For Freedom Christ Has Set Us Free

October 20, 2014

For Freedom Christ Has Set Us Free

There is only Christ: he is everything and he is in everything.

Colossians 3:11 (NJB)

I believe what sets Saint Paul apart from so many of his contemporaries, what makes his words still resonate deeply within the hearts of men and women two thousand years after they were first written, is that Paul was so very certain of the sufficiency of Christ. Whether Paul was in a jail cell in Philippi, debating with Greek philosophers on Mars Hill, or proclaiming the Good News of Jesus in every hamlet and village across his missionary journeys, Paul’s lived, moved and existed in Christ. (Acts 17:28) Paul heard God tell him, “My grace is sufficient for you,” and Paul believed God (2 Corinthians 12:9a NRSV). How might our lives be different if we too rested in the sufficiency of Christ in our lives?

A few weeks ago, I toured Gettysburg, Harpers Ferry and Antietam. Over one hundred fifty years have passed since Civil War battles were fought on these grounds. Yet there remains evidence of what men and women sacrificed for the cause of freedom. In visiting Thomas Jefferson’s home, Monticello, I was struck by the commitment he, and fifty-five others, made to “mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor” in support of the Declaration of Independence and freedom for the United Colonies. What about our freedom to be the people Christ has called us to be?

“For freedom Christ has set us free” (Galatians 5:1 NRSV). In our personal lives, we war against the prevailing culture that tempts us to lose our souls in vain efforts to find satisfaction in the accumulation of power, money and self-indulgence in temporal pleasures. Over and against the ways of the prevailing culture, Christ has set us free from the powers of the spiritual forces of evil so that we can dwell continually in his presence. The words God spoke to Paul, He speaks to all of His children: “My grace is sufficient for you.” If we, like Paul, will choose to believe God, like Paul, we will conclude, “There is only Christ: he is everything and he is in everything,” and we will be free.

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.