Christ Has Set Us Free!

 

We live in an environment where there are many false prophets, and they are coning people by convincing them to place their trust in what he or she, the false prophet, says. God warns us to test this stuff against the truth of His Word, because a true prophet will never speak anything that deviates from the Word of God. As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, everything that we believe must come from God’s Word. That’s our foundation. The Bible is our source for truth. When we allow other stuff to seep in, we get ourselves in serious trouble and our lives will bear this out. When we begin to look at a person as our source for truth, and no longer seek God through Christ for ourselves, the end result will be a disconnect that causes us to be confused, disappointed, and missing out on what God has in store for our lives.

Jesus Christ warned us in Matthew 7:15(NLT), “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” These false prophets will always try to take our focus away from God, who is working in us to will and do of His good pleasure. Instead, they will place the focus on themselves, so that we will continue going back to them for information instead of seeking God through Jesus Christ for ourselves. To stand strong, You and I must remain steadfast in Christ. He said in John 15:4(NLT), “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.”

We must remind ourselves continually of God’s intention for us by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins and show us the way to life. Our Heavenly Father’s intention is to make us good in every way. We could not do this for ourselves, for if we could, Christ would not have had to die. He offered himself up for us to accomplish our Father’s redemption plan, that you and I might become the righteousness of God. 2Corinthians 5:21(NLT) declares, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

We were dead in sin. This was the deplorable state of ruin that all humanity was in before the sacrifice of Christ. His blood cleansed our sin for all eternity, and because of it, 2Corinthians 5:17 says that we are new creations in Christ; the old life is dead and gone, and new life for us has begun! Never before, in all of time has there been creations such as those of us who are born-again of God’s Spirit, and therefore His adopted sons and daughters in Christ. Because of our Redeemer, we will never see hell and never taste eternal damnation. Praise to our God should forever be on our lips for all that He has done for us through His beloved and powerful son, Jesus Christ!

Yet today we find that instead of praise, there is fear and dread. Deep within the canals of our souls, there is sadness and anxiety. Many individuals do not have joy in their hearts, but instead they are woefully disillusioned. This is due in part to the fear that many are spreading through false prophecy. They are doing this because of their own wrong believing and their flat-out refusal to trust and know God’s Word. They have not rightly divided His truth, and because of this, they have led many people to stop believing in the wonderful plan that God has for our lives.

Most of us have figured out that you cannot have faith and fear at the same time. You have to choose one or the other. Either you are going to believe in God’s goodness or you’re not. If you are, then you have to believe in the good plan that He has for your life. Our God is full of compassion and mercy. Deuteronomy 7:9 (NLT) says, “Understand, therefore, that the LORD your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his commands.” Don’t be tricked into believing that you are one step away from falling off a cliff. For He is the same God who told His people in Isaiah 41:10(NLT), “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.” We are His children! He loves us, and He is ever willing to help and hold us up.

When we listen to the wrong people saying the wrong things, our lives feel chaotic and out of place. You might think, “Why am I sinking? Why am I going further and further down into the abyss where nothing makes sense?” Doubt cannot lift us up, it can only take us down. Doubt and unbelief do not tell the truth about our reality in Christ. We can never make sense of life through the lens of distrust and unbelief. It just won’t work. Trusting in God is the only way life will make sense.

Some of us have been listening to the wrong folks. And because of this, we are not walking with God through Jesus Christ in a way that floods our lives with His light. We’re in darkness, and we need to come out of it. Our lives are a mirror. They will reflect it when we turn away from our identity in Christ. Emotionally, we feel stripped of our armor. The remedy for this is to renew our commitment to stand in our authority in Christ! Acts 17:28 tells us, “In Him we live and move and have our being.” We abide in Christ, and his Spirit dwells within us. Ephesians 2:6 declares that we have been seated in Christ in the Heavenly realms. 1John 4:4 declares that greater is He that is in us than he who is in the world. We are more than conquerors in Christ! He’s given us the keys to the Kingdom, and we must use them!

There is no doubt that we are encountering spiritual warfare in the earth. Many prophets have spoken this very plainly, but they can and should only tell us what is in God’s Word. It is Christ who told us in John 16:33 that in this world we will have trouble, but he has overcome the world. The fight of faith is a good fight because it is a fight that is always and forever won through Christ. As children of God, we must understand that Jesus Christ has won the victory, and our responsibility is to stand in that victory. This means that we are not fighting FOR victory, we are fighting FROM victory. We should be standing in what our Lord and Savior has accomplished for us.

Galatians 5:1(The Message) says, “Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you.” How are you taking a stand? Are you letting the darkness of the world overshadow the light of Christ in your heart? Are you listening to messages from those that seek to boost themselves instead of giving God glory and honor? Fight from a place of victory! Look to the future that God has for you with hopefulness and joy. Season your prayer life with praise and thankfulness and ask God to help you prepare for what He has in store. Guard your heart, guard your eyes, and guard your ears! Be committed to maintain your authority in Christ, and don’t listen to those who are not committed to help you stand with the power, strength, faith and hope that God has given you through Jesus Christ.■

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright ©1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

“Christ Has Set Us Free!",by written for Christian Encouragement and Inspiration© 2022. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.