Let Freedom Ring! Part 2

Today on Fellowship in the Word, Pastor Bill Gebhardt challenges you to become a fully functioning follower of Jesus Christ. We've been having in our background this whole idea that by doing good things and obeying the right things, we're going to be just fine with God. If you talk to almost any American today and you ask them, if you ask them what's your assurance you'll go to heaven, what are they going to tell you?

I've had them tell me this. I'm a pretty good guy. I'm a pretty good guy. I'm not Hitler, you see. I'm not a mass murderer.

I'm a pretty good guy. Now, that is always the same reason you get from anything that's religious. Thank you for joining us today on this edition of Fellowship in the Word with Pastor Bill Gebhardt. Fellowship in the Word is the radio ministry of Fellowship Bible Church located in Metairie, Louisiana. Let's join Pastor Bill Gebhardt now as once again he shows us how God's word meets our world. Go back to Genesis chapter 7. Genesis chapter 7.

Way back in the beginning, this is the Noahic flood. Verse 1, then the Lord said to Noah, enter the ark, you and all your household, for you alone I have seen to be righteous before me in this time. God is going to judge the world. He's going to judge everybody except Noah and his family. That's it.

In order to avoid the judgment, they have to go in the ark. Okay? We know that. Now, watch.

Look at 614. He said, make for yourself an ark of gopher wood. You shall make the ark with rooms and you shall cover it inside and out with what? Pitch.

Now, why aren't they judged? Pitch. What do you mean? Inside. Why didn't the ark leak? Pitch on the inside and pitch on the outside. So it never leaked. And so they were spared. Now, you're still, well, I don't quite get it.

No, not yet. What's the word pitch in Hebrew? Kaphar. Because the inside knot you'll have to have kaphar. And you think, okay, pitch, right?

No, not most of the time. Kaphar in Hebrew is almost always translated atone or atonement or appease or forgive. It's the word for atonement and forgiving. It's what covers the ark on the inside and the outside. It's the reason they're not judged. It's because of atonement. In the ark, they are safe from judgment because the pitch sealed off the judgment of God. In Christ, we are safe from judgment because of the atoning work of the cross. The reason they were saved in the ark is the same reason you and I are saved now. The atonement of the ark and the atonement of Jesus Christ.

What a beautiful picture of this, how this works on our behalf, why we have no condemnation at all that we have to face. Now back to Romans eight. He then says the next word is for. And again, just to repeat myself, whenever you see the word for in the Bible, always ask yourself the question, what is it there for?

For always it's called an explanatory gar in Greek. It means I'm going to explain what I mean here in verse one. For, he said, the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. I've been set free from what? The law of sin and death. Now, is there anything wrong with the law?

No, but it can only do one thing to me and you. It can only condemn you. You see, if you think keeping the law will save you, you're mistaken because you can't keep the law.

No one can keep the law. Religion, no matter how conscientiously you follow, it will never deliver you from the sin and judgment of God. All the good deeds in the world will never free you from the law of sin and death, not ever. And that's the great mistake of religion. You see, it's the great mistake of religion. He said, no, you've been set free from that.

People need that. You see, it's an interesting thought when you think about it, that it says there that for us, the law of the spirit of life in Christ has set you free. The spirit of God has set me free. Think about the spirit of God.

The moment you become a Christian, what happens? I've been baptized by the spirit of God. I'm indwelt by the spirit of God. I'm sealed by the spirit of God.

You see how this works? The spirit of God does all these. He sets me apart. I'm regenerated by the spirit of God. You know what the Holy Spirit is in your life the moment you come to Christ? It's your birthmark. You know what a birthmark is? A birthmark is a mark that means I was born once. The Holy Spirit is a birthmark that means I've been born again.

I've been born twice. We all got the same birthmark, the spirit of God. He said he has set us free in this basis of what he has done.

