Afternoon Message – Give me liberty … continued
Text: Galatians 5:1-12
Not only are we enfranchised into true Liberty through Christ which makes us indebted to Christ, we are then obligated to serve Christ. Our duty and obligation then is to stand fast in the liberty and be not entangled in this old world. We are to stand firm on the truth and not move one step toward the world and its philosophies. Our duty is to base our entire life upon the Word of God. When we do this, God will reveal Himself in great and miraculous ways and give us supernatural strength.
David comes to mind when he faced the giant, Goliath of Gath. Goliath laughed at this little boy named David but David told him that the very God who he defies shall indeed give David the victory. He was unwavering in the truth, never backed down, and God gave the victory.
Another unwavering man was Job. Job lost everything and everyone in his life. He went through great physical affliction. His wife and acquaintances told him to curse God and die. Yet, when it came down to it, Job responded, “though He slay me, yet will I serve Him.”
Paul himself could have extended his own life if he would have just changed his message a little bit and made it more acceptable to society. All Paul had to do was to recant and then not be so dogmatic about the resurrection of Christ and he could have lived. Yet Paul saw the fact that he was obligated to serve the Christ whom he loved at all costs. He was going to serve God and let God deal with the world. These three men, along with many others, stood firm upon Christ and they did not even have the completed scripture like we do. So, what is our excuse?
In Rom. 7:4-6 Paul reminds us that we are dead to this world and our sin nature and we are to serve Christ in newness of life or in other words in Christ’s liberty. Eph. 4 we are told to walk worthy of our vocation which is being set free from sin to serve the Almighty God. So, what will you and I do, I Cor. 9: 19-f.f. Will we serve God with Christ’s liberty or will we squander it on ourselves? Will we get out of the way and become all things to all men that Christ may win some?