A Compelling Testimony: Maintaining a Disciplined Walk, Christlike Character, and Godly Relationships as God's Servant

Ses s i on 7: F l esh i ng Out a Compe l l i ng Tes t imony : Di sc i p l i n i ng Our Di sc i p l i nes 325

C. The chains of bondage that enslave

1. Christ Jesus, through his death and resurrection, has freed those who believe from the condemnation of the law and its judgment.

a. The law of sin and death has been overcome through the law of the Spirit of life in Christ, Rom. 8.1-2 – There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. [2] For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.

b. Where the Spirit is living and manifest, all things are done in the freedom of Christ, 2 Cor. 3.17 – Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

c. Christ actually was manifested to set us free, and we are to allow nothing to “re-enslave” us under the yoke of the Law’s tyranny, Gal. 5.1 – For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

2. We have now been set free, not free from the law of God, but from the bondage and yoke of any structure that seeks to make our righteousness dependent on what we do.

a. Our freedom is not a license for evil, but an opportunity to love God from the heart, 1 Pet. 2.16 – Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.

b. We are to use our freedom from the condemnation and guilt of the Law to serve one another in the body,