Do you listen to the Word of God in order to respond?  Do you listen to the Word of God and think, wow, if I’m disobedient I’ll enter into the slavery of sin?  Do you think, wow, if I’m obedient I’ll enjoy freedom in Christ? 

The Word of God Makes Freedom in Christ…

Recognizable v.1

Paul had made the gospel message so crystal clear, that it was as if they were standing there at the crucifixion.  May our faith be so real, that it is as if we were present at the crucifixion.  May we not only be present, but passionate to witness!   Paul believed that they had been bewitched, taken captive, under a spell, because they had heard the truth of the gospel.  They were not thinking or feeling spiritually through the truth.   

Receivable vv.2-3

Was it by following the law that you experienced salvation or was it by experiencing God’s Word?  If they had received the Holy Spirit through faith, they’d remember it.

Romans 8:2-6 “For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.”  

Romans 8:9 “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.”

The only way we will break free and fully live for Christ is through the power of the Holy Spirit.  What did the cross do?  It gave freedom to all who received freedom through it! 

Isaiah 42:6-8 “I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness;  I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations,  to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,  from the prison those who sit in darkness. I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.

Reliable vv.5-6

Their will be evidence that we have faith in Christ because of the truth of the gospel.  Abraham believed, evidence came that he believed!  Salvation is a miracle, there is evidence of the miracle, if it’s happened in your life!   

Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

So what’s the evidence of the Word freeing you?  Do you thirst for the Word?  Do you thirst to make Christ famous?  Do you thirst to be holy?  Do you feel liberated in worship?

 John 8:31-32 “So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”  I truly believe abide means more than just reading the Bible.  I believe abide means striving to live it, be freed by it, grow in faith through it!

I love v.5.  It’s clear the supply of the Spirit flows through trust.  If we rely on the Word, trust it, Christ frees us. 

Relational vv.7-9

Those who have true faith are heirs, sons of Abraham, born again.  Gal 3:29 “And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.”