Refuse to Be Trapped by Your Past
Introduction
He had no one to help him become a lawyer or a politician. He was not interested in the army. He had no desire to be a doctor. Therefore, the only obvious career move in those days for a man of his background was to become a clergyman in the Church of England.
He tried to make himself acceptable to God by keeping the whole law, inwardly and outwardly. He got up early. He prayed. He denied himself. He tried to earn forgiveness and peace by increased effort. But he ‘groaned under a heavy yoke’.
On 24 May 1738 at 8.45 pm, he heard someone reading a book by the great reformer, Martin Luther. He later recalled, ‘While he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation; and an assurance was given [to] me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.’
John Wesley became one of the greatest preachers ever, preaching over 40,000 sermons centred on freedom through faith in Jesus Christ. He had, as he put it, ‘exchanged the faith of a servant for the faith of a son’. He was free at last.
‘Freedom’ is the word that best sums up the Christian life. You, too, are free. Therefore, refuse to be trapped by your past.
Psalm 108:6–13
6 Save us and help us with your right hand,
that those you love may be delivered.
12 Give us aid against the enemy,
for human help is worthless.
13 With God we shall gain the victory,
and he will trample down our enemies.
Commentary
Cry out for freedom
David knew that God loved him, and he prayed that God would save and help him. ‘Save us and help us with your right hand, that those you love may be delivered’ (v.6). To be saved is to be set free.
If you are facing some difficult challenge in your life, pray like David:
‘Give us help for the hard task;
human help is worthless.
In God we’ll do our very best’
(vv.12–13a, MSG).
Prayer
Galatians 4:21–31, 5:1–6
4
21 Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. 23 His son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh, but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a divine promise.
24 These things are being taken figuratively: The women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar. 25 Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother.
28 Now you, brothers and sisters, like Isaac, are children of promise. 29 At that time the son born according to the flesh persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now. 30 But what does Scripture say? “Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son.” 31 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman.
5 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
4 You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
Commentary
Live a life of freedom
In our culture, freedom is often understood as being able to do whatever you want, how you want, when you want. But when you live in that way, you don’t necessarily feel truly free.
According to Paul’s teaching in today’s passage, freedom comes through Jesus Christ. His message is that you are not ‘born free’ but that in order to be free, you must be ‘born again’. True freedom is found in a life of faith in Christ.
Many ideas of freedom fail because they do not realise the true nature of our captivity. A belief in freedom as the birthright of a particular group of people has often given birth to malignant nationalism and racism. It has produced some of the gravest evils of recent times, including Nazism and Apartheid*.*
The title of the film Cry Freedom expresses something we all long for. Whether it’s racial and political freedom (as in the case of this film), free speech, free assembly, free worship, a free conscience, or economic freedom and individual freedom, the whole world cries out for freedom.
All of these forms of freedom are important, but you can have them all and still be in slavery. Alternatively, you can have none of them but still be free. The gospel contains within it the promise of other forms of freedom, but it begins with a freedom that is more profound than any other.
‘Christ has set us free to live a free life’ (5:1, MSG). Jesus sets us free to live a life of freedom, faith and love through the Spirit. Paul’s opponents, ‘the Judaisers’, boasted about the fact that they were Abraham’s children. Paul, interpreting the Old Testament figuratively, used an allegorical argument to confront them.
Paul said to his opponents that there are two ways in which we can live – in bondage or in freedom. He explains that there are two covenants. He says in effect: ‘You boast of being Abraham’s children – but Abraham actually had two children – one in bondage and one in freedom.’ True descent from Abraham is not physical, but spiritual. It is not enough to have Abraham as your father. The crucial question is, ‘Who is your mother?’
He argued that by his opponents’ insistence on the law, they were, in fact, children of Hagar. This analogy represents the old covenant, the present city of Jerusalem, Ishmael, the child of the flesh, and a life of bondage (v.25). This is the life John Wesley experienced before his conversion. It is a life of frustration and failure, confusion and defeat.
