FREE!

Gosh, I enjoyed tromping through the freedom that is in Christ this morning:  May this little piece simply make you thirsty!  The portion of scripture I feasted on this morning was in Romans--the teachings of Paul on the impact of sin.   The mysterious intertwining of our body, soul and spirit takes on new dimensions when we consider that sin affects every aspect of us. 

Sin gets life from the Law...it takes what is good, twists it and murders us with it.  Limiting our understanding of sin to 'actions' dangerously diminishes its reality.  The essence of sin is placing something else on the throne that belongs to God alone.  It is allowing what is empty and profitless to direct us right into death.  The Law helps us see when we do that, but Paul says our flesh is too weak to combat sin on its own.  And then he gives the praise that should well up in every one of us:  Jesus Christ delivers from the body of death! 

Only the Spirit of Life empowers this body to live out the beauty of the Law--the beauty of righteousness.  The Spirit helps me in my weaknesses, prays for me and moves me toward the destination God desires:  conformed to the image of Jesus Christ, conformed to the image of righteousness.  Wow.

I cannot serve the Law with perfection--if I could, Jesus would never have needed to die.  But if I love God...if I heed His call and accept the justification provided by Christ, I enjoy the glory of freedom.  Nothing can separate me from that love.  That's is security and freedom.  Hallelujah!!