Be Free, But Don't Use Your Freedom To Indulge The Flesh; Rather, Serve One Another Humbly In Love
By His Stripes
GALATIANS 5:13
“For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”
Galatians 5:13 NKJV
https://www.bible.com/114/gal.5.13.nkjv
Here, Paul talks about the liberty Jesus bought for all people regardless of their sin, place of origin, skin colour, or even sexual orientation on the cross.
When one commits to Christ, his or her sin becomes Gods problem, therefore, He will send the help needed to bring about change from within by the renewing of one’s mind, that he or she would come to understand what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God (ROMANS 12:1-2).
Furthermore, God sends all the help one needs to live right with Him. Jesus said, ““If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.”
John 14:15-18 NKJV
He distinguishes between freedom to serve and freedom to sin, freedom from sin and the devil and his army of unclean spirits and demons.
These are a brutal force who have come only to steal, kill, and destroy your life, but Jesus came to give you life and that you may have it more abundantly (JOHN 10:10).
Unlike the Holy Spirit, they force themselves in through the smallest of cracks in the doors to your life.
Sin lets them in, including the sins of one’s ancestors, and therefore many come into the world demonised.
Like squatters they move into the flesh and become very influential, even possessive over one’s desires, cravings, decisions and responses. They make one’s body their home and are very reluctant to leave.
They bring sickness and all kinds of curses that destroy one’s finances and relationships. They bring anger, confusion, fear, depression, suicidal thoughts, torment, addictions, and such as these.
Like Paul, once demonised, one will find himself committing repetitive sin, even though he hates it, and as for the things he ought do, he doesn’t do them (ROMANS 7:13-21).
It is getting delivered from these devils that changes lives.
The sick are healed, and the bound are set free to receive peace, joy, and contentment in Christ, and to serve and have life more abundant.
The Good News is, these devils and their powers are subject to all Spirit filled believers (LUKE 10:17), and can be cast out in Jesus name.
James said, “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.”
James 4:7-10 NKJV
To resist the devil is to rebuke, to call him out and send him packing.
Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”
John 8:34-36 NKJV
That is not freedom to carry on in sin, that is no freedom at all.
To continue in sin opens doors and enslaves one to the devil, to others, to one’s own sinful nature, and eternal death.
My beloved be warned, after deliverance, one must fill his body with God’s furnishings, His Word, His love, being right with Christ. For, “”When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.””
Matthew 12:43-45 NKJV
We Spirit filled believers are no longer slaves to sin, because God has given us His Holy Spirit to help us to do what is good (JOHN 14:15-18).
Furthermore, He gives us the desire to do what pleases Him, and the power to do it (PHILIPPIANS 2:13); the power and ability to walk in the love and truth of Jesus Christ.
“We love Him because He first loved us. If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.”
I John 4:19-21 NKJV
To love is the greatest of all commandments and all the Laws and the Prophets hang on these commandments (MATHEW 22:34-40).
I tell you the truth, if everyone would obey these two great commandments, this world would very quickly become a better place to live.
However, what He doesn’t do, is take away one’s free will; we all have freedom to choose.
We can choose to live to satisfy our flesh and its lust, or we can choose to live by the leading of the Holy Spirit.
“I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.”
Galatians 5:16-26 NKJV
But to walk in the Spirit, one must first receive Him. Therefore, just as, “Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.””
Acts 2:38-39 NKJV
If you are struggling with long-term illness like cancers, MS, ME, epilepsy, heart disease, or struggle with repetitive sin, addiction, nightmares, depression, suicidal thoughts, and such as these, you are most likely demonised and in need of deliverance.
We at Home Church are very happy to take you through the process to freedom and full healing.
But, “Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.”
Isaiah 53:1-5 NKJV
My beloved, each passing day is a day closer to Jesus Christ return and His eternal judgement; don’t be complacent, if you haven’t already, give your life to Christ today, for tomorrow may be too late.
All glory to God forever and ever! Amen.
