Nail It To the Cross

The freedom given through what Jesus did on the cross is a freedom that changes us completely, and in that change comes a life of peace and hope. Sin will always try to hedge in on this freedom and human reasoning will attempt to rob you of the life of freedom that Christ made possible for those who are born again in the Spirit. Everything about our life comes back to the change at our core when the Holy Spirit takes over. The take over process began when Jesus died on the cross and from that nailing of sin to His cross we nail the penalty of sin to His cross also and that freedom changes us at our core.

When we live by the Holy Spirit we live a different life in this freedom given to us by Jesus. Paul understood this and wrote in Galatians 5:16 So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. 17 The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. Life in the Spirit is a different life than living in the flesh. NO DUH!! As easy as this is to see we will fight the leadership of the Holy Spirit and we are so scared of becoming what the world might call a "Mystic." When living the Spirit-filled life we come to a realization that the Spirit leads much differently than the "world" or "flesh." Paul continued on in verse 17 And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. Paul also states that the two natures are in constant battle and in the midst of that battle the freedom given through God's grace can get marginalized and judged. This freedom brings with it a desire to let God's Spirit win in our life and lifestyle. Paul wrote this in the following verses in Galatians 5: These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. 18 But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses

No obligation to the Law of Moses will get stuck in the crawl of many who follow religious undertones. Why? Because life in the Spirit seems "too far out there." Especially to those who are not born of the Spirit, but following religion. When Nicodemus came to Jesus in John 3 he was seeking the truth, but the truth was different than the truth he had followed his entire life. Jesus rocked his world and He is still rocking worlds today with the free gift of salvation in a world that has a standard where "somebody gonna have to pay for that." The only difference is "somebody did pay for it" once and for all. The one who paid is Jesus and He is still offering this free gift today. Paul explained it this way in Ephesians 2: 8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.

We have a tendency to want to ourselves in the mix and the only way we can do that is by choosing to receive a gift we do not deserve. We deserve hell because of our sin, but God's love was expressed to us through Jesus and offered as a gift to make payment for our sin. So we go back to the above verses in Galatians 5:16 So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. You cannot let the Spirit guide if you don't believe in the Holy Spirit, we come back to the main point. Live the Spirit-filled life and God will grow you by His grace, or His freedom. Whatever is controlling your life right now, it was nailed to cross, so don't take it off and try to do life yourself. Let Jesus control and He will take you on the greatest adventure ever.

The Pilgrimage Continues,

David Warren