Luke 13:22-30

Striving through the Narrow Door

Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost/Proper 16C

August 21, 2016

Do you ever wonder about who will be in heaven? When people die, and when this world comes to an end, how many will make it into heaven? How many will end up in hell? And on what basis? Sure we believe that we are saved by grace alone through faith in Christ alone, but what about people who did the best they could? What about people who never heard the Gospel? Will they get in? If they don’t, how is that fair? What kind of a God would send anybody to hell anyway? That doesn’t sound very loving, just mean. If that’s the God of the Bible, then I don’t want to believe in him.” You see where these questions lead.

Like it or not, these are the sorts of questions that many people have. Maybe you have wondered about this as well.  Or maybe you’ve had someone ask you these types of questions. It’s not the easiest thing to be put in the spotlight when it comes to these questions.  Often times people want to decide on their own if God is being fair. They want to put God on trial. And if they don’t like the answers to their questions, then they feel they can reject the message, reject the Bible, reject the Church. This is their way of keeping the message of repentance and faith at arm’s length, so as to not let it get too close to home.

Jesus was faced with this sort of a question in our Gospel reading today. He’s making His way to Jerusalem to be crucified, teaching as He goes when someone from the crowd asks him the question, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?”  Jesus doesn’t take the bait. Speculative questions about whether others will be saved avoid the uncomfortable questions about one’s own spiritual life. Jesus will not let a questioner examine others without examining himself. These are the questions that we should be asking ourselves: “Am I saved?” The answer is “I am baptized, so yes.” “Am I forgiven? The Word declares I am through faith in Christ.” “Is my faith strong enough? The body and blood of Christ strengthens and preserves me in body and soul to life everlasting.”

And now, Jesus tells us to strive through the narrow door.  This is where Jesus uses some pretty strong language.  The word “to strive” is the same used in ancient athletic contests where athletes push themselves in training, exerting themselves towards the goal. Think about the Olympics and the training that the athletes undergo in order to compete at that level.  In this same way, Jesus’s words address the baptized who are already saved, calling them to take seriously the gift received, and to earnestly engage the task of sanctification.  But here’s the thing: that is never separate from our justification through faith in Christ.

The command to strive doesn’t mean to make good moral effort to enter the kingdom of God. Jesus isn’t your coach leading you try harder, to train longer. Rather, the striving through which one enters into the Kingdom of God is daily repentance, which is a work of God in our lives. When the Word of God calls one to repent and trust in Christ our sinful nature strives against us in doing just that. The Old Man rears up to fight against Christ. This is resolved as the Old Man is put to death by the Law and the New Man through faith in Christ is raised to new life by the power of the Gospel.  This ongoing, lifelong struggle characterizes the lives of all who are baptized into Christ. Entering through the narrow door is gained by those who repent and believe in Jesus as the Christ.

When it doesn’t seem like there is much joy in the world, hold on tight to Jesus.  When the whole slams its doors in your face, hold on tight to Jesus. When you stand face to face against your sin, hold on tight to Jesus. And when you death comes knocking, hold on tight to Jesus. And though you fail to hold on tight to Jesus, He holds on tight to you. You need not fear or despair or exhaust yourself attempting to get through the door or to push someone else through before it’s too late. A person passes through the door of the kingdom of God purely by God’s grace as the Holy Spirit uses the means of the Word and Sacraments to call, gather, and enlighten the whole Christian Church on earth.

The door may be narrow, but God has flung it wide open. Through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus the kingdom of heaven is open to all who believe in Him. But it is wide open so that “people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at the table in the kingdom of God.”  Our doors are wide open. The doors to Zion Lutheran Church, School, and Daycare are wide open to all to hear the Good News of Christ.

Because there are two ways, one of life and one of death (The Didache).  For those who ignore this open door that is Christ it will be too late to enter when the final feast arrives at His return. The master of the house reiterates that they had not true communion with Him during this life, and to these He will say, “Depart from me, all you workers of evil.” They are workers of evil because they did not receive the goodness that comes through faith in Christ. They have travelled the unrighteous way and rejected the Righteous One who opens the narrow door.

