"Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ bath made us free" (Galatians 5:1).
Being a Christian is often seen as restrictive, confining and constraining. It is really just the opposite: the ultimate in freedom. However, our new life in Christ only wants to do what pleases Him, and we are at perfect liberty to do so. Here is a list of ten positive aspects of the liberty which we now have in Christ: Liberty 1:
To see my sins as put away from God's sight and to understand that I am justified by the Judge Himself.
"king justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Roar. 3:24).
Liberty 2:
To know that God expects nothing of value from my old nature and that it was, in fact, condemned at the cross.
"Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him" (Rom. 6:8)
Liberty 3:
To recognize that my new position (standing) before God is in Christ.
"God ... hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Eph. 2:4, 6).
Liberty 4:
To look away from myself and unto Christ, knowing that God finds all His delight in Him.
"As He is, so are we in this world" (1 John 4:17).
Liberty 5:
To regard myself as entirely connected with my new nature, the Holy Spirit providing the power to fill my heart with Christ.
"This is He that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ.... And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth" (1 John 5:6).
Liberty 6:
To appreciate that God is my Father (no longer my Judge) and that He takes pleasure in blessing me.
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ" (Eph. 1:3).
Liberty 7:
To know that, since it is the Son who has made me free, I am completely and permanently free.
"If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed" (John 8:36).
Liberty 8:
To look at the glory shining in the face of Jesus Christ and to be at home in that wonderful place of holiness and love.
For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Cor. 4:6).
Liberty 9:
To reckon that every blessing is through Christ by unmerited grace and that this will continue for eternity "Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: that as sin lath reigned unto death, each so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom. 5:20-21).
Liberty 10:
To serve the One who has delivered me: the Lord Himself.
"Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ" (Col. 3:24). L. Perry