Now, in the rest of this short chapter, he mentions the word spirit 20 times. This is all about the spirit of God indwelling you and I and every one of us. And he has set us free, he says.

It's an interesting thought. Now, we know it's not for perfection. We don't always do the right thing. But we have the power to do the right thing.

That's what you'll see evident as we go on. The law came to reveal our sins. That's what the book of Galatians teaches us. And the Holy Spirit has come to reveal God's righteousness to us and give us the grace and power to live accordingly. So we are free, really free. The reason we are free is the Holy Spirit has freed us.

How did we get to be free? Verse 3. For what the law could not do.

Why? Weak as it was through the flesh. God did it. And then right there what you're going to see is the clearest verse in the Bible on the substitutionary atonement of Christ. It can't be clearer than that verse. He says, for what the law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did.

How? Sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh as an offering for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh. That's the atonement of Christ. That's how we got to be free.

It's an amazing thing. Now, when we think about this often, and I think this happens to us, we often have in our background this whole idea that by doing good things and obeying the right things, we're going to be just fine with God. If you talk to almost any American today and you ask them, if you ask them, what's your assurance you'll go to heaven? What are they going to tell you?

I've had them tell me this. I'm a pretty good guy. I'm a pretty good guy. Well, I'm not Hitler, you see. I'm not a mass murderer.

I'm a pretty good guy. Now, that is always the same reason you get from anything that's religious. Take Islam.

How do I get to heaven in Islam? Well, when I die, Allah will put on scales every good thing I've done and every bad thing I've done. Now, if the good outweighs the bad, I'm in. If the bad outweighs the good, I'm out. The average American believes that God will grade you on the curve.

So, as long as I'm not terrible, I'm going to be in good shape. So, I kind of keep the law. You can't kind of keep the law. Hold your place and look at two verses with me. The first one's in Galatians chapter 3. Galatians chapter 3. Verse 10. For as many are of the works of the law are under a curse.

Why would they be under a curse? For it is written, cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law to perform them. So, how much of the law should you be keeping? Yeah, everything written in the law. Now, go with me to James chapter 2 and verse 10.

James chapter 2 and verse 10. And this is even clearer. For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, you're guilty of all. One point.

Now, I'll take it even further. Jesus said, if you're angry, that's just a thought, any of you ever been angry? He said, if you're angry, you're a murderer.

Yeah. The same as a murderer. I never murdered anybody, I'm good. He said, if you've ever had an angry thought, you're a murderer.

If you ever had a lustful thought, you're an adulterer. You mean my thoughts? Yes. They make me sinful? Yes. So, one sinful thought will put you into the judgment of God.

So, how you doing? You see, who's going to stand on this? You see, this is the way it works. He said, that doesn't work like that.

That's not the way this works in that sense at all. He said, it'll condemn us in every case. Only Jesus obeyed the law perfectly and he was born without sin, not us. Now, back to Romans.

That's his point. We have been set free. I was thinking this week, if you thought, how many great things did Jesus teach? Pretty impressive, huh? How many miracles did he perform? What a great example did he provide for us.

You know what, though? All his teaching, all his miracles, and all his example can't save one of us. Only his death on the cross. That's the only thing that can save us.

That's what his point is. Only on the basis of the atonement of Christ on the cross. There's no other reason by which we get saved. But he says, what's so good about that is it also, in that sense, frees us. So, we are free, verse 1, really free. The reason we're free, the Holy Spirit has freed us. How did we get to be free?

The substitutionary atonement of Christ. And the last point, we are now free to stop living in the prison. We are free to live in the newness of life.

Completely free. Notice verse 4, so that the requirement of the law, there's this conclusion, so that, so that the requirement of the law, what is the requirement of the law? Obey it. Isn't that what the law is? Isn't that the requirement of the law? To obey it. That's what the law does.

If you're out on the highway and it says 70 miles an hour, what's your requirement? I mean, you could say, no, no, you can't tell me what to do. I'm an individual. I can do what I want to do.

