Free for Freedom Sake

Jul 14, 2022 // By:Dave // No Comment

why did Jesus die on the cross ?

common answers:

  • pay the penalty of my sins
  • ensure that I go to heaven when i die
  • paid for my sins so that my heavenly Father is not mad at me
  • substitutionary sacrifice to satisfy the law of God

How would Jesus respond to this question ?

Luke 4:17 And the 1book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the 1book and found the place where it was written,

Luke 4:18  aTHE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, 

BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. 

HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, 

AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, 

TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED,

Luke 4:19  aTO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.”

Luke 4:20 ¶ And He aclosed the 1book, gave it back to the attendant and bsat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him.

Luke 4:21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your 1hearing.”

he also offers this answer:

Matt. 16:25 “For awhoever wishes to save his 1life will lose it; but whoever loses his 1life for My sake will find it.

Mark 8:35 “For awhoever wishes to save his 1life will lose it, but whoever loses his 1life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.

Luke 9:24 “For awhoever wishes to save his 1life will lose it, but whoever loses his 1life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.

Luke 17:33 “aWhoever seeks to keep his 1life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.

John 12:23 And Jesus *answered them, saying, “aThe hour has come for the Son of Man to bbe glorified.

John 12:24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, aunless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

John 12:25 “aHe who loves his 1life loses it, and he who bhates his 1life in this world will keep it to life eternal.

same idea back in John 3

John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one ais born 1again he cannot see bthe kingdom of God.”

John 3:4 ¶ Nicodemus *said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?”

John 3:5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of awater and the Spirit he cannot enter into bthe kingdom of God.

John 3:6 “aThat which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

in John 3:16

John 3:16 ¶ “For God so aloved the world, that He bgave His 1conly begotten Son, that whoever dbelieves in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

John 3:17 “For God adid not send the Son into the world bto judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.

John 3:18 “aHe who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of bthe 1only begotten Son of God.

these passage all say the same thing to us:

your old life, nature, is not suitable or capable of living in the presence of God

you need a new life, new nature, that is

most controversial, you cannot hold onto the old one and receive the new one

what is this eternal life Jesus speaks of ?

He is not speaking of eternal existence of the soul (since we already have that)

Mark 9:44 [1where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.]

Mark 9:46 [1where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.]

Mark 9:48 awhere THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND bTHE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.

“their worm” speaking not of a pet worm but their gnawing, their anguish

“not die”  means finish or end

where their gnawing anguish does not end

the condemnation of all who do not believe is eternal separation from God and living eternally in that anguish of separation 

(from his love, hope, comfort,  His presence)

john 3:16 those who believe are given eternal life

verse 17 those are saved

verse 18 not judged

this is the package

not condemned to go on eternally with eternal anguish

saved (whatever that means)

given eternal life (whatever that means)

but if we already have eternal existence , then eternal life can’t mean that same thing
(Jesus would not offer a reward of something that non-believers already have)

John 14:6 John 14:6 Jesus *said to him, “I am athe way, and bthe truth, and cthe life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

John 1:4 aIn Him was life, and the life was bthe Light of men.

John 6:47 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes ahas eternal life.

John 6:48 “aI am the bread of life.

John 6:53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of athe Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves.

John 6:54 “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will araise him up on the last day.

John 6:55 “For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink.

John 6:56 “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood aabides in Me, and I in him.

Jesus offers Himself to those who believe

(He is the eternal life promised to those who truly believe in Him)

Gal. 5:1 ¶ 1aIt was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore bkeep standing firm and do not be subject again to a cyoke of slavery.

Here Paul speaks of being freed by Christ, to not return to a yoke of slavery

and that we were set free for a purpose … for freedom.

He set us free to be free.

(if the freedom He purchased was simply not being held to pay for the price of our sins, this statement makes no sense)

this sentence clearly implies that the purpose of the freedom is to be from from going back to the yoke of slavery

and the alternative choice is to continually stand firm, (outside of that yoke)

Jesus freed you from that tangle of fleshly sinful life (and condemnation under the law)

stop going back to it and entangling yourself over and over

Rom. 6:3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been abaptized into bChrist Jesus have been baptized into His death?

Rom. 6:4 Therefore we have been aburied with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was braised from the dead through the cglory of the Father, so we too might walk in dnewness of life.

Rom. 6:5 For aif we have become 1united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be 2in the likeness of His resurrection,

Rom. 6:6 knowing this, that our aold 1self was bcrucified with Him, in order that our cbody of sin might be 2done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;

Rom. 6:7 for ahe who has died is 1freed from sin.

