4. Stand firm in the freedom

Stand firm in the freedom.pdf

(John 8: 31-32) 31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, ‘If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.’
.                         (All quotations from the New King James translation)
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No, being made free means something different than no longer being prosecuted or no longer ending up in prison. If Christians believe Jesus’ words and listen to Him, they will know the truth and through the truth they will know how to expose the lies of this world.
As Christians, we have been made free by Jesus’ words to no longer be part of this sinful world. Jesus made the one-time perfect sacrifice for our sins (Matt. 26:28, Gal. 1: 4). Christians now live free from sin (Rom. 6:18) in a new covenant and we have been made free through Jesus’ sacrifice to love our neighbor (Gal. 5:14):

(1 Peter 1: 17-19) 17 And if you call on the Father (YHMH), who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; 18 knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

And although we as Christians are lovingly to our neighbor, to the world we are outcasts:

(Luke 6:22) 22 Blessed are you when men hate you, And when they exclude you, And revile you, and cast out your name as evil, For the Son of Man’s sake.

Christians will certainly be persecuted, but fortunately we have God’s blessing, support and protection because of the faith in Jesus’ words:

(2 Corinthians 4: 7-9) 7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed–

Theme: Stand firm in the freedom wherewith we have been made free

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