TO BE NOT CONFORMED TO THIS WORLD, BUT FREE THROUGH THE WORD OF GOD, IN JESUS NAME. LET'S LOOK AT SOME BACKGROUND OF MARK, WHO WAS NOT AN APOSTLE, HE WAS THE PUPIL AND COMPANION OF TWO GREAT APOSTLES, PETER AND PAUL, HE WAS A JEW BY BIRTH, (COL. 4, 10), AND HIS JEWISH NAME WAS JOHN WHICH MEANS " GOD IS GRACIOUS." HIS SURNAME WHICH HE ADOPTED WHEN HE BECAME A CHRISTIAN WAS MARK, WHICH MEANS "MALLET," ACTS 12, 12,25; 13, 5. 13; 15,37) HE WAS THE SON OF A WOMEN OF JERUSALEM WHO LATER BECAME A PROMINENT MEMBER OF THE CONGREGATION IN THAT CITY. HER NAME WAS MARY, ACTS 1, 12-17). IT WAS SHE WHO OFFERED HER HOUSE, AT THE FIRST CRITICAL PERIOD IN THE HISTORY OF THE YOUNG CONGREGATION, FOR DEVOTIONAL MEETINGS. IT WAS TO HER HOUSE PETER WENT AFTER HIS MIRACULOUS DELIVERANCE FROM PRISON, (ACTS 12,12-170.) MANY COMMENTATORS THINK THAT HE IS IDENTICAL WITH THE YOUNG MAN WHO ACCORDING TO HIS OWN REPORT LEFT THE LINEN CLOTH WITH WHICH HE WAS CLOTHED ON THE NIGHT OF CHRIST'S CAPTURE AND FLED NAKED FROM GETHSEMANE, CHAPTER (14,51). MARK WAS ESPECIALLY INTIMATE WITH PETER, BY WHOM HE HAD BEEN CONVERTED, IF THE USUAL MANNER OF SPEAKING OF THIS EVENT HAS BEEN FOLLOWED IN THIS CASE, (1 PET. 5, 13; ACTS 12,12.) THROUGH BARNABAS HE CAME IN CLOSER CONTACT WITH PAUL, AND HE ACCOMPANIED PAUL AND BARNABAS ON THEIR FIRST MISSIONARY JOURNEY AS AN ATTENDANT OR ASSISTANT. AT THAT TIME, HOWEVER, HE WAS NOT YET FIRMLY ESTABLISHED IN CHRISTIAN FORTITUDE, FOR HE LEFT THEM AT PERGA, IN PAMPHYLIA, AND RETURNED TO JERUSALEM, MUCH TO THE DISPLEASURE OF PAUL, (ACTS 13, 5, 13.) FOR THIS REASON PAUL REFUSED TO TAKE HIM ON THE NEXT JOURNEY, WHILE BARNABAS WAS WILLING TO OVERLOOK THE TEMPORARY WEAKNESS , (ACTS, 38. ) THERE WAS A SHARP CONTENTION OVER THE MANNER AT THE TIME, WITH THE RESULT THAT PAUL AND BARNABAS PARTED COMPANY. BARNABAS TAKING MARK WITH HIM TO CYPRUS, WHILE PAUL CHOSE SILAS, (ACTS 15, 36-40), THE ESTRANGEMENT WAS ONLY TEMPORARY, FOR ABOUT TEN YEARS AFTERWARDS MARK WAS IN ROME AS ONE OF PAUL'S FELLOW WORKERS UNTO THE KINGDOM OF GOD. AND A COMFORT IN HIS IMPRISONMENT (COL.4, 10, 11; PHILEMON 24; 2 TIM.4,11;)