For those who choose the way of death by rejecting Jesus there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. This may seem like a harsh reality to some, but a perfectly just and holy God demands perfect justice and holiness for His people and He provides that freely through Jesus.  If you worry about a family member of friend, don’t wait. God tell them about Jesus and the Holy Spirit will work through the Word of God you share. Our doors open not just for people to come in, but for to go out. And tell everyone what you have heard and received in Christ.

For those who hear the Word of God and respond in repentance and faith in Christ will be welcomed into the eternal feast at the table of the Lord. For now, Jesus is still present to teach through His Word and to serve guests at His table. Come, the door is open wide. The table is prepared. The Lord, Jesus the Christ, is present in His Word and by means of His body and blood in this Sacrament. Come, you made worthy through faith in Christ and in His Word, enjoy the foretaste of the feast to come in the Kingdom of God.

Luke 12:49-56

The Dividing Line

Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost/Proper 15C

August 14, 2016

Who is your God? That’s an interesting question to ask since we literally just answered it in the words of Nicene Creed. But this isn’t as silly of a question as you may think. Who is your God?  The First Commandment teaches us that we should fear, love and trust in God above all things.  So what do you fear the most? What do you love the most? What do you trust the most?  These are pretty important questions, the answers of which tell a lot about a person. If you want to see what is most important to someone, if you want to see which god a person truly worships, it is most telling to look at where that person spends most of His wealth, not just money, but resources, time, attention-in other words his fear, love, and trust.

And Jesus said, “For where you treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Our hearts are gullible and fickle.  The heart follows what we value and where we place our treasures. Where’s your heart today? Where are your thoughts this morning? I’m sure we would all like to say that we are completely focused on God and what is going on during the Service this morning, but you aren’t fooling anyone. You’re distracted. You’re distracted by your life. Some of you are already planning lunch and when you can get out of here. Some of you are thinking about what you’re going to be doing this afternoon.  Some of you are carrying so much baggage, have such a burden, that your thoughts are consumed by it all.  So is your treasure, your heart, your god, laid up in the things of this world, or hidden with Christ and consumed by His kingdom?

Here’s a hint: by virtue of your baptism, God has brought you into His kingdom.  You are His child, heir to His riches.  All that the Lord has He seeks to give to you by means of His Word and Sacraments. We pray in the fourth petition of the Lord’s Prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread.” God certainly gives daily bread to everyone without our prayers, even to all evil people, but we pray in this petition that God would lead us to realize this and to receive our daily bread with thanksgiving. It is the Father’s good pleasure to give you His eternal kingdom and all the riches therein. God’s faithfulness exceeds all our needs. He provides as He sees fit, teaching us to rely on Him for every good and gracious gift.

In order to address worry we need to assess what we fear, love, and trust.  When we trust in things that grow old and rot there is a lot to worry about. We end up being anxious about what we will eat and what we will wear. For many people this misplaced trust causes worry, anxiety, sleepless nights, panic, and even physical discomfort. This is why Jesus said, “O you of little faith” (Lk 12:28). When we fail to trust in God, we end up trusting in things that should cause us to worry. Worry shows us which god we pray to. It shows us where our heart is, where our treasure is. That is the point Jesus is making with the rich man from the parable last week. The rich man built up new barns to store all his crops only to have his soul required of him that night. He should have been very worried because he trusted in himself, but the ravens trust in their creator and do not worry.

But when we trust in God for our daily bread there is no need to worry. “Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds” (Lk 12:24). When we place our trust in God there is no need to worry because God does not grow old and does not rot. Because God provides all this needed, not only for our soul and eternity, but for this body and life.

And yet doubt creeps in so easily to our fickle hearts.  We think to ourselves that if God really cares, if God really supplies our needs, then why are we having a hard time. Why is so there so much to worry about?  Worry about the presidential race. Worry about the direction some of our public schools are going. Worry about our children and grandchildren having a good life, supporting their families. Worry about having enough money to put groceries on the table this week. There is so much to worry about in this sin-stricken world.

When doubt arises, when you wonder whether or not God really does provide, when you question if God really cares, look the cross.  There, Jesus hung so that we have the best treasure of all –  forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. No matter how many barns the rich man had, no matter how much he trusted in himself to maintain the level of his wealth, it does not compare to the treasure we have in the life, suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. You are more valuable than the birds of the air and the flowers of the fields to Jesus. Fear not! Do not worry! Be not anxious! God has sacrificed His Son to give you the treasure of salvation that does not grow old and does not rot.

