How The Truth Can Set You Free, Part 5

Welcome to this weekend's In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley. The way you think directly affects how you behave. That's why you need to be very careful about what you allow into your mind. Here's more in the series on how the truth can set you free. Would you turn to John chapter 8? And we've been talking about our position in Christ, and we're talking about who we are in Him as a result of our relationship. And you'll recall in that 31st verse of John chapter 8, he says, if you abide in my word, and that's the condition, if you abide in my word, then you're truly disciples of mine, and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. But the truth making us free and liberating us from the shackles that bind us and hinder us from becoming the people God wants us to be, achieving the things that He wants us to achieve, is our failure to abide in His word or continue to absorb it and apply it to our life.

And I believe in the Scripture, when He says the truth will make you free, I believe as I search the Word of God and examine what He teaches and what He says to us in so many areas, there are three major truths that will set us free to become that person God wants us to be. First of all, to understand what our position is in Him, which we have said, that by God, through the power of the Holy Spirit, baptized in us into Jesus Christ and put us into union with Him, making us one with Him in that relationship. Now, what about this matter of who we are? We've said before in these previous messages that the Bible says that we are saints, has nothing to do with how we feel, has nothing to do with how we act.

That's not the issue. The issue is that we have been deemed, we have been characterized as saints in the eyes of God. Likewise, He says we are His workmanship. He's the one who has created us in Christ Jesus. We are a new creation in Him. He is in the process of conforming us into His likeness. He says we are the temples of the Holy Spirit. And today I want to deal with three more areas of who we are in Christ Jesus. And if you'll turn to Ephesians chapter 1, he says beginning in verse 3 of Ephesians chapter 1, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in Christ. Now listen, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before Him in love, He predestinated us to adoption.

Now watch this. He says that you and I are chosen people. So who am I in Christ? In Christ He says you and I have been chosen.

Now here's where the big hang up comes and I want you to listen very carefully. He didn't choose you and reject you. He's talking about the fact of His choice, not His rejection. God is not in the habit of rejecting, rejecting, rejecting, rejecting. Jesus said I am coming to the world not to condemn the world, not to reject the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. And so often we see God is this God of judgment up in heaven, rejecting and condemning. And even after we're saved, and even though that we've been forgiven, what happens?

Our image of God so programmed from childhood that if we violate any principle, He's just going to chalk us off, erase the name of the Lamb's Book of Life, and that's the end. But that's not the Word of God. Now God is going to judge sin. God is going to condemn wickedness. And He's going to condemn the wicked one of these days. But condemnation is not God's attitude toward believers.

He says, therefore, if any man be in whom? In Christ Jesus, what? There is no condemnation. God Almighty has made a commitment, a divine, everlasting, eternal commitment that once the Holy Spirit baptizes you into Christ Jesus, seals you into Him, and that is your position. You can't ever be condemned by God.

There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ. Do you know how God sees you? He sees you what? Clothed in the righteousness of His Son, Jesus. You see, it's the cross, the cross, the cross, the cross, the cross, the cross, the cross.

It is the blood of Jesus Christ that has wiped us clean. He says we've been made holy, blameless, and spotless before Him because the righteousness of Christ is the robe of our life. And when He looks into your life, I don't mean He condones sin. Sin grieves His heart.

But I want to tell you something. The thing that grieves God is because He knows what sin does to us. He sees us suffering because of sin. He sees us failing because of sin. He sees us stumbling because of sin. He sees us failing to match up to what He has provided for us, to reach up to get what He has given to us. So He is grieved. He's not condemning us. And so He reaches then into your broken, disturbed, guilty heart, and He says, but I love you. You are endearing to Me, and I want the best for you, and I want to give you the best.

Just listen to Me. But as long as I feel like I'm unworthy, I don't deserve it, God just never will do this and that for me. I want to tell you, my friend, that's why He says, if we abide in the truth, if I abide in the truth, if I'm saturating my mind and heart with the Scriptures, if I'm absorbing the truth, if I am refocusing my mind, if I am renewing my mind with the Word of God, then I will cease to think in error and begin to think about my life the way God sees it. He says, you've been chosen. God has given us a commission. And what I want you to see, He has some very specific reasons that He chooses us, and God's choice is always.

