BEING FREE IN JESUS
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 2 Cor. 3:17, R.S.V.
For thirty-five years Bill had been very careful to live by the minute requirements of a conservative Christian lifestyle. He was convinced he must do that in order to obtain salvation. Suddenly, however, he turned his back on all religion. "I've got to be free to become myself," he complained.
Perhaps Bill had never studied today's text. Probably he felt, as do many Christians, that the Spirit's presence and freedom just don't seem to go together. Such people see God as needing to impose upon them a heavy sense of "ought-ness"--"You ought to do this," "you ought not to be that." Freedom seems a cruel joke, but to admit it would be rebellious, and they "ought not to be rebellious!"
But if there is in one's religious experience such a feeling of oppression, of heavy demands for submission to power, then we can be sure that the Spirit of the Lord is not there. He is not involved in such religion. For the Spirit of the Lord does not work by force.
We must recall that there is more than one kind of force. Far more subtle and therefore more effective than physical force is emotional force. And that comes in myriad forms: the threat of withholding love, using past failings to rub the raw nerves of hurting self-worth, and verbal scoldings and harangues, to name just a few.
Our God works not by force but by imparting the principles of truth and illuminating the mind to understand that truth, making it vital to our lives. God doesn't need to use force to support His truths for they are well able to stand on their own merits.
In human structures, whenever leaders become deficient in truth they must immediately compensate with a display of power. Such leaders either do not have truth behind their schemes or they do not trust the ability of their subjects to grasp what truth they may have.
But God has neither problem. Not only is His government rooted in sensible, coherent truth, He also has great confidence in the capacities of His creatures to perceive that truth! To use force is to deny both these principles.
In an atmosphere of freedom, how quickly our minds respond to grasp the principles of truth on which God builds His gracious government. Are you free in Jesus? Then thank His Spirit for showing you how to be free!
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 2 Cor. 3:17, R.S.V.
For thirty-five years Bill had been very careful to live by the minute requirements of a conservative Christian lifestyle. He was convinced he must do that in order to obtain salvation. Suddenly, however, he turned his back on all religion. "I've got to be free to become myself," he complained.
Perhaps Bill had never studied today's text. Probably he felt, as do many Christians, that the Spirit's presence and freedom just don't seem to go together. Such people see God as needing to impose upon them a heavy sense of "ought-ness"--"You ought to do this," "you ought not to be that." Freedom seems a cruel joke, but to admit it would be rebellious, and they "ought not to be rebellious!"
But if there is in one's religious experience such a feeling of oppression, of heavy demands for submission to power, then we can be sure that the Spirit of the Lord is not there. He is not involved in such religion. For the Spirit of the Lord does not work by force.
We must recall that there is more than one kind of force. Far more subtle and therefore more effective than physical force is emotional force. And that comes in myriad forms: the threat of withholding love, using past failings to rub the raw nerves of hurting self-worth, and verbal scoldings and harangues, to name just a few.
Our God works not by force but by imparting the principles of truth and illuminating the mind to understand that truth, making it vital to our lives. God doesn't need to use force to support His truths for they are well able to stand on their own merits.
In human structures, whenever leaders become deficient in truth they must immediately compensate with a display of power. Such leaders either do not have truth behind their schemes or they do not trust the ability of their subjects to grasp what truth they may have.
But God has neither problem. Not only is His government rooted in sensible, coherent truth, He also has great confidence in the capacities of His creatures to perceive that truth! To use force is to deny both these principles.
In an atmosphere of freedom, how quickly our minds respond to grasp the principles of truth on which God builds His gracious government. Are you free in Jesus? Then thank His Spirit for showing you how to be free!
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