Jesus says, “seek His kingdom and these things will be added to you.” So what are you worried about? For the worst that the world can throw at you is suffering and death. And Jesus already took care of those things upon the cross and the resurrection. Leave your baggage here. Throw your worries on Jesus. Trust in the Father who would give more than the world to His children, but gives them an eternal kingdom.  Believe His words, they are for you. He who was rich became poor for your sake, that you might enjoy His eternal treasure in the heavens.  There is your treasure, and there your heart will be, for there is your God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Thousands of people gathered to hear him talk.  Some were there to try to see what sort of outlandish thing he was going to say next. Some wanted to twist every word around to mean something different.  The press was there, some in support, some in opposition.  There were even some of the opposite party who snuck in trying to plant seeds of discord. Some looked on and wondered how all those people could be so gullible, so ignorant, as to listen to man like this.  To some he looked good, others simply thought he was a fraud. Some hailed him the Messiah for all their problems, while the other side scoffed at the very idea and those who jumped on the bandwagon.  Some thought no matter what happened in the near future, it was simply a lose-lose situation. 

Just in case you’re wondering, no, I’m not talking about political conventions going on this week. I’m talking about Jesus.  Thousands had gathered to hear him this day, trampling over each other were trying to get close enough to Jesus to see Him and hear Him speak.  The Pharisees and scribes were disgusted by the whole ordeal, especially since He had just insulted them as the worst kind of hypocrites. As the crowds gathered around, Jesus warned His disciples of the leavening effect of the Pharisees and legalism, encouraging them not to fear those who could kill the body, but the one who has authority to cast into hell.  He spoke of how everyone who acknowledges Him before men will be acknowledge by Him before God, but who denies Him before men He would deny before the Father. 

And now this man speaks out of the crowd with an agenda to settle a family matter and obviously hadn’t listened to what Jesus had been saying.  He doesn’t get who Jesus really is, nor what His ministry is really about. Jesus has come to usher in the last days when God will bring salvation to Israel. Since the last days have come in Jesus Christ, Jesus’s disciples are not to worry about laying up treasure for themselves, but should seek to be rich for God.  Yet what does this man seek from Jesus? He wants help in acquiring “what is rightfully his” - to settle a dispute between his brother and himself over their inheritance - as if the last days have not already broken in with Jesus. Even if his complaint is legitimate, he is not seeking from Jesus the gracious things Jesus was sent to give - eternal salvation and the Holy Spirit.

So instead of judging in this dispute, Jesus tells them to guard against covetousness and earthly possessions and uses a parable to illustrate His point. Though this parable is commonly referred to as the parable of the Rich Fool, from a strictly human perspective everything the man plans seems to be wise in the way of the world. He plans to do what he must to preserve this unexpected bumper crop, and then he hopes to “take it easy and enjoy life,” one life goal of many Americans. What may be most troubling about this parable is that most of us would probably do the same thing. Have a good enough year, save up enough retirement, and never have to worry about money or finances again in this life.  What’s wrong with that?  It’s just good financial planning for the future. 

 The problem is not that the man was good at retirement planning, nor that he was rich, nor that he built up new barns, but that he was a fool.  Jesus had many disciples who were wealthy.  The Magi from the east who came to worship Jesus the toddler had the means to offer Jesus gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  Matthew, or Levi, one of the twelve disciples was a tax collector, and Luke a physician, most likely were wealthy. Joseph of Arimethea who loaned his tomb to Jesus had the means to construct a tomb for himself in the honored real estate near Jerusalem.  Lydia, one of the early disciples in Philippi and Mary the mother of Mark the Gospel writer were wealthy patrons of the church.  Earthly wealth is not the problem.  The problem is letting wealth become a substitute for God.  It is making wealth the source of our security and comfort. The sin is not in the money, not in the possessions, not in the building or maintaining buildings, but in the attitude toward earthly material goods. The problem is one of idolatry.

