you are bound to Satan. There is no alternative or middle ground. Thank Cod, in Christ, we are no longer bound to Satan and are freed from responding as mere hu man nature would dictate. Secondly, we are freed from guilt and condemnation. As a young person, I remember being told by my parents when I had done things wrong. Many times I would go to my room thinking I might as well "throw in the sponge." I saw no way to live in a manner acceptable to others. In Christ, I found a measure of free dom never tapped previously. I do not have to go around with a guilt complex feeling I am con demned. Paul testifies to the Rom an church. "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus" (8:1). Having accepted Christ, no one can point their finger in condemnation. We are free in Him from all guilt. The Savior has removed the judgment. Coals are essential in life, but our goal of living a life that is pleas ing to the Lord is designed to pro vide direction and hasten progress. It is not an overwhelming burden that crushes and destroys. There is a world of difference between a healthy desire to succeed and the haunting thought that we are not acceptable. The Christian stands be fore God (the only One who counts) knowing that, through Christ, he is neither guilty nor condemned. In Christ we are also free from the pressure of justifying ourselves to God. Sometime ago I was read ing about a businessman who reg ularly contributes to a variety of religious organizations. He said, "I don't know just who God favors so I want to make sure I have all the
bases covered." In many ways, we are all trapped in this prison. We honestly believe that there is much that we must do in order to reveal our acceptability before Cod. This is a burden that is unnecessary. Christ has already made us accept able before the Father through His shed blood on the cross of Calvary. In John 8, Christ speaks of free dom to the Pharisees. They were attempting to prove their accept ability to Christ by saying that they were Abraham's children. In Christ's day, there were many that attempted to prove acceptability to God by pointing to their heri tage or by keeping the Old Testa ment Law. Think of the pressures that many of them were under. There were over 1,000 laws and prohibitions a person had to be acquainted with if he was to live completely within the law. In light of that, what a triumphant note is sounded by Paul in Galatians 5:1: "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage." In Christ, those who have been at tempting to live under the law were free and were not to be entangled again with what Paul called, "The yoke of bondage." Perhaps you have not been guil ty of keeping the law to prove that you are acceptable to God, but there may be other legalistic ten dencies in your life that you have been counting on as proof of your acceptability to Cod. No matter how good they are, they cannot take the place of Christ's sacrifice. Prayer and Bible study, as profit able as they are, cannot make us acceptable before Cod. Christ's work alone is all-sufficient.
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