I'm an American. Go ahead and try it. It says stop at a stop sign.

No one can tell me to stop. Yeah, they can. That's what the law does. The law requires things. The law requires obedience. That's the point of the law. So he said the requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us. You mean there's a requirement that I could be obedient?

Yes. He said, who do not walk according to the flesh, but I walk according to the Spirit of God. You see, I can meet the obedience thing.

I can do that. I don't have to live in a prison. I can live an obedient life, but I have to do it by the Spirit of God.

I can't do this on my own. Only the Spirit of God can do that for me. Galatians 5, 1 says this. It was for freedom that Christ set us free. Keep standing firm.

Do not subject yourself again to the yoke of slavery. We're free, but now I'm free to be led by the Spirit of God. Last verse. Go with me to Ephesians 5. Ephesians 5, verse 15.

Paul says this. Therefore, be careful how you walk. That's a warning to us.

Walk's metaphor for live. Be careful how you live. Not as unwise men, but as wise. You're going to have to apply a little wisdom to this. Using the sermon material I'm talking about today, you've got to be wise enough to get out of prison.

You've got to stop that. You see, you have to walk in the freedom that you have. He said, make the most of your time because the days are evil. You only have a limited amount of time to get this right in this life. He said, so then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

This is as clear as could be for the will of the Lord. Do not get drunk with wine because that's stupid. That's his point. Dissipation means stupid. It's just stupid. In other words, do not live your life based on anything other than God because you know why? It's stupid. You live your life in any other way, you're still living in prison. That's the way you're living your life and that's stupid.

You won't have the freedom at all. He said, do not get drunk with wine, that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit of God and that means controlled. Now, here's what's interesting. If you're a Christian, you've been baptized by the Spirit of God, indwelt by the Spirit of God, sealed by the Spirit of God, set apart by the Spirit of God, you're empowered by the Spirit of God, but you're not necessarily filled by the Spirit of God at all. You see, and that's what happens to us. I have the Spirit of God in me, but he's pretty inept in my life. I'm still living in prison.

You see, I'm still filling all this. Same idea, turn with me back again to Romans 8 and verse 4. There's one word in there that George jumps out at us.

He says, so that the requirement of the law, and there's the word, might be fulfilled in us. Might? Yeah. That word is a subjunctive mood in Greek.

You know what it means? It's up to you. He doesn't say it will be. He doesn't say so that the requirement of the law will be fulfilled in us.

No, it might be. It's up to us. You see, it's completely up to you. You can either live out your freedom or not. You can choose to stay in prison if you want.

And the sad part, especially as a pastor all these years, is so many of you choose to stay in prison. You just stay there. And you can tell it. All you want to talk about is your own anxiety, your fear, your worry. It's just so bad. My life's just so bad.

It is. Prison's not a good place to be. No one goes to prison for vacation.

You know, I'm going to have some fun. I think I'll put myself in solitary. It doesn't work like that. But we choose to live this way.

We actually choose to live this way. He goes, I don't get it. He says, look, if you think about this, you're free. You're really free. The Spirit of God has given you freedom all based on the substitutionary atonement of Christ. Now live like a free person by the power of God. Let me conclude with this story. I find it a reliable source.

I couldn't find it anywhere else, but it makes the point very well. One day, Abraham Lincoln went to visit a slave auction. He was appalled at what he saw. His heart was especially drawn to a young slave girl whose story seemed to be told in the pain on her face. She looked with hatred and contempt on anyone around her.

She had been used and abused all of her life, and this was but one more cruel humiliation for her. As the auction began, Lincoln offered a bid. Other amounts came in his bid. He countered with a larger amount, and finally Abraham Lincoln won the bid for that girl, and he now owned that slave. When he paid the auctioneer the money and took title to the young woman, she stared at him with vicious contempt.

