No Longer A Slave

Introduction

            What are some of the things that make you afraid that God does not love you?  Maybe you don’t feel like you're good enough.  Maybe you worry you don’t know enough about the Bible or your don't read the Bible enough or you don't pray enough; you worry that God is upset with you.  Maybe you struggle with an addiction--alcohol, drugs, food addiction, an addiction to internet porn, or something else.  Your bad habit might make you fear God has given up and turned His back on you.  You think, "God just couldn’t love me because…"

            Fear can make you a slave.  I am so thankful Jesus came to set us free from fear!  We are no longer have to be slaves to fear or anything else.  Jesus sets us free, so don't go back and let fear or anything else enslave you again.

 

Galatians 3:1-4

¹ Oh, foolish Galatians! Who has cast an evil spell on you? For the meaning of Jesus Christ’s death was made as clear to you as if you had seen a picture of his death on the cross. ² Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ. ³ How foolish can you be? After starting your new lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort? ⁴ Have you experienced so much for nothing? Surely it was not in vain, was it?

 

The Galatians

            The Apostle Paul came and preached the God News about Jesus Christ to the Galatians--a group who believed in many different pagan gods.  They believed you had to make sacrifices and perform certain religious ceremonies in order to manipulate the gods into doing favors for you.  But Paul preached that God already loves us and sent Jesus Christ as the only sacrifice that was able to atone for our sins.  So we no longer need to be afraid of GOd, because through Christ we are forgiven and restored. 

            Through the Apostle Paul, the Galatians were set free.  Unfortunately, some false teachers arrived after Paul moved on to another city and started teaching the Galatians they must follow the Old Testament laws in order to be “real” Christians.  Paul wrote the letter to the Galatians to counteract the evil spell of these false teachers.

            The message of Galatians is this:  Jesus set us free from the impossible burden of the Old Testament Law (or any religious laws).  We are save by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ and not by following the Law.  You are no longer a slave.  Therefore, don’t let anyone lead you to be enslaved again.

 

Freedom
Jesus came to set you free:
    Free from the impossible burden of trying to do everything perfect. 
      Free from the requirement to follow all of the Old Testament laws. 
         Free from the fear that you aren’t good enough and that God won’t love you. 
           Free from the unreasonable expectation other people (and even society) place upon you.

            If Jesus sets you free, you are free indeed. (John 8:36)  But just like the Galatians, we sometimes listen to lies that tell us our faith in Jesus is not enough, that we must do something more or else God won’t really love us.
            What voices are telling you that you aren’t good enough?  That God doesn’t really love you?  That you don’t measure up?  What voices are confusing you?  Making you doubt Jesus and his love?  Discouraging you, making you want to give up?  You need to understand, that's not the voice of God or His Son Jesus.  That may be the voice of Satan trying to mislead and discourage and destroy you.  Learn to distinguish between the voice of Satan and the voice of Jesus.

Here are some ways you can tell the difference:

 

Satan’s Voice	Jesus’ Voice
Rushes you Pushes you Frightens you Confuses you Discourages you Worries you Obsesses you Condemns you	Stills you Leads you Reassures you Enlightens you Encourages you Comforts you Calms you Convicts you

 

            Did you notice that last one on the list?  Condemn vs. Convict?  People often confuse these.  To be sure, no one likes to be convicted; it doesn't feel good, but it is healthy when we need it.  Satn would condemn you and tell you there is no hope for you, you have messed up and you are no longer loved and you will be punished and there's nothing you can do about it.  But the voice of Jesus doesn't condemn you; Jesus convicts you.  Conviction says, "You messed up and I love you so I want you to know, but if you repent I forgive you and we will move on together."  So Jesus may convict you, but he does it out of love.  He doesn't condemn you.
            Whenever you hear someone or some thought making you doubt God’s love for you, remind yourself:  I’m no longer a slave to fear.  I am a child of God. 
Repeat it to yourself until you believe it. 

Jeremiah 1:5 – “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb.”
            Did you know God chose you before you were born and set you apart for something special.  God’s Holy Spirit has walked beside you your entire life—even if you never  thought about Him once—in hopes that you would one day receive His gift of salvation.  In fact, God loved you so much that He sent His one and only son, Jesus, to leave the glory of Heaven to come down to earth in search of you. 
            In John 15:16, Jesus said, “You didn’t choose me. I chose you.”  Jesus loved you so much he willingly died on the cross to set you free.  So now you are no longer a slave—if you trust in Jesus Christ.  If you trust in Jesus Christ, you are born again into the family of God. 
            Consider this—Jesus blood flows through your veins!  You are indeed a child of God!  Galatians 3:26 says, "For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus."  God’s Spirit lives inside you and we can call God “Daddy”, “Papa”, “Pops”, or whatever else you would call a loving father with whom you had a deep, intimate, and trusting relationship.  (Galatians 4:6)
            Who is Jesus to you?  Is he a myth?  A man in a book?  A historical figure?  Do you think he is a great prophet or religious leader?  Is he the Son of the Living God?  Jesus said he is your best friend!  Jesus said:  “I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me.” (John 15:15)  Isn't that wonderful! 

I Want You to Know at the Very Core of Your Being that God Loves You!
            Whenever you begin to doubt or feel unworthy or guilty or ashamed or unloved, I want you to feel the loving arms of our Father surrounding you in a loving embrace.  When our sin and guilt and shame was a like an impassable Red Sea, Jesus split the Sea so we could walk right through it.  Walk through to freedom!  When the enemies of your fear and doubt chase you trying to drag you back into slavery, God sends the seas crashing back in to drown them with perfect love while you walk through to freedom unscathed! 

You’ve been liberated from bondage!  Don’t spend your time thinking about or worrying about the past.  Surround yourself with songs of deliverance and people of deliverance!  Sing praises together to God about your freedom!

Invitation

            If you are a Christian, I want you to know that you are set free.  You are no longer a slave.  You are a child of God.
            But perhaps today, you are not sure if you are a Christian.  Maybe you know that you are not because you've never put your faith in Jesus.  Why not start today?  Do you want to be set free from your fear?  Do you want to know your sins are forgiven?  Do you want the freedom Christ brings?  Do you want to become a child of God?  Them I invite you to become a follower of Christ today.  Put your faith in Him.  Repent of your sin and trust Jesus as your Lord and Savior from this day forward.  All you have to do is pray to God and ask him to save you.  You can pray something like this:

Dear Father in Heaven,
I know Jesus is Your precious Son,
And that he died on the cross for my sin,
And that he rose from the dead and is living again. 
Lord I confess my sin.
Forgive me. I trust You to save me.
Please come take control of my life. 
Thank you for setting me free to know Your amazing grace and love.
Amen.

If you became a Christian today, I would love for you to email me and share your story so I can pray for you.  Would you email me at ReverendChrisMullis@Hotmail.com?

Now, click here for a song to sing whenever you start to doubt if God really loves you or if you've really been set free.