Jesus speaks this parable to all of us even if we are not wealthy.  Jesus said, "Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."  Jesus warns us whether we are on welfare, middle income, or upper class, that the love of money can destroy our souls.  This means that rich and poor alike can be fools about money.  The rich can be slaves to the money and other things they have.  The poor can be slaves to the money and other things they want.  It’s the sinful nature of people to see money and possessions as the salvation from their problems. But there is salvation in no one else, in nothing else, than Jesus.

Our Old Testament reading for today comes from the book of Ecclesiastes.  In this book, King Solomon carefully documents his experiments with every life style possible.  The wisest man who ever lived sees the foolishness of all his works under the sun.  In the end he concluded that if this life is all there is, then everything is vanity and a striving after the wind.  Without God, nothing has any lasting pleasure or meaning.  What matters most in life is not how rich you are for your own purposes, but how rich you are toward God. In the person of Jesus God gives you all the riches of heaven. 

With Christ there is meaning, there is worth, there is salvation, but the treasure of God is not like the treasure of this earth.  Although He is the creator and owner of all things, became poor for us.  Although He has all authority in heaven and earth, He humbled Himself under the law.  Although He has all power, He made Himself helpless and submitted to the punishment we deserved as He suffered and died on the cross.  Although forgiveness, life, and salvation are worth more than we could ever pay, Jesus offers them to us as a free gift.  Although Jesus deserves our unending service, it is His desire to serve us.  It is Jesus who makes us rich toward God. Later on in the chapter Jesus tells His disciples to seek [God’s] reign and it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the reign (Luke 12:31, 32).

One who is rich for God doesn’t bicker over what he feels is rightfully his or greedily hoard worldly goods.  As Christians rich in God’s grace we live as if God’s gracious reign in Jesus has been given to us, because it has! We take care of families, we sacrifice for others, we take care of the possessions our Lord has given, our homes, our wealth, our church building, our school, our parsonage, not as means wherein we think we are doing God a favor or are better Christians if we have the latest and greatest. We do so only out of recognition that every good and gracious gift comes from God and are to be used for His glory. God has already given us everything in Christ. A person’s life does not consist of the abundance of possessions but it all depends on our possessing
God’s abundant grace and blessing in Jesus Christ, our Lord. 

“What does Jesus sound like?” That was the question that a mother once asked her child.  She was reading a book to her son before bedtime, and as often is done, the mother did different voices for different characters in the book. This night, she was reading one of the Arch books about the life of Jesus. The son interrupted his mom and said she was doing Jesus’ voice wrong.  And so the mom asked, “What does Jesus sound like?”  The young boy explained, first of all, that is was a man’s voice, not a woman’s voice. It was deeper and slower and grumpier.

The next Sunday, when they were in church, right in the middle of the absolution, the young boy whispered into his mom’s ear, “Mama, that’s what Jesus sounds like.”  To me, as a young boy, that was the voice I heard when I went up to children’s messages, when I received a blessing at the communion rail, when I heard the Bible read in church, it was that voice which always said, “This is the Word of the Lord.” That was Jesus speaking. Because when I heard Jesus’ word, I heard my pastor’s voice.

Now, I’m pretty certain that when Jesus was alive he did not sound like a middle aged, staunch German Lutheran like Pastor Krohn. Nevertheless, growing up that was the voice of Jesus. “The one who hears you hears me…” Jesus Himself gives the words.  While Jesus walked this earth in visible form, He appointed and sent men directly into the world to speak His Word.  After He ascended into Heaven He worked and continues to work through His Church to call men to serve in the Office of the Public Ministry. This Office is a ministry of the Word, for where the pastor speaks God’s Word, he carries God’s own authority, and is in fact, “God’s mouth” (Luther).

Today's Gospel deals with the public proclamation of God's Kingdom.  Jesus was on route to Jerusalem and to the cross.  He was taking His time at each town along the way to teach and to heal. As He goes, He sends some of His disciples on ahead to the towns and areas He planned to visit as He made His way to the cross.  Our text says, "The Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of Him, two by two, into every town and place where He Himself was about to go… Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, east what it set before you. Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The Kingdom of God has come near to you’” (Luke 10:1, 8-9). The mission of these seventy-two messengers was part of God's answer to the second petition of the Lord's Prayer - Thy Kingdom come. Through their proclamation of Jesus’ word, through divine healing delivered by them, the Kingdom of God came near to all who heard and received this Word in faith.