To be a Christian, on the other hand, is to be a child not only of Abraham, but also of Sarah. Sarah represents the new covenant, the new Jerusalem (‘the Jerusalem that is above’, v.26), Isaac (the child of promise, v.28) and the freedom that is in Christ. This is what Wesley experienced the day he trusted in Christ and Christ alone for salvation. His heart was ‘strangely warmed’. This is the way of peace, joy and freedom.
Paul pointed out that just as Ishmael ridiculed Isaac (see Genesis 21:9), the Galatians who are ‘born by the power of the Spirit’ (Galatians 4:29) should not be surprised that they are being persecuted by these ‘Judaisers’.
He concluded his argument in this section by saying, ‘We are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman’ (v.31). He continued, ‘It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery’ (5:1–2). The picture is of an ox bowed down with a heavy harness.
‘Circumcision’ was the theological symbol standing for a religion of law (vv.2–3). Paul argued that to add circumcision is to lose Christ. To seek to be justified by works is to fall away from grace (v.4).
The Christian life is a life of faith. You cannot work for your salvation, you simply wait for it (v.5). Meanwhile, ‘The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love’ (v.6b).
Prayer
Isaiah 45:1–24
1 ‘This is what the LORD says to his anointed,
to Cyrus…:
2 I will go before you
and will level the mountains…
5 … I will strengthen you…
13 I will raise up Cyrus in my righteousness:
I will make all his ways straight.
He will rebuild my city
and set my exiles free,
22 ‘Turn to me and be saved,
all you ends of the earth;
for I am God, and there is no other.’
23 By myself I have sworn,
my mouth has uttered in all integrity
a word that will not be revoked:
before me every knee will bow;
by me every tongue will swear.
24 They will say of me, “In the LORD alone
are deliverance and strength.”’
Commentary
Tell the good news of freedom
God’s love extends to every person, of every nation, from the moment of conception onwards. Part of his original plan in choosing Israel was that they would bring his blessing to all people (Genesis 12:3).
God is the creator of the heavens and the earth. He is your maker. There is no other. The book of Isaiah repeats this over and over again for emphasis. Ten times this passage says, ‘There is no other.’
God is your maker. He ‘formed you in the womb’ (Isaiah 44:24). God’s love extends before birth to conception and the womb; this has profound implications for the debate about abortion and how we treat the unborn. Every human being from the moment of conception is created and sustained by God. ‘I have upheld [you] since you were conceived’ (46:3b).
God’s love extends beyond Israel to all the nations as well. Since he is the creator of all, God invites all the nations to participate in salvation and freedom: ‘So turn to me and be helped – saved! – everyone, whoever and wherever you are’ (45:22a, MSG). This promises a freedom greater than any the world can offer.
Here, we get a glimpse of the entire world bowing before Jesus. ‘Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear’ (v.23b). Paul referred to this verse as a reference to Jesus (Philippians 2:9 onwards).
This was a foretaste too, of the fact that God will also use people who are ‘Gentiles’, that is, non-Jewish. Cyrus was a Persian and yet he is described here as the Lord’s anointed (Isaiah 45:1). Isaiah prophesies, ‘I will raise up Cyrus in my righteousness: I will make all his ways straight. He will rebuild my city and set my exiles free’ (v.13). This prophecy was fulfilled when the exile came to an end through the hand of Cyrus.
This was God’s plan. He said, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please. From the east I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off land, a man to fulfil my purpose. What I have said, that will I bring about; what I have planned, that will I do’ (46:10b–11). You can be confident that nothing can thwart God’s purpose for you.
Prayer
Pippa adds
Galatians 5:1
‘It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.’
It is a wonderful truth; that Christ does set us free from sins, addictions, fears and bad habits. I know that freedom myself. I have seen many others totally transformed by the reality of this verse. We then have to continue to walk in that freedom and not be tempted back into those old habits but keep claiming Christ’s freedom and the power of the cross.
Verse of the Day
Isaiah 46:4
‘Even to your old age and grey hairs
I am he, I am he who will sustain you.
I have made you and I will carry you;
I will sustain you and I will rescue you.’
Thought for the Day
‘I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, … He had taken away my sins, even mine , and saved me from the law of sin and death.’ – John Wesley
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References
The Bible with Nicky and Pippa Gumbel (commentary formerly known as Bible in One Year) ©Alpha