(Audio)
“Why are you doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?”
Christians are meant to have a certain sort of freedom that the world can find shocking.
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom (see Second Corinthians 3:17).
Even looking at other Christians we may not understand why the LORD permits certain behaviors in some individuals while chastising them in others. It may well be that a TV show about which the LORD gives us the conviction that we ought not to watch may be permitted to another to whom it is not a risk or a temptation. Our freedom is not based on the rigidity of law and the dead letter that kills (see Second Corinthians 3:6).
Our freedom comes from the Spirit and is based in love.
For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another (see Galatians 5:13).
Jesus is priest, prophet, and king. The sabbath exists so that men can enter more deeply into relationship with him. The letter is rigid and admits no exceptions. This is why we must look to Jesus over and above any rigid and static formulations of laws. Ultimately those laws are proven to be true when read correctly. But our flesh will use them to enslave us if we try to base our lives on them without having our relationship with Jesus as central.
provided that you persevere in the faith,
firmly grounded, stable,
and not shifting from the hope of the Gospel that you heard,
Our firm foundation is only to be found in Jesus. Only in him can we take root, grow, and flourish.
and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, rooted and grounded in love may have strength to comprehend with all the holy ones what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God (see Ephesians 3:18-19)
This is the freedom which enables us to give cheerfully and not from compulsion (see Second Corinthians 9:7). Rooted in this freedom we can truly change from being hostile in mind and alienated to experience the peace and the joy that God intends for each of us.
Behold, God is my helper;
the Lord sustains my life.
Freely will I offer you sacrifice;
I will praise your name, O LORD, for its goodness.
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