And the next two things I want to talk about, answer that. So if you'll turn to Matthew chapter 5, who we are in Christ Jesus. All right, in the Sermon on the Mount, if you will look beginning in verse 14, I want to take the second one first, and then the verse 13, but look in verse 14 and 15 and 16. Now listen to what He says, who we are. He says, you are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel.

You don't hide it. He says that it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

Now look at this. He says, you are the light of the world. You'll recall when Jesus ascended, He said to His disciples, He said, He says, it is expedient for you that I go away.

If I go not away, the comforter will not come. But if I go out, He will come and He will glorify me. Now, all of us who have received Jesus Christ as our Savior had Him living within us through the Holy Spirit. He is our life. Listen, Jesus Christ is our life. He that hath the Son hath life. He says, by the Holy Spirit, we were baptized in the Christ Jesus.

He says, I and you and you and me, we have Christ living within us. Therefore, we have life. If we have divine life, we have light. When He left, the light left. When He came back at Pentecost to indwell the believers through the power of the Holy Spirit, the light began to shine in this world.

And the light of life is living and shining through the life of believers. Now He chose you and me for specific reasons. One of those reasons was He said, He chose us that we may be lights in a darkened world. And notice what He says in the scripture. He says, a city set on a hill cannot be hidden. He doesn't want His secret disciples. Neither do men light a lamp or a candle and hide it.

Now, let me ask you something. Where is the best place for light to demonstrate its power? Where? In darkness. The purpose for light is to drive out what? Darkness. He said, He has redeemed us by taking us out of the kingdom of what? Darkness and placing us in the kingdom of what?

Light. He says, He's put us in this world. He that is within us is greater than He that's in the world. He has placed us here and He says, you and I have been named singled out as the light of the world.

That's not what I said. That's what God said. That you are the light of the world. That means you are somebody very special because God says your life is going to brighten the way for somebody who's walking in darkness. He says, you're the light of the world and put the light up on the candlestick where it can be seen. God says, I've sent you in as a light into that office into that building into your schoolroom in all of that your presence there will make a divine difference. We have no legitimate reason for feeling inadequate, inferior, down in the mouth and worthless and insecure because God says I have chosen you and ordained you and put a circle around you and He says, I have labeled you light of Jesus Christ, light of the gospel, light of God, light of truth.

He has sent us into a darkened society that that society may be changed by our presence. It's in the twinkle of an eye. You see, you can look in somebody's eye, they may be beautifully dressed, but if they're sad, you can't tell about looking at the shoes. You can tell they're sad by looking at their eyes.

In fact, if you cut out everything else in their body except just that one little bit, you can look at somebody and tell that they're sad or they're happy. And listen to what he's saying. He's saying I have sent you with your smile and your countenance and when you are down in the dumps, nobody has to ask. It's written all over you.

In other words, nobody has to ask. He says I've sent you as a light. That means that not only are we important, but the way we shine is important.

Now listen, notice how he says this because here is the crux of the matter. Let your light so shine before men in such a way that they may what? They may see what? See you?

No. See your good works. That is, they are attracted by what you're doing.

But they are attracted to whom? Jesus Christ, the living Lord. He says let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, but what? Glorify your Father. Now listen, if they're glorifying us, we've missed it somewhere.

There's something wrong with the lantern carrying the light if they're glorifying us. I want to tell you something. God has so made you that you know that you can't have a power failure. The power is within you.

Everlasting, eternal, unending. No storm in the world can knock the power out of your life. The only thing that can knock the glory, the power will never leave. The power is always there. Storms don't make any difference, doesn't make any difference.

Nobody can plow up your yard, cut the line in two, doesn't make any difference. The power is within you, but the glow of that light is diminished by sin and disobedience to God. It is our willful disobedience to God that diminishes the light. But the light is there and God says I have chosen you.

