52 Weeks of ForwardSample

Unshackle Yourself!

By Pastor Jason Briesacher

"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death." ROMANS 8:1-2 (ESV)

Do you feel that? Do you feel the weight lifted? If not, go back and reread the verse.

In the Old Testament, God gave us laws that would help us govern our relationships with each other and with Him. They were a road map that, if followed to perfection, would help navigate us toward righteous living. Not one of us could do that (Ps. 53:1-3), and the law was powerless to fix our imperfection. The law made God seem distant, far from being “Abba,” the Aramaic word for father (used for God by Jesus) that denotes an intimate relationship.

The law was not designed to be our savior, nor would it make us righteous. Then Jesus came and seemingly made it more challenging. He said that our thoughts are the birthplace of our sinful desires. While not every thought is sinful, every sinful action is born from a sinful thought (Matt. 5:21-22 and 27-28).

The law convicts. It is a mirror that shows where we have failed and how far we are from righteousness. A heaviness is attached to that because the weight of our sin is ours to carry. Then, under the weight of sin, we can feel like Paul in Romans 7. He said that he desires to do what is right but does what is wrong. The weight becomes heavier, and we begin to look at ourselves through the lens of our sin: “What a wretched person I am.”

Therefore. Pause on that word for a moment. It is a word that means “for that very reason.” It signals a new thought, a new direction. Our sin was a weight too strenuous for us to bear. Our wrong choices were a burden we could never unshackle. We could never live up to the righteous standard of the law. Therefore, God sent Jesus.

He lived up to the standard. He was righteous in word and deed. He paid the penalty that should have fallen on you and me. For that very reason, there is no condemnation for you or me. Our debt was paid because the law of the Spirit of life sets us free from sin and death.

God takes it one step further, declaring that we are not servants nor enslaved people but His children. He purchased us with His blood, declares us righteous through Jesus Christ, and encourages us to live as heirs to the Kingdom of God and call Him “Abba.”

MOVING FORWARD

Often, we hold on to our past because the burden is something we’ve created. Christ Jesus wants to unshackle us so we can move forward. Read 1 Peter 5:7 and Matthew 11:28-30 and then give your past to Jesus so you can move forward unburdened.