HEBREWS 8:10-12 – For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.”

THEME OF THE DAY. WALK IN GOSPEL FREEDOM. If one was asked to simplify the results of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the life of the repenting and believing sinner to one word, I am not sure there is a better one than “freedom.” This truth is proclaimed by the Apostle Paul in a couple of places. In his letter to the Galatians, he writes, “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1). But in his letter to the Romans, particularly chapter six, this freedom stands out with clarity and force – But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:17-23).

Yes, we have been given freedom in Christ as a result of believing His Gospel, but it is another thing to live out that freedom. So, how do we do this? How do we walk in Gospel freedom? Well to begin with, it isn’t about what we do. It is about what we know. Doing the Christian life always flows from knowing the truths of the Christian life. And in this case, if we are going to walk in Gospel freedom, we need to know what this freedom consists of. Once we get the knowing, then, by faith, we get to the doing. Here are two areas of freedom we have been given by God’s amazing grace in the Gospel.

First, the Gospel has freed us from the guilt of sin – There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). Any steps of walking in the freedom Christ bought for us must begin with understanding of our never-changing standing with God. We bear no condemnation for our sins. None. God can never look at us with an eye to condemn us and a hand to punish us. He did that once and for all on His Son. Do we sin? Yes, but a child of God will never be punished for sin, never condemned for sin. Let this renew our minds because here is where freedom begins – the power of forgiveness. This awareness allows us to live confident and assured of the great love, mercy, and grace in the Gospel of the Lord Jesus.

Another area of freedom the Gospel grants us is divine contentment. Friends, the world promises satisfaction, contentment, and purpose in this life and delivers none of them. The world disappoints, enslaves, deceives, and makes bold boast of fulfilling all our inward cravings only to fall short – every time. Not the Gospel. It reconciles us to the only source of satisfaction, contentment and purpose in life – God Himself. Learn to see this aspect of Gospel freedom and we won’t be lulled into the false claims of the world.

Freedom. It is the birthright of the Christian bought by the Gospel of the Lord Jesus. May God help us walk in it as His “set free” children.

PRAYER: “Father, I praise You for the Gospel that saves me. Please help me to live in the freedom the Gospel gave me.”

QUOTE: “The Gospel changes us into new people then empowers us to enjoy the spiritual freedom of being new people.”