You're the light of the world. But listen to this. Go back to verse 13. He says you're the salt of the earth.

But if the salt has become tasteless, how would it be made salty again? It is good for nothing anymore except to be thrown out and trampled under the foot of men. Let's think about something. You know what he's saying? We Christians back up and say, you know, we don't want to cause any waves. We don't want to rock any boats. Listen, you and I are under divine command by Jesus Christ and you and I have been so created by God and so commissioned. He says we're like salt boxes. Wherever we go, the flavor ought to change in our society. Listen, we're not disobeying God by getting involved in everything that affects society.

We are obeying almighty God. He says you to be the salt of your society. That means change the flavor of it. And the reason we're in the mess we're in now is because too many salt boxes have been closed up or we have lost our twang somewhere along the way and we do not see ourselves as vital citizens in a land who have been commissioned by the Lord Jesus Christ to flavor that whole society. If you work among people who are unsaved, you're not to be critical of them. You're there to make a difference because you you may be the only salt there.

We change the flavor. Secondly, he speaks of preserving. He said you must keep on flavoring and keep on preserving the society which you're in because you see, once God takes the body of Christ out of this world, the judgment of God is coming upon this world. And those who do not like our influence and those who do not want Christians around, who do not want us to bear witness, who do not want us to testify, who want to live like they choose what they do not understand is once God takes us the way, they will be absolutely and totally annihilated by their own wickedness. So they're living in blindness.

They're living in darkness. And so those of us who are the light must step forward to shine forth and radiate the truth of the gospel. He didn't put us here for our health. He put us here to change our society. Likewise, he said, salt heals. And let's face it, we're living in a sick world and there's only one message that brings healing, eternal healing. And that is the message of the cross of Jesus Christ, that God the Father looking down in this old, unbelieving, wicked, vile, helpless, desperate, hurting world sent his only begotten Son Jesus Christ that you and I may be forgiven, pardoned, reconciled, redeemed, justified, glorified, that we may be given the capacity to become everything God wants us to become.

Now think about this for a moment. Insecure, inadequate, inferior, think about this. He chose you. He chose you. He said you're the light of the world. He said you're the salt of the earth. He's called you a saint.

His workmanship, the temple of God. God Almighty sees us in the most beautiful light. And my friend, I'm simply saying this to you. When you and I begin to see ourselves as God sees us, listen, not only are the shackles that hinder you going to be dropping off, but there's going to become a delight and a joy and a power to become what at the present moment you're unwilling to believe God for.

I've told you what God says about every one of his children. Chosen on the basis of pure love. Sent into a world to shine where there's so much darkness. Sent into a world to flavor, preserve, and heal where there's so much hurt, anxiety, frustration, and fear. Now listen, can you think of any legitimate reason today for feeling insecure when you've been wrapped up and bound, determined, the person of Jesus Christ? Inadequate when you have the Holy Spirit living within you to empower you to fulfill every obligation God has placed upon us, fulfilling the obligation of his very self.

Any reason to feel inferior when God says you're one of the chosen? You're the light of the world. You're the salt of the earth.

The only way to have a box full of salt is that all the grains be little grains of salt. His has Satan traps us. He says, but what can one a low person like you do? That's not the question. Here's the question. What can one person reconcile unto God, redeemed, forgiven, justified, glorified, who's become a saint? God's working in his and her life. Sons of God living in the kingdom, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, empowered by him, chosen by him, predestinated by him, commissioned by him the power to flavor a society, to drive out the darkness, to change men's lives.

That's the question. And the Bible says that every single one of us is that person. My friend, shake off the insecurity, the inadequacy. Shake off the inferiority, the worthlessness, the feeling of being so totally immersed in past programming that has negated all the parts of things. Just get rid of that by latching onto the truth of what God says you are. That is, you just need to step out of that. Step onto a higher plane that God has for every one of us who is willing to believe, listen, who is just willing to believe what he said about us.

You can never be the same once you believe what God says about you because of your relationship to him. Thank you for listening to How the Truth Can Set You Free. If you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or In Touch Ministries, stop by InTouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.