This is a great comfort to us all.  First of all for me, a pastor; I know that even when my faith feels weak or I feel ill prepared for Sunday morning, these words of forgiveness and peace are from Christ Himself.  They do not depend on me.  For you who hear the words; you know that no matter what type of pastor you have - even if he is a jerk, for Jesus only uses sinners – as long as he speaks in the stead and by the command of Christ, and by virtue of the Office as a called and ordained servant of the Word, the words of peace and forgiveness do not depend upon the man, but come from Christ Himself. Where those He sends to stand in the stead and by the command of Christ, He is present throwing Satan down, forgiving sin, granting life. 

The Word and the Sacraments are the tools of the Church that the Lord has given us to use.  To preach the Word and to administer the Sacraments are the pastor’s calling. That may seem weak and ineffective from a technical perspective, but the power and effectiveness come from not from the man, but the Lord who calls and sends them in His stead. The answer to spiritual weariness, fear, and temptation that afflict the Christian is found not in anything special or extraordinary as the world understands it. The answer to every Christian’s problem is actually very general, and the means are very ordinary. The answer is always Christ crucified for me, and that Christ is found in Word and Sacrament. For the Word and Sacrament is the substance of the Christian life and it’s where we point others – here, in these means, God meets man. Here in the Word and Sacrament, heaven comes down to earth. By believing that God’s Word has power, and that it is the power unto salvation. Rejoicing that your names are written in heaven and showing others the hope you have in Christ. That the Holy Spirit will guide you to plant and water the seeds of faith, to reassure the doubting, to comfort the downhearted, to forgive sin, to proclaim Christ and His kingdom that overcomes the world.

That doesn’t mean that the pastor does all the work.  Your job as listeners to the Word is to hear it, believe it, and then share it with others in your families and workplace and lives. It is to point others to Jesus. Speaking God’s Word isn’t just the job of pastors, it is yours. By virtue of your Baptism into Christ, you are a royal priesthood. Whenever a Christian faithfully speak the words of God, it is not we who speak, but Christ who speaks through us. 

When Jesus said, "The one who hears you hears me," He also said, "… the one who rejects you rejects Me, and the one who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me."  The one who sent Jesus is God the Father.  In His love, He sent Jesus to take our place as the object of His wrath against sin.  By the power of the Word, He gathers to Himself a holy people then He sends them out into a world knowing full well that we may receive the same treatment He did – rejection, persecution, death. Empowered by Jesus, those seventy-two disciples advance into Satan’s territory as people believing the Gospel.  We remain in this warzone fighting against the devil, combatting sin. The devil does everything he can to halt the advance of the Gospel. But Christ invades the sinful world by the lowly means of His Word, a word that is powerful and effective. A Word that brings the eternal kingdom of God with it. We cannot lose, the kingdom of God is present wherever the Word of God is preached and where the Divine healing is delivered in the Sacrament.

As the seventy-two return to Jesus, they are filled with joy for the power of Word.  Our Lord says not to rejoice in the works of our hands or the results of our efforts. We rejoice in what God has done for us. Rejoice that our names are written in heaven. For the Kingdom of God has come near to you today.  In the Gospel, heaven descends to earth.  God comes near and speaks His Word of approval to you for the sake of His Son.  Value this Word, and hold tightly to it.  Do not trade this Gospel for anything, not even your earthly life, but rejoice in the Lord!  The Lord guard and keep you in this Word until the Day of Christ’s return, where we will see Him face to face and hear the voice of our Lord. Amen.

There’s a Mad TV skit with Bob Newhart from several years ago wherein he plays a counselor, Dr. Switzer. It’s a spoof of Dr. Phil, Dr. Laura, counseling type shows. A woman comes into his office for some help. She is an uncontrollable fear of being buried alive in a box.  She tells him about her problem and he tells her that it will only take 2 words for him to solve her problem if she takes it and applies it to her life.  He says to her, “Stop it!” The woman says she doesn’t understand, so he repeats himself again and again. This seems to be his answer to all her problems, “Stop it!”

