I love the story of the missionary who sailed from Liverpool to serve Christ along the African coast. He changed vessels at Lagos. He boarded a coastal tugboat to make his way into a fever-infested region where he would invest the rest of his life. While changing vessels, he came upon a cynical old slave trader who looked critically on the man's decision by saying, "If you go to that place, you will die." The missionary, a devoted Christian, replied softly, "I died before I ever left Liverpool." 5
Not until you and I know that we are dead to sin's control and alive to God's power through Christ will we live like victors, not victims.
Next, Romans 6:11 tells us there is something we must consider: "Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus." The word consider is crucial. It is from a Greek word that means "to calculate, to take into account, to figure." It is a financial term, an accounting term. Rather than meaning "act like it is so," it means "reckon it true. Enter it in the ledger. Record it in the creases of your brain." What exactly are we to calculate? Namely this: We are in Christ, dead to sin's power. And Christ is in us, releasing God's new power.
And the result of such calculating? "Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey its lusts" (v. 12).
By calculating (considering) all of this and by taking into account the truth we know to be a fact, we dethrone sin and refuse to obey our lusts any longer. The flip side of this truth is equally liberating. Even when we do sin, when we occasionally fail, God's interest is not in flailing us as slaves, screaming,
Emancipated? Then Live Like It!
"You ought to be ashamed!" but in forgiving us as His dear children.
While speaking at a week-long conference last year, I was introduced to a twenty-four-year-old woman. She was visibly uneasy and tearful. As we talked it was obvious that she was riddled with guilt, overcome with shame. She could hardly maintain eye contact. I soon learned she had been promiscuous in her past. A couple or three years prior to our meeting, she had become a Christian. As she became increasingly more interested in spiritual things, her past returned to haunt her. Within recent weeks she began to be tortured with shame and the accompanying fear that either God would judge her or she would fall back into that old lifestyle.
The more we talked the clearer it became that she genuinely believed in and loved the Lord . . . but she knew nothing of the truth of Romans 6. Her major problem? She failed to understand grace. She did not realize that her secure position in Christ left her with nothing to fear, absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. I turned to this great section of Scripture and read it to her, pausing periodically and explaining what she needed to "know" and what she needed to "reckon as true." Time and again she interrupted and reminded me of her past, which intensified her feelings of shame. Her face reflected an inner battle. Her old master didn't want to let her go. He stubbornly clung to her, using fear to immobilize her. Each time I reminded her of God's forgiveness in Christ ... of her new position by grace . . . and of her need to see herself as free, no longer enslaved. I must have said those words a half-dozen times. Finally, the light dawned. She forgave herself (a giant step toward accepting grace) and she claimed her freedom. The woman was aglow with radiance the rest of the week. She had been transformed in her mind from a slave, full of shame and disgrace, to one who was free, liberated from the enemy's oppressive desire to keep her defeated. Instead of beginning each day in dreadful fear, she began to focus on being free from her old master. Rather than thinking, "My sin, my shame, my
Emancipated? Then Live Like It!
failure," she remembered, "His forgiveness, His grace, His life." The change in her countenance was nothing short of remarkable. By Friday she had the most obvious "Yes" face at the conference.
In our great state of California there are many picturesque roads and highways through mountainous areas. Though some are narrow and a bit treacherous, all of them lead through sights that are breathtakingly beautiful. Those who have driven the Pacific Coast Highway, Highway 1, can never forget the incredible natural scenes that stretch along the craggy coastline from Los Angeles to San Francisco. A few of the curves are especially dangerous and must be driven slowly and with great care. There are treacherous drop-offs, which add both to the beauty and to the danger of the journey.
It occurred to me that our state could offer two options to travelers along these dangerous mountain roads. First, the state could build very well-equipped clinics at the bottom of those high elevations where the narrow roads twist and turn. Every sharp curve could be provided with a clinic down below. When speeding drivers went over the side and tumbled down the cliff, those in the clinic would be there to rescue and treat them. Second, the state could erect very clear, well-placed signs before each sharp curve, reading "Danger! Curve Ahead. Drive Slowly. " You are not surprised to know that the highway department chose the second option, not the first. Smart plan.
We should learn from that decision. First John 1:9 is the corrective clinic at the bottom of the hill. It rescues and treats us, which is wonderful, but it's not the best alternative. Romans 6, on the other hand, is preventive counsel, providing the signs: "No need to crash . . . slow down . . . danger ahead." We must calculate the importance of these spiritual "signs" and reckon them as true.
This brings us to the third crucial term: Present.
And do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to
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God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law, but under grace, (vv. 13-14)
Not only must there be intelligent calculation ("consider") based on true information ("know"), there has to be a conscious presentation of ourselves to God. Paul spells that out in two simple commands.
