Because of Jesus I Am...Sample

Set Free, Now & Forever!

Verse – “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:22-23)

Think - It’s impossible for me to know exactly who or where I’d be today if Jesus had not saved me as a teenager. I can only speculate what kind of man I would have become, who I might have married, or how I would have spent my time and money. But I imagine that, left to my own proclivities and temptations, my life would be very different.

The story of the Christian’s life is like a dramatic “Before and After” testimony. And in one sense, it is right to think about how Jesus transforms our eternal destination from hell to heaven at the moment of conversion. But it is also right to think about how, by nature of our union with Jesus, He instantaneously transforms our present direction from a pathway of corruption to a pathway of righteousness.

Though progress on this new road of sanctification may be slower and involve more twists and turns than I’d like, it is another gift of God’s grace to protect us from the sting of sin. Before Christ, I was on a one-way road to perdition as a slave to sin, whose chains held my hands fast to ever-increasing corruption. But now, in Christ, He takes the wheel to break the bondage of sin and makes a U-turn toward holiness.

Apply - Consider the course of your life without Christ. And praise God for not only saving you from your past but also your future without Him. Consider how you are a different person today than a decade ago. And praise God for whatever degree of progress you’ve made. Consider where you still feel the phantom chains of addiction and slavery to sin. And ask God to give you the power to live in the freedom you already have.

Pray - Father, renew my heart day by day to rejoice in the eternal weight of glory that awaits me. Strengthen my faith to trust the reality of my freedom in Christ to live in holiness. Continue the good work you began in me to transform me more and more into the image of Jesus. I’m trusting in your grace for my tomorrow and my today. Amen.

Bio line - Brandon Fisher is Lead Pastor at Keystone Church in Paradise. Brandon, Bethany, Eloise, Woody, and Baby #2 live in Paradise.