"I'm no longer a slave to...I am a child of God..."
No longer a slave...
No longer slaves. What does that mean?
Before we accepted God's free gift of salvation, we were slaves to sin. Bound to sin. Unable on our own, to be free.
But now that we've accepted Christ's life in exchange for ours, we are slaves to sin no longer! Hallelujah! As Paul put it in his letter to the Romans, we have been set free from the law of sin and death.
So what does that mean, practically? What does it mean for you and for me to no longer be slaves?
It means we have a choice.
It means we're no longer bound to obey the voice of the enemy. Instead, our joy, our desire is to obey the voice of our Father! The voice of our Savior! The voice of our Love. The voice of our King.
It means that because of Holy Spirit's work within us, we can choose to say no to fear. We can choose to say no to envy and pride and jealousy and condemnation.
Does it mean that we'll never be tempted? That we'll never feel any of those emotions or be tempted to linger there?
No. But it does mean that we don't have to give in. That we can say no. That we can choose.
Oh, my friends, we are no longer slaves! We are no longer slaves to sin. We are no longer slaves to lies. We are no longer slaves to emotions.
We are free!
Free sons and daughters. Loved by God Almighty. Delighted in by our Daddy.
Free to choose.
We are free.
For whom Christ has set free, is free indeed! from John 8:36
Through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. from Romans 8:2 NIV
God's Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go! This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It's adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike "What's next, Papa?" God's Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who He is, and we know who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what's coming to us - an unbelievable inheritance! from Romans 8:14-17 MSG