Now, this maybe not the best counseling technique around, but there is some validity to it. St. Paul writes in the first verse of Galatians 5, “For freedom Christ has set us free.  Therefore, do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” In other words, stop it!  The Galatians had this nasty problem of rejecting that we are saved solely by faith apart from our works. They kept falling back into their old sinful habits, their idolatry and immoral living, and acting as if the Gospel of Christ was not enough for them. And so St. Paul gives them a stern warning, “Stop it!”

“For you were called to freedom brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  Faith in Christ is the mother and source of works that are truly good and God pleasing. As Christian we are led by the Spirit of Christ, not by coercion of the Law, not by piling up more rules to follow by simply trying harder. Motivation to be good, to do good, comes from the freedom that we in Christ because our sins are forgiven as we are led by the Spirit in the truth of Christ.

That means that we are not enslaved to sinful thinking and ways. “For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.” We are involved in lifelong struggle with the old Adam. A spiritual war is waged inside of us every day and it spills out into our relationships with others.  And this should not be! St. Paul warns again, “But if you devour and bite one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.” Why don’t many of you want to stay around for voters’ meetings? To serve on this or that board or committee in church? My guess is because of what this verse says.  Biting and devouring. Arguments and insults. If you makes you feel any better, it’s not just here, but this is problem that exists within the church as a whole.

The solution isn’t just to “stop it.”  That is just piling up more Law for us to try to do in order to be good. The solution is that Christ has put a stop to it.  He died upon the cross to put an end to such things.  That happens only through repentance and faith in Christ.  By the blood of Jesus, enmity, division between God and man is reconciled. Because of that, enmity between one another is as well. We have been set free from petty bickering and quarreling. For Jesus’ sake, we are freed from the burdens of jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, division, envy and the like.  Because you, who have been baptized, belong to Christ. You have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Baptism entails a daily crucifixion, a daily putting to death of the sinful flesh so that we have peace with God and with one another.

Another Lutheran pastor in Colorado (Bryan Wolfmueller) recently said that a particular temptation we face as Christians is that of the emergency. It is the temptation to fear the future, to despair and lose hope, to panic. The devil takes whatever we see as the biggest trouble in the world and turns it into an emergency. “The church is small. Emergency!” “There aren’t enough resources. Emergency!” “The world hates the church. Emergency!”

Here’s the truth: the church has always been small. There always been tension between what we want and what we need in order to be faithful. The world has always hated the church. And Jesus, who sits on the throne at the Father’s right hand knows all about it, and He continues to keep His promise that all things work together for the good of those who love Him. Because of the Ascension of Christ, the church is emergency-proof. Because Jesus is at the Father’s right hand the church is panic-proof. Because we, by faith, cling to the promises of Jesus, we recognize the devil’s temptation to coerce us and put us back into the slavery of the Law, leading us to we have to emergency thinking because we don’t have control.

And thank God that we don’t. When left to ourselves, we act like slaves to our passions and to the whims of the devil. We fall back into the old sinful habits of the flesh. Look at the world around us. The works of the flesh are still as evident in today’s world just as they were 2000 years ago. Sexuality immorality, impurity, sensuality.  Our culture is awash with these evils, rebellion against God’s order of creation of marriage and identity. Enmity with the world, squabbles within the family of God.

 These things have no place among us, yet they plague us to no end in this life. But we are not without hope. The ground ahead of us is good; not necessarily easy, but good. In the confidence of the ascension of Christ we go about our vocations, fighting sin and doing good in the place where the Lord has placed us. That doesn’t mean we don’t take things seriously, nor bury our heads when faced with hard decisions. It means that we do these things by the grace of God, led by His Spirit, in the freedom of the Gospel, with the healing from enmity, and the bond of unity in Christ.

So let’s not gratify the desires of the flesh. Keep your eyes, our hearts, our lives focused on Jesus.  Love our neighbors as ourselves, let us be marked by the fruit of the Spirit. And when we stray, and we have and we will, we heed the Word of God that condemn our sinfulness and draws us back into the freedom of the Gospel.  Its only in this freedom that we can pray for and do the will of God. It’s only by His grace that we can make godly decisions and do good works. For Christ has put a stop to our sin by His blood shed upon the cross. He has put a stop to our death by His resurrection. He has put a stop to our slavery and given us His freedom through the forgiveness of our sins, life, and salvation. Let us rejoice