Negatively: "Do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness." Why? Because we aren't slaves any more. Our bodies are not helpless victims of lustful urges and uncontrollable weaknesses. Those days ended when we became Christians. Remember, we've been emancipated!
Positively: "But present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead. . . . For sin shall not be master over you."
Since we have been emancipated, it is high time we start living like it. I remind you that our adversary doesn't want us to think like this. He would erase grace immediately if he could. But since he cannot, his strategy is to do everything in his power to deceive us into thinking like slaves. Why? Because when we start operating like free men and women, our old "master" can no longer control us.
A NECESSARY WARNING
I would love to tell you that change is easy, but I cannot. Old habits are terribly difficult to break. Thinking correctly takes courage. Furthermore, our adversary, Satan, won't back off easily. Neither will the legalists he uses. If you think the plantation slave owners following the Civil War were determined to keep their slaves, I'm here to tell you that today's grace killers are even more stubborn than they were. Count on it, the enemies of our souls despise this message of freedom. They hate grace, so be warned. In order for you to leave the security of
Emancipated? Then Live Like It!
slavery and ignorance and walk out into the new, risky fields of freedom and grace, you will need courage and inner resolve. My prayer is that God will give you an abundance of both. You're not alone in your quest for freedom. There are a lot of us taking this journey with you. There is a "grace awakening" beginning in the hearts of God's people.
The sixteenth president made a comment shortly after the Emancipation Proclamation was passed by Congress early in 1863. Sounding more like Captain Ahab in Melville's novel Moby Dick than Abraham Lincoln delivering a speech, he warned:
We are like whalers who have been on a long chase. We have at last got the harpoon into the monster, but we must now look how we steer, or with one f
lop of his tail he will send us all into eternity. 6
The president proved himself a prophet with those words. His proclamation resulted in an escalation of the Civil War. He was absolutely correct. The declaration of freedom brought on even greater struggles and more bloodshed.
Such a warning is necessary. Who knows what battles you will encounter now that you have determined to live emancipated rather than enslaved? But the good news for many of you is this: At last we have gotten the harpoon into the monster. Now we must steer carefully and watch out for that wicked tail.
7
Guiding Others to Freedom
*
A,
.n unexpected shift of attention occurred during the presidential campaign in the fall of 1988. Instead of the evening news focusing on the Democratic and the Republican candidates, all eyes were on two California whales up in Alaska, trapped in a breathing hole many miles from the ocean.
Strange as it may seem, Bush and Dukakis were upstaged by "Bonnett" and "Crossbeak," the names biologists gave the whales.
It all started when the gentle giants of the sea overlooked the fact that winter arrived early that year in northern Alaska. This mistake left them trapped, stranded inland by the ever-increasing covering of solid ice that prevented them from swimming to freedom.
At first few bothered to notice . . . only a few compassionate Eskimos who decided the creatures needed help. In a rather primitive fashion they hauled their chain saws and dragged long poles to the site and began to gouge out ice holes, enabling the whales to breathe en route to open water. Crude, rugged, and tiresome though the work was, they were determined to work their way toward the open ocean.
The weather wasn't cooperating. During some of the days, the temperature dropped below zero. That meant the small band of rescuers had to add some water-churning devices to keep the surface of the water from freezing over, especially
Guiding Others to Freedom
during the screaming winds of the night. Interest in the project intensified once it caught the attention of the media. Other volunteers joined in the rescue efforts. Because the original plan wasn't moving along fast enough, in rolled an "Archimedean Screw Tractor," an enormous eleven-ton vehicle that rode on two screw-shaped pontoons, resembling something taken from a sci-fi movie set. That clumsy behemoth would clear away the ice after it was broken up and push it aside inch by inch, slowly grinding out a pathway to the sea. But that was also too slow and tedious. Next came the National Guard, who brought in two CH-54 Skycrane helicopters that systematically dropped five-ton concrete bashers onto the ice, mile after mile, so the journey to freedom could be accelerated.
If you can believe it, the Soviets arrived next, having dispatched two of their ships to the scene. One was a mammoth twenty-ton, eleven-story-tall icebreaker, and the other a smaller vessel with similar equipment. Interestingly, two flags flew on the stern of the Russian ships. Perhaps for the first and only time, the United States' stars and stripes flew alongside the familiar hammer and sickle. All political contrasts, economic differences, and military conflicts were set aside for this unusual mission ... so a couple of whales could be free. Eureka! It finally happened at Point Barrow, Alaska. The world cheered as the exhausted creatures silently slipped out to sea.
Frankly, I found it a nice diversion from the presidential race. We got a chance to look at two new faces and see some unusual scenery. Instead of mudslinging, there was ice gouging. Rather than caustic comments, there was mutual cooperation. We felt good inside. There was something gallant and clean and beautiful about the whole thing. Even though it evolved into an expensive project—over $1.5 million during a three-week period—and even though the sixty-mile pathway was grueling, the shift in emphasis was refreshing.
