Freedom in Christ

Are you living as free as Christ made you to be? To the Christians at Rome, Paul made the great affirmation, “Therefore being justified by faith. . . .” (Rom. 5:1a). To be justified is to be set free. As one who is in the wrong might stand before a judge expecting and deserving a guilty verdict and instead is acquitted of all charges, Jesus likewise forgives us of all our transgressions. As it has been well put, “’being ‘justified’ is ‘just-as-if-I-had never sinned.’” In other words, those who have once been imprisoned by sin have been set free to serve righteousness (Romans 6:17-18).

This freedom, Paul says, is “by faith” or by the “system of faith” – that is, the gospel and our obedience to it (Romans 1:5; Romans 6:16; Romans 16:19; Romans 16:26). Following this declaration that we are free in Christ, Paul then goes on further to describe what our freedom involves. Freedom in Christ or justification by faith means:

1. We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1)

2. We have access into the grace of God wherein we stand (Romans 5:2)

3. We have hope in the glory of God (Romans 5:2)

4. We can glory in our tribulations because of the spiritual growth potential we have through them (Romans 5:3-8).

5. We can experience the blessings of freedom as a present reality – notice the word “now” as it is used twice in the following text (Romans 5:9-11).

Truly, “the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us” (Rom. 5:5b). Again, are you living as free as Christ made you to be? Are you presently rejoicing in these awesome blessings as a result of being justified by faith?

Published by Michael Email This Post Print This Post
Filed under: Devotional, Michael Carter on December 5th, 2008