IN ISAIAH,WE SEE THE JUDEANS WHO IN EXILE HAVE A REASON TO BE HOPEFUL; THE ONE WHO WILL BRING THEM TO FREEDOM, IS THE GOD WHO CREATED THE WORLD AND GIVES STRENGTH TO THOSE WHO ARE WEARY. MARK SAYS: " THAT EVERYWHERE JESUS GOES, MANY PEOPLE EXPECT HIM TO SET THEM FREE FROM OPPRESSION. EVERYWHERE HE GOES, MANY PEOPLE (SICK) EXPECTS JESUS TO HEAL THEM AND SET THEM FREE. DISEASE, DEVILS, AND DEATH ARE RUNNING FOR THEIR LIVES. THE FORCES THAT DIMINISHES HUMAN LIFE ARE RENDERED POWERLESS BY JESUS. THERE IS A SEEMING PARADOX AT THE HEART OF CHRISTIAN LIFE; WE MUST DIE TO SELF IN ORDER TO LIVE TO GOD. THERE IS ANOTHER AS WELL: WE MUST BECOME CHRIST'S SLAVE BEFORE WE CAN BE TRULY FREE. THESE ARE ONLY APPARENT PARADOXES. HOWEVER. IN THE ULTIMATE SENSE THERE ARE NO PARADOXES IN SCRIPTURE. THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY MIGHT BE THOUGHT TO BE A PARADOX, BUT IT IS NOT REALLY. WHEN WE SAY THAT GOD IS BOTH TRINITY AND UNITY, WE MEAN ONLY THAT HE IS THREE IN ONE SENSE AND ONE IN ANOTHER. SIMILARLY, WHEN WE SPEAK IN CHRISTIANS BEING SLAVES TO CHRIST AND YET FREE, WE MEAN THAT THEY CAN BECOME ALL THAT GOD INTENDS THEM TO BE.
CHRISTIAN FREEDOM IS LIKE THAT OF A MAN OR WOMEN IN MARRIAGE, IN ONE SENSE THEY ARE BOUND TO EACH OTHER; THEY ARE FREE TO LOVE AND RELATE TO OTHERS IN THE WAY THAT THEY ARE OBLIGED TO LOVE AND RELATE TO THEIR SPOUSE. BUT IN ANOTHER SENSE THEY REALLY ARE FREE. THEY ARE FREE TO BE THEMSELVES WITHIN THE MARRIAGE, ACTING AS WHAT THEY REALLY ARE- A MARRIED MAN AND WOMEN. THEY ARE FREE FROM THE FEAR OF REJECTION. BECAUSE OF THEIR MUTUAL COMMITMENT. THEY ARE EVEN FREE TO LOVE OTHERS WITH A LOVE THAT COMPLEMENTS THEIR LOVE IN MARRIAGE. THIS IS IMPORTANT!
THE KEY TO DISCOVERING "FREEDOM" IS TO BE WHAT ONE HAS BEEN CREATED TO BE "OBEDIENT AND "GRATEFUL" SERVANT OF THE MOST HIGH. THE DIFFICULTY FOR MANY OF US IS THAT WE WISH TO BE WHAT WE ARE NOT OR NEVER CAN BE. THUS WE ARE DOOMED TO A LIFE OF FRUSTRATION. "FREEDOM HAS BEEN DEFINED BY ROGER NICOLE IN HIS ARTICLE "1976" AS THE ABILITY TO FULFILL ONE'S DESTINY, TO FUNCTION IN TERMS OF ONE'S ULTIMATE GOAL. IN MODERN CULTURE FREEDOM HAS MORE OFTEN BEEN CONCEIVED AS AUTONOMY. BUT BECAUSE THIS IS A UNIVERSE CREATED AND MAINTAINED BY A SOVEREIGN GOD, NO CREATURE IS OR CAN BE AUTONOMOUS. THE PURSUIT OF WEALTH IS ONE ATTEMPT TO ACHIEVE "FREEDOM" APART FROM GOD OR EVEN FROM GOD HIMSELF. IT IS PROBABLY THE DOMINANT GOAL OF MOST IN THE WEST AND INCREASINGLY OF THE REST OF WORLD AS WELL. IF ASKED, MOST WHO PURSUE THIS GOAL WOULD DENY THAT THEIR INTEREST IS IN MONEY ITSELF.