It occurred to me a few days after the rescue project ended
Guiding Others to Freedom
that we had been observing a strange phenomenon. I thought of the contrast between what we are willing to do as human beings for whales and yet what we're not willing to do for one another. There they were, two huge denizens of the deep, with whom we cannot intelligently communicate, yet we will risk life and limb, spend an enormous amount of money, expend tireless energy in subzero weather for as long as it takes so that they can go free—and that is all well and good. What stunned me was how little effort we are willing to put forth to help another human being find freedom in God's family.
When it comes to providing personal freedom so others can breathe free and enjoy an ocean of endless possibilities, we're not nearly so cooperative. Isn't it strange? Most seem to prefer restricting and resisting someone's getting to freedom rather than helping that person along. Nations are willing to set aside vast ideological differences and cooperate in a joint effort to do whatever is necessary to help the natural world breathe free, but when it comes to the Christian community's assisting one of its own to find true freedom, well, that's another story. Cruel as it may sound, there are grace killers throughout this world, who are plugging up breathing holes and trapping people under the ice pack of their manipulations and rigid controls. What is so unbelievably tragic is they continue doing so, even if it cripples or kills the spirit of a fellow human being. We'll free the whales, but not one another.
With all this talk about grace and liberty, perhaps it's time for me to clarify something. Some may be asking: Doesn't liberty have its limits? Shouldn't folks restrain their freedom and occasionally hold themselves in check? Yes, without question. Grace can be—and sometimes is—abused. By that I mean exercising one's liberty without wisdom . . . having no concern over whether it offends or wounds a young and impressionable fellow believer. But I must hasten to add that I believe such restraint is an individual matter. It is not to be legislated, not something to be forced on someone else. Limitations are appropriate and necessary, but I fail to find in Scripture any
Guiding Others to Freedom
place where one is to require such restraint from another. To do so is legalism. It plugs up breathing holes. It kills grace. The best restraint is self-restraint that comes from the inner prompting of the Holy Spirit through the person and presence of Jesus Christ in each individual life. It's been my observation over the last thirty years that the vast majority of believers need to be freed, not restrained. Our job is to free people; God's job is to restrain them. God is doing His job much better than we are doing ours.
WONDERFUL TRUTHS REGARDING FREEDOM
I like to think of certain verses in Scripture as those that help us breathe. By that I mean they encourage true freedom. They liberate! I suggest that all who wish to be free—truly free from bondage traps and legalistic prisons—read these verses again and again and again. I would suggest you type them on three-by-five cards and tape them to your bathroom mirror. Read them aloud each morning. They will help awaken grace within you on a daily basis. Here are a few that I often quote and claim.
It was for freedom that Christ set us free. . . . (Gal. 5:1)
For he who has died is freed from sin. (Rom. 6:7)
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free. . . . (Rom. 8:2)
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? (Rom 8:31-32)
". . . and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (John 8:32)
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"If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed." (John 8:36)
More such verses will come to your attention as you begin to see the subject of freedom emerging from Scripture. For example, Paul writes Timothy that God "richly supplies us with all things to enjoy" (1 Tim. 6:17). I can't think of a greater mission in life than helping others know how to enjoy the life God has supplied. To be honest, that is one of my life goals . . . to help others enjoy life.
Some of you are engaged in a counseling ministry
. And unless I miss my guess, helping others relax and enjoy living is one of your constant assignments and delights. I commend you and encourage you to help your counselees find the freedom that they need. Once they have dealt with their sins correctly, urge them to lift the veil of guilt and draw in the rusty anchor of shame that has ensnared them long enough. Such weights become galling, unbearable. They smother. They strangle. They stifle. They ultimately bury Don't stop opening those breathing holes! No matter how long it takes, stay at it, fellow Christian.
You don't have to be a professional counselor to help others. Make it your aim to help your trapped friends to freedom. You may be their only defense and protection from the grace killers. I can tell you without hesitation that one of my major goals for the rest of my years in ministry is to provide more and more breathing holes for fellow ministers who have lost the joy of freedom, who know little of the charm of grace. If anybody needs to breathe free, to join The Grace Awakening, those in vocational Christian service do!
There are breathing holes throughout God's Word. I'm thinking of that huge hole Paul broke open in his letter to the Corinthians:
Eat anything that is sold in the meat market, without asking questions for conscience' sake; for the earth is the lords,
Guiding Others to Freedom
and all it contains. If one of the unbelievers invites you, and you wish to go, eat anything that is set before you, without asking questions for conscience' sake. But if anyone should say to you, "This is meat sacrificed to idols," do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for conscience' sake; I mean not your own conscience, but the other man's; for why is my freedom judged by another's conscience? If I partake with thankfulness, why am I slandered concerning that for which I give thanks? (1 Cor. 10:25-30)
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