" You are all sons of God through Faith.....you are all one in Christ Jesus" - Galations 3:26,28, RSV
The distinctive characteristic of the Christian life is not law, but liberty. That does not mean that we are free to do as we please. The liberty is not the same thing as anarchy. Christian liberty is not liberty to break the law, but liberty to keep the law, by the power of the Holy Spirit.
The glorious liberty has, in fact, been given us by the Holy Spirit. "Because you are sons' Paul writes 'God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying Abba Father" (4:6) The great privilege of the children of God, who have become His children by being united to Christ through faith, is that the Holy Spirit dwells within us. "As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the children of God' It is the Holy Spirit who makes us aware of our relationship with God; that He is our Father, and we are His children. It is the Holy Spirit also whose indwelling power subdues the passions of our fallen nature, and transforms our character into the image of Jesus Himself. This is the liberty into which the Holy Spirit leads the children of God; and I reckon that most of us have scarcely begun to experience the riches of our inheritance as the children of God .......
These then...or so I conclude - are the two great privileges of being a Christian, of being in Jesus Christ by faith; they are liberty and unity - individual liberty, and corporate unity. In Christ we are the children of God, and we are one with each other. And these privileges belong indiscriminately to all who are in Christ Jesus. So may God grant that we may enter fully into our inheritance in Christ, to our great good, and His greater glory.
The distinctive characteristic of the Christian life is not law, but liberty. That does not mean that we are free to do as we please. The liberty is not the same thing as anarchy. Christian liberty is not liberty to break the law, but liberty to keep the law, by the power of the Holy Spirit.
The glorious liberty has, in fact, been given us by the Holy Spirit. "Because you are sons' Paul writes 'God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying Abba Father" (4:6) The great privilege of the children of God, who have become His children by being united to Christ through faith, is that the Holy Spirit dwells within us. "As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the children of God' It is the Holy Spirit who makes us aware of our relationship with God; that He is our Father, and we are His children. It is the Holy Spirit also whose indwelling power subdues the passions of our fallen nature, and transforms our character into the image of Jesus Himself. This is the liberty into which the Holy Spirit leads the children of God; and I reckon that most of us have scarcely begun to experience the riches of our inheritance as the children of God .......
These then...or so I conclude - are the two great privileges of being a Christian, of being in Jesus Christ by faith; they are liberty and unity - individual liberty, and corporate unity. In Christ we are the children of God, and we are one with each other. And these privileges belong indiscriminately to all who are in Christ Jesus. So may God grant that we may enter fully into our inheritance in Christ, to our great good, and His greater glory.
