "church life," I think we've missed the boat. Even in regards to the "gifts of the Spirit" --- Are God's gifts only for use in the context of a church meeting? And are the His gifts only limited to the ones Paul happens to mention? One helpful thing that I get out of Hebrews 11 is the idea that we're all different kinds of people and our expressions of faith are essentially limitless! Read through the chapter and note the diverse types of people and the diverse things they did "by faith." We have a great big God (a gross understatement). Doesn't He express Himself in and through us in so many ways beyond activity that seems religious and churchy? Can we open up our minds and hearts and ears and eyes and other senses and get a taste of what a real life of faith is? Isn't it really a great adventure?!

"Permisson to be Human" - Darin Hufford

On his blog, as a preface to a blog post called "Permission to be Human," Darin Hufford writes, "Taking a big chance posting this. We'll see what happens...."

What is his post about, in which he's taking such a chance? To me, it's a raw look at the contradictory ways in which Christians live their lives, written in the first person from Darin's own perspective. Now... before I post the link to it, I want to affirm adamantly my belief that focusing on all of this inconsistent, contradictory behavior in the life of the Christian (and believe me, Darin doesn't hold back when sharing his own self-observances in his post!) is NOT what our life in Christ is about! In fact, focusing on it can be very detrimental to the living out of our daily lives in Christ. We can understand the reality that, for example, we think pure thoughts one moment and then the next moment we're all caught up in lustful thinking... without letting the truth of those contradictions steal from us the truth of our identity in Christ that is based not upon how we behave but upon the fact that by faith God has given us an identity that is righteous, holy, blameless and pure. We walk by faith in Christ, not by self-observance!

But I'm linking to this because I know that I know that I know that I know that sometimes an individual can feel as if they're the only Christian on the planet who deals with behavior that isn't always consistent (an understatement, of course), and I think that Darin simply comes out and says candidly what many Christians deal with daily, but are hesitant to speak about. Some of my blogging friends have posted similar blog posts in the past, and I always appreciate the honesty!

What is left out of the post, in my opinion (or at least it's what I would have gone on to say had I said the same things myself) is the truth about victory being a gift from God that He has already given us and that we walk in by faith, and by His grace - and that we don't need to stay locked into a mindset that the daily Christian life is simply a matter of putting up with fluctuating behavior.

That said, that obviously wasn't the point Darin was trying to make. So... I invite you to follow one of the links below and allow Darin to say all the things you've always wanted to say as a Christian, but were too afraid... and know that you're not alone. :) And I just want to add - Thank you, Father, for the victory that we have in Jesus! Thank you that we follow you and love you and obey you... not based upon our own abilities or efforts to do any of these things, but based upon Your faithfulness and Your love and Your own working that you work in us as we rest in You.

"Permission to be Human"
Darin's Myspace post
Darin's website blog post