Christ brings us freedom
In Christ We Obtain Freedom
For in Christ we obtain freedom, sealed by his blood, and have the forgiveness of sins (Ephesians 1:7).
Why do we turn from Christ and his love? Why do we not seek him? Why do we not lay all our burdens on him? He wants us to. So why don’t we let him care for us? Without Christ salvation is naught, it is meaningless. All the good works that we accumulate will be of no use without the blessing of Christ. All our riches will be insignificant because we do not have Christ. If we are on a path of life that does not include Christ then we are travelling along a path that will lead to death, a death with resurrection. Involving Christ in our lives begins first with being baptized.
Once we are baptized we shed our old lives and begin to live the life of Christ. This new life requires us to be humble, to be kind, to be patient and to bear with one another in love.
Once we begin to life a Christ-like life we will be tempted more than ever. You see the devil does not like to lose workers for the Kingdom of God. So when he sees someone walking with Christ he goes after them, trying to seduce them back to his side. Following Christ means being persecuted just like Christ and his followers were. We will struggle to remain faithful and we will have to be more serious in our decision making. We will slip back to old ways every now and then, but we should not linger in such ways. If we do linger and then our old ways prolong too long, we will ruin our lives becoming slaves to the devil. When we recognize that use slipping into our old ways we should immediately call on Christ. Turn our problems and situations over to him. Ask him for help, lean on him and be open to his guidance so we can be transfigured by his love. Let us live out our baptismal promises, our baptismal commitment to live the life of Christ each and every day.
“You must give up your former way of living, the old self, whose deceitfulness brings self-destruction” (Ephesians 4:22). Our old self, headed by the devil, keep us in a sinful state making the devil have a foothold in our lives. We live a life of anger and regret. We see only the bad things and say bad things. But when we live with Christ he frees us from sin. This freedom allows us to be good, see good and say good things, being helpful to those who need it. “Do away with all quarrelling, rage, anger, insults and every kind of malice. Be good and understanding, mutually forgiving one another as God forgave you in Christ” (Ephesians 4:31-32). If we choose to be hard headed and stubborn and refuse Christ and his Kingdom, then we must not be surprised when we get locked out at the end of our days. Remember the rich man and Lazarus. Who got in the Kingdom (Lazarus) while the rich man was burning down below.
Christ calls us to be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect. Living perfect does not mean that our lives will be without problems. Instead we are to live and give our best each and every day.