She hated him just like she hated all of her other owners. She asked him what he was going to do next with her, and he said, I'm going to set you free. Free, she said. Free for what? Just free, Lincoln said.

Completely free. Free to do whatever I want to do. Free to go wherever I want to go. Free to say whatever I want to say. Free to say whatever you want to say. Free to go wherever you want to go. Yes, free to go wherever you want to go.

And she said, I'm going with you. Isn't that what happened with Jesus Christ? Wasn't I redeemed off the slave market of sin and you? Didn't he pay in full for me? And he said, yes, and I made you free. What do you mean free? Free to go anywhere you want to go. Free to do anything you want to do. Free to say anything you want to say. Should our response be, I think I'll follow you.

You see, I think I'll serve you. That's what's happened to us. That's the freedom we have. Christians sometimes get this thing all mixed up. Sometimes, some Christians think that our freedom is, I'm free to sin as much as I want. They know the verse. One of the few verses they usually know is, wherever sin abounds, what? Grace abounds more so I can sin all I want. And grace will cover it. And I still got my card punched to heaven. Paul said, meganoita, absolutely not.

Don't you understand? You've been freed. You're free. Now you're going into prison and sin. Then there's another group that often says, you know, I know that before I became a Christian, Christ died for all my sins. But after I become a Christian, I'm responsible now for all my sins. So now they feel a tremendous amount of guilt as they live out their life.

But let me ask you something. When Christ died for your sins on the cross, how many sins did he die for? All my past sins, all my present sins, and all my future sins. Again, I have been set free. You see, the whole point of it is, this freedom is given to us as a great gift of God to live our lives as free children of God. It's the motivation of my life. You see, I don't do what I do in my life because I feel a sense of duty.

I'm a free man. I don't feel a sense of obligation. I feel a deep sense of gratitude and love. The motive of my life is I have so thankful for God so much, the one who bought me. There's no condemnation for me, and I know I deserve it, and there's none. So my choice is I want to live in the newness of my life. And that's what I would pray for you. Live like free people.

When you start thinking about anxiety, worry, fear, anything like that, I'm just telling you, think of yourself of going back into a prison, closing the door, and sitting there. That's what you're doing. You're not living free. And the beauty of it is God has given us this Holy Spirit. You see, not only to convict us of that sin, but He can enable us to do anything. That's why Paul said, I can do all things through Him who strengthens me because I'm free.

Let's pray. Father, this is so sad for me as a pastor because for so many of us, these are self-inflicted wounds. We just choose to stay in a prison. We choose to feel all of the pressure, all the restrictions, all of the pain and suffering of being locked in our own prison of sin. But we've been set free. Father, I pray that we understand that.

Freedom belongs to every child of God. Thank you, Father, for giving us Your Spirit to prove to us that we are completely Yours. I pray that we begin to live our lives differently. Once again, for our good and for Your glory.

In Christ's name, Amen. At that website you will find not only today's broadcast, but also many of our previous audio programs as well. At Fellowship in the Word, we are thankful for those who financially support our ministry and make this broadcast possible. We ask all of our listeners to prayerfully consider how you might help this radio ministry continue its broadcast on this radio station by supporting us monthly or with just a one-time gift. Support for our ministry can be sent to Fellowship in the Word 4600 Clearview Parkway, Metairie, Louisiana 7006. If you would be interested in hearing today's message in its original format, that is as a sermon that Pastor Bill delivered during a Sunday morning service at Fellowship Bible Church, then you should visit our website, fbcnola.org.

That's fbcnola.org. At our website you will find hundreds of Pastor Bill's sermons. You can browse through our sermon archives to find the sermon series you are looking for, or you can search by title. Once you find the message you are looking for, you can listen online, or if you prefer, you can download the sermon and listen at your own convenience. And remember, you can do all of this absolutely free of charge. Once again, our website is fbcnola.org. For Pastor Bill Gebhardt, I'm Jason Gebhardt, thanking you for listening to Fellowship in the Word.