Rom. 6:8 ¶ Now aif we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,

Rom. 6:9 knowing that Christ, having been araised from the dead, 1is never to die again; bdeath no longer is master over Him.

Rom. 6:10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.

Rom. 6:11 Even so consider yourselves to be adead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Rom. 6:12 ¶ Therefore do not let sin areign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts,

Rom. 6:13 and do not go on apresenting 1the members of your body to sin as 2instruments of unrighteousness; but bpresent yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as 2instruments of righteousness to God.

Rom. 6:14 For asin shall not bbe master over you, for cyou are not under law but dunder grace.

Rom. 6:15 ¶ What then? aShall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? bMay it never be!

Rom. 6:16 Do you not aknow that when you present yourselves to someone as bslaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of csin 1resulting in death, or of obedience 2resulting in righteousness?

Rom. 6:17 But athanks be to God that 1though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that bform of teaching to which you were committed,

Rom. 6:18 and having been afreed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.

Rom. 6:19 aI am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just bas you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, 1resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, 2resulting in sanctification.

Rom. 6:20 ¶ For awhen you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.

Rom. 6:21 Therefore what 1abenefit were you then 2deriving 3from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is bdeath.

Rom. 6:22 But now having been afreed from sin and benslaved to God, you 1derive your 2cbenefit, 3resulting in sanctification, and dthe outcome, eternal life.

Rom. 6:23 For the wages of asin is death, but the free gift of God is beternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Rom. 7:1 ¶ Or do you not know, abrethren (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law has jurisdiction over a person as long as he lives?

Rom. 7:2 For athe married woman is bound by law to her 1husband while he is living; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law 2concerning the husband.

Rom. 7:3 So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man.

Rom. 7:4 ¶ Therefore, my brethren, you also were amade to die bto the Law cthrough the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.

Rom. 7:5 For while we were ain the flesh, the sinful passions, which were baroused by the Law, were at work cin 1the members of our body to bear fruit for death.

Rom. 7:6 But now we have been areleased from the Law, having bdied to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in cnewness of dthe 1Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.

death is the termination, end , release of someone from a contract 

once you die, the law you were under (the contract you were in) no longer holds power over you.

Jesus taught that no one can have two masters

Matt. 6:24 ¶ “aNo one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and 1bwealth.

Luke 16:13 “aNo 1servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and 2bwealth.”

this principle is not limited to the contest between the eternal reward of God vs the temporal wealth of the world

it is applicable to all areas of our life where there is temptation to attempt to live with two masters at the same time

let me read again:

Rom. 6:11 Even so consider yourselves to be adead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Rom. 6:12 ¶ Therefore do not let sin areign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts,

Rom. 6:13 and do not go on apresenting 1the members of your body to sin as 2instruments of unrighteousness; but bpresent yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as 2instruments of righteousness to God.

Rom. 6:14 For asin shall not bbe master over you, for cyou are not under law but dunder grace.

Matt. 16:25 “For awhoever wishes to save his 1life will lose it; but whoever loses his 1life for My sake will find it.

Mark 8:35 “For awhoever wishes to save his 1life will lose it, but whoever loses his 1life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.

Luke 9:24 “For awhoever wishes to save his 1life will lose it, but whoever loses his 1life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.

John 12:25 “aHe who loves his 1life loses it, and he who bhates his 1life in this world will keep it to life eternal.

Gal. 5:1 ¶ 1aIt was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore bkeep standing firm and do not be subject again to a cyoke of slavery.

the contrast here is clear:

you were set free from your old self in order to be free to live in the new life

(here and now)

Jesus offers Himself

John 14:6 John 14:6 Jesus *said to him, “I am athe way, and bthe truth, and cthe life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

  • the one path, one walk, one door
  • the absolute truth (that all other “facts/feelings” must submit to
  • the single source of life, purpose, vitality to do anything of eternal value

To accept Him, to follow Him, means to take Him for all He offers (not just the parts we like)

NOT:

  • He saves me from my sins but that’s where I draw the line (I have my life to live)
  • I’ll trust Him to pay for my sins but His teachings are to extreme and divisive for todays culture
  • some of the bible is good stuff, but some of it is outdated and no longer relevant to life today

We have to take Him, not just as Savior, but as Lord.

someone told me recently (about a friend of theirs who was struggling on the fence of faith)

“Jesus does not save those who refuse His lordship”

if He is not your Lord, then you are already excluding Him as Savior because you are not believing in who He is or claims to be.

We cannot have two masters: 

we must let go of all worldly masters, including ourselves in this life, 

to take Him

He offers freedom to understand and chose:

one way

one truth

one life

one master

 

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