To Make the Most of Your Freedom Follow the Good Shepherd

All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6 NKJV)

Today, this prophecy from the book of Isaiah still rings true. Many Christians today have used the liberty of being redeemed from the Law of Moses to live carnally from their soul, without accountability to any law. People must understand that the Law of Moses required the minimum of spiritual living to assuage the wrath of GOD. The children of Israel were so carnal that they even failed to be able to rise to even those minimal spiritual requirements. Even though we are not required to follow the Law of Moses, we are still required to live spiritually, because the carnal man cannot please GOD or live harmoniously with Him. We now been given the law of Spirit and life in Christ as explained in Romans 8:1-4.

“¹There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. ² For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. ³ For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: ⁴ That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” (Romans 8:1-4 KJV)

We have to uproot and cast down the lie Satan has sown through false religion, teaching that nothing is required of us for salvation. Satan has perverted the understanding of salvation as a free gift. It is the gift of GOD because no man has or ever will earn the opportunity of salvation based on His own efforts. It is an opportunity given by grace, however in order to receive the gift we have to open the treasure chest of our heart with the key of repentance. We do this by presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice on the cross to make way for life in the spirit. YAHWEH is presenting us with a choice that has never been available before. A choice to be born again and to live anew. We can’t have it both ways, to choose the new we have to decide of our own free will to abandon the old carnal life. YESHUA makes the requirement clear.

“²³ Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. ²⁴ For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.” (Luke 9:23-24 NKJV)

“God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24 KJV)

We see here that there is still a requirement to abase the flesh in order to live spiritually. The tradition of men teaches that if you confess a sinner’s prayer you are all set and you can just ride into heaven on the savior’s coat tail, but that is not what Christ taught. Look at what He said.

⁵Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. ⁶ That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:5-6 NKJV)

YESHUA was teaching Nicodemus, a Jewish ruler, about what was required to inherit the life ordained for the children of GOD. Being born of water is the cleansing that comes from willfully deciding to turn from the ways of the flesh to the obedience of the spirit. Being born of the Spirit is the life that is birthed from receiving the seed of GOD in a heart surrendered in faith to Him. These experiences combined, the mortifying of the flesh and being grounded in the expression of the Spirit, transforms us into vessels of GOD and children in His image. The book of Romans says it this way:

¹² Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. ¹³ For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. ¹⁴ For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. ¹⁵ For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” ¹⁶ The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷ and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him,  that we may also be glorified together. (Roman 8:12-17 NKJV)

The Law of Moses was given by GOD as the standard of moral law for mankind to follow to avoid the wrath of His judgement. Since the Law of Moses was spiritual and mankind was carnal, men were constantly near destruction from the wrath of GOD. Christ came and satisfied the requirements of the Law of Moses by living in total obedience to the Father and then offering His life as a perfect sacrifice for the atonement of man. Though man’s sin had been paid for, there was still another condition of man which needed remedy, that was the inability of man to relate to a spiritual GOD that is perfectly holy, pure, just, and righteous. To fix this last condition, YAHWEH promised that in the last days after men turn to Him with their whole heart, He would pour out His spirit upon them so that they could live spiritually. This is part of the new covenant formed through the sacrifice of Christ where YAHWEH promised He would write His law directly upon our hearts instead of tablets of stone as under the Law of Moses. This is the work of the Holy Spirit that has come to indwell us. The gift of the Comforter that Christ said would come to the earth once He completed the atonement of mankind and ascended up into Heaven. The Holy Spirit is beautifully referred to as the “Spirit of adoption” by the Apostle Paul. It is because it is the very essence of GOD being poured into us. What a beautiful, precious, and weighty truth.

“²⁸And it shall come to pass afterward
That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
Your old men shall dream dreams,
Your young men shall see visions.
²⁹ And also on My menservants and on My maidservants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days.” (Joel 2:28-29 NKJV)

As it has been from the beginning, YAHWEH has provided everything we need that pertains to life and godliness. We are truly without excuse before a holy and righteous GOD. Embrace this opportunity to be reconciled unto GOD with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. The rewards are unfathomable.