LET'S LOOK AT WHAT GOD SAYS ABOUT "FREEDOM" APART FROM THE GRACE OF GOD IN JESUS CHRIST WE ARE NOT "FREE." JESUS HIMSELF SAYS, " EVERYONE WHO COMMITS SIN IS A SLAVE TO SIN (JN.8:34) FREEDOM IS FOUND IN OBEYING THE LAWS OF GOD, BUT WE DISOBEY THOSE LAWS. IN FACT WE HAVE LOST OUR ABILITY TO OBEY AND SO HAVE LOST OUR ABILITY TO BE "FREE," EVER SINCE ADAM AND EVE FELL IN PARADISE, THE WHOLE OF MANKIND BY NATURAL GENERATION IS ENCOMPASSED IN A TERRIBLE REBELLION, CORRUPTION, AND SLAVERY IN WHICH, EVEN IN SPITE OF SOME DESIRES THAT WE MAY HAVE FROM TIME TO TIME TO DO WHAT IS RIGHT. WE ARE CARRIED ALONG. WE SIGH DEEPLY IN OUR HEART, " WHAT A WRETCHED MAN AM I! WHO WILL RESCUE ME (ROM. 7:24) GIVE ME LIBERTY, BECAUSE I AM, BECAUSE I AM ALREADY ENCOMPASSED IN DEATH. THE GOSPEL OF GOD'S GRACE IN JESUS CHRIST SAYS THAT WE CAN BE "FREE" TO FULFILL THAT DESTINY FOR WHICH GOD HAS CREATED US. FIRST THE GOSPEL PROVIDES US WITH FREEDOM FROM CONDEMNATION BY GOD'S LAW AND THUS "FREEDOM OF CONSCIENCE. "FREEDOM MUST BEGIN HERE. OTHER "FREEDOMS" WILL BE SHALLOW UNLESS WE ARE LIBERATED FROM THIS CONDEMNATION. WE GAIN THIS "FREEDOM" THROUGH FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST WHO DIED IN OUR PLACE TAKING OUR CONDEMNATION ON HIMSELF. WHEN WE LOOK TO OURSELVES WE MUST ADMIT AS DOES THE "1848" CONFESSION OF THE EVANGELICAL "FREE" CHURCH OF GENEVA, SWITZERLAND: " ALL MEN ARE BORN SINNER'S, UNABLE TO DO GOOD BEFORE GOD, INCLINED TO EVIL, BRINGING CONDEMNATION AND DEATH ON THEMSELVES BY A JUST JUDGMENT." BUT WHEN WE LOOK TO CHRIST WE FIND ONE WHO HAS "FREED" US FROM THAT CONDEMNATION BY DYING FOR OUR SINS. HE HAS PAID THE FULL PENALTY REQUIRED BY LAW FOR OUR TRANSGRESSIONS AND HAS GIVEN US A STANDING BEFORE GOD WHICH IS THE SAME AS IF WE HAD NEVER SINNED AT ALL.
THE LAW OF GOD IS NO LONGER A THREAT TO US. IT IS TRUE WE DISOBEYED IT, BUT IT HAS BEEN DEALT WITH. WE NOW STAND BEFORE ALMIGHTY GOD WITH CLEAN RECORDS, AND LIBERATED CONSCIENCES. IT WAS THIS "FREEDOM" THAT IMPRESSED THE APOSTLE PAUL SO DEEPLY, HE HAD GIVEN HIMSELF TO OBEDIENCE TO THE LAW. BUT THE LAW WAS A STERN TASKMASTER, AND HE HAD BEEN BURDENED BY IT. HE MAY HAVE CLAIMED TO HAVE KEPT THE LAW PERFECTLY, ACCORDING TO HUMAN INTERPRETATIONS (PHIL 3:6). BUT HE WAS STILL NOT RIGHTEOUS AS GOD COUNTS RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HE SENSED IT (ACTS 26:14). WHAT WAS HE TO DO? THROUGH THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST HE DISCOVERED A RIGHTEOUSNESS APART FROM THE LAW, WHICH MET THE REQUIREMENTS OF GOD PERFECTLY. AT THIS POINT HE CRIED." WE MUST WALK IN THE SPIRIT, NOT IN THE FLESH . (ROM. 8-1-4). FOR TO BE CARNALLY MINDED IS DEATH. TO BE SPIRITUALLY MINDED IS LIFE AND PEACE.
SIMILARLY, IN GALATIANS, AFTER A SPIRITED DEFENSE OF JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE, PAUL RHAPSODIZES, " FOR FREEDOM" CHRIST HAS SET US FREE!
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