FREE FROM THE YOKE OF SLAVERY
Under the law we become hypocrites. The word
comes from the Greek theater.. A hypocrite is not an imperfect person; a
hypocrite is an actor, a pretender. What made the Pharisees hypocrites was not
their faults: It was their pretense that they were righteous. It was teaching
one thing and doing another. But that is what law will always produce: people
who are always hiding their real selves, always acting, always pretending, and
never being real.
But what happens when we are set free by grace?
One of the most common testimonies I hear is, "For the first time in my
life, I am free to just be myself! I'm free to be me."
The ultimate consequence of living under law is
outright rebellion when you give up because of the hopelessness of ever
making it.
Time and time again, I have seen these people who
have been branded as "rebels against God" or "back-slidden
Christians" come out of their chairs in excitement and joy as they learn
for the first time about the incredible grace, love and acceptance of God in
Jesus Christ.
In all my years as a Christian, I have never
heard anyone say, "I've had it! I am sick to death of the love and grace
of God. I'm sick of other Christians loving and accepting me. I'm giving up
this Christian life." No I've never heard that. But I couldn't count the
number of Christians I've known who have given up because of being under law,
who have been broken by the crushing burden of trying to be good enough to earn
God's acceptance, who have been mangled by the competition, the judging, and the
demands to conform to some group's standards. "We'll accept you if you
look like, walk like, talk like, and act like us." And the implication is
always, "And God will, too." So what are we to do?
Jesus Christ came to free us from the burden of
the law by calling us to a life united with His. We are beloved, accepted
children of God, who have been called to His "banquet table" to
experience Jesus Christ living in and through us every day. Abundant life is
not "pie-in-the-sky" or nebulous theory. It is real, and it is ours
for the taking if we will only believe. Let's not settle for anything less.
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