This is a faithful saying: For if we died with Him, We shall also live with Him. If we endure, We shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us. If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself. Remind them of these things, charging them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers. 2Timothy 2:11-14 (NKJV)
I took a ride up in the local Mountains on my Harley Davidson the morning of July 4th, and I was thinking to myself, "There are few things better than freedom; the freedom to make your own choice to choose what you will do, or what you will believe."
These are rights that have been outlined in our Declaration of Independence. The wording for this document was approved by Congress on July 4th 1776, and voted on by August 2nd of that same year. The first line of the second paragraph set forth the basis of all of our rights, and it goes like this:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
So, with this writing, we, as 13 simple American colonies declared ourselves to be both free and independent states. It was through stepping out in faith that this document came to be, and with it, the official birth of a new nation. Gone was the old identity, and we were now 13 United States of America.
In much the same manor, we, as Christians, made our decision in an act of faith when we declared our freedom from the bondage of slavery to sin as we accepted Gods offer of salvation through the shed blood of Jesus Christ on that cross of Calvary. And, in the same manor of the 13-colonies dying to the relationship that they once had with their old identity, we too, have died to our old identity and nature. We celebrate our death of that old identity when we are baptized, as we are now united with the Lord in the crucifixion and death of that old life, and we are raised to a way of living as well as a new nature and identity.
For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Romans 6:5-7 (NKJV)
I guess you could say that our document showing our declaration of independence as Christian men and woman is the Lambs book of Life, where every believers name will be written and reviewed.
And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. Revelation 20:15 (NKJV)
Hey Christian, the 4th of July has come and gone, but that shouldn't end the celebration. We should actually be celebrating each and every day in the same manor, because weve been given true freedom from our bondage to sin, and we've been given freedom from our old nature and our old identity. We used to be identified with what we did with respect to our Job, our sport activity, or our political beliefs, but we should be identified by our relationship with Jesus Christ, and our newness of how we walk.
Our Creator has given us certain unalienable rights. This simply means that the right to these things shouldn't be taken away from us.
Q: What are "These things?"
A: Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness
Well let's see what God says about these things in His Word.
1. Life: We have all been given the right to life. Jesus speaks of this true life:
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16 (NKJV)
2. Liberty: We have been given liberty from the bondage and slavery of sin, and the death that comes from it. Jesus speaks of this liberty:
"The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; Luke 4:18 (NKJV)"
3. Pursuit of happiness: In Matthew 6:33 we are instructed to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and "Then" all these things will be added unto you. Happiness is a byproduct of seeking God and His righteousness.
He who heeds the word wisely will find good, And whoever trusts in the LORD, happy is he. Proverbs 16:20 (NKJV)
In part II of this study, we will take a look at the freedom that we have been given, and the choices that we will have as a result.
STUDY QUESTION: What unalienable rights has God given us?
PERSONAL INVENTORY: Are you living in your freedom, or are you still living as if you were a slave to sin-not willing to exercise the power of the Holy Spirit within you to stop sinning?
APPLICATION: Confess your sin, call out to God, and seek the power of the Holy Spirit to walk in freedom. Jesus has paid the price to give you that power.
I took a ride up in the local Mountains on my Harley Davidson the morning of July 4th, and I was thinking to myself, "There are few things better than freedom; the freedom to make your own choice to choose what you will do, or what you will believe."
These are rights that have been outlined in our Declaration of Independence. The wording for this document was approved by Congress on July 4th 1776, and voted on by August 2nd of that same year. The first line of the second paragraph set forth the basis of all of our rights, and it goes like this:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
So, with this writing, we, as 13 simple American colonies declared ourselves to be both free and independent states. It was through stepping out in faith that this document came to be, and with it, the official birth of a new nation. Gone was the old identity, and we were now 13 United States of America.
In much the same manor, we, as Christians, made our decision in an act of faith when we declared our freedom from the bondage of slavery to sin as we accepted Gods offer of salvation through the shed blood of Jesus Christ on that cross of Calvary. And, in the same manor of the 13-colonies dying to the relationship that they once had with their old identity, we too, have died to our old identity and nature. We celebrate our death of that old identity when we are baptized, as we are now united with the Lord in the crucifixion and death of that old life, and we are raised to a way of living as well as a new nature and identity.
For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Romans 6:5-7 (NKJV)
I guess you could say that our document showing our declaration of independence as Christian men and woman is the Lambs book of Life, where every believers name will be written and reviewed.
And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. Revelation 20:15 (NKJV)
Hey Christian, the 4th of July has come and gone, but that shouldn't end the celebration. We should actually be celebrating each and every day in the same manor, because weve been given true freedom from our bondage to sin, and we've been given freedom from our old nature and our old identity. We used to be identified with what we did with respect to our Job, our sport activity, or our political beliefs, but we should be identified by our relationship with Jesus Christ, and our newness of how we walk.
Our Creator has given us certain unalienable rights. This simply means that the right to these things shouldn't be taken away from us.
Q: What are "These things?"
A: Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness
Well let's see what God says about these things in His Word.
1. Life: We have all been given the right to life. Jesus speaks of this true life:
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16 (NKJV)
2. Liberty: We have been given liberty from the bondage and slavery of sin, and the death that comes from it. Jesus speaks of this liberty:
"The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; Luke 4:18 (NKJV)"
3. Pursuit of happiness: In Matthew 6:33 we are instructed to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and "Then" all these things will be added unto you. Happiness is a byproduct of seeking God and His righteousness.
He who heeds the word wisely will find good, And whoever trusts in the LORD, happy is he. Proverbs 16:20 (NKJV)
In part II of this study, we will take a look at the freedom that we have been given, and the choices that we will have as a result.
STUDY QUESTION: What unalienable rights has God given us?
PERSONAL INVENTORY: Are you living in your freedom, or are you still living as if you were a slave to sin-not willing to exercise the power of the Holy Spirit within you to stop sinning?
APPLICATION: Confess your sin, call out to God, and seek the power of the Holy Spirit to walk in freedom. Jesus has paid the price to give you that power.
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