It is for Freedom

No man is free who is a slave to the flesh.
— Lucius Annaeus Seneca (c. 4 b.c.–a.d. 65) 

• For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  Colossians 3:3 

Beloved, Christ did not just save us from our sins, He saves us from ourselves.  Really, if we just slow down for a minute and think about it…  This is ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL!  Unless we are total narcissists, i think we get the truth that we are pitiful beings without Christ.  When left to our own devices, we whine, hate, fight, drug, lust, sleep, hurt, drink, entertain, eat and cheat our way through life.

In Christ, we have the opportunity to be some really incredible things:

• Slaves of Righteousness
• But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.   Romans 6:17-18

• Soldiers of Christ
• Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus  2 Timothy 2:3

• Perfect
• And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.  James 1:4

• Dead Man Walking
• 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.  Galatians 2:20

• Weapons of Righteousness
• As the result, don’t allow sin to rule your mortal bodies and don’t obey its desires. Nor should you offer your body parts as unrighteous weapons of sin. Rather, offer yourselves to God as someone who has been raised from the dead, and [offer] your body parts to God as weapons of righteousness. So, sin must not be your master, because you aren’t under Law, but under [God’s] loving kindness. Romans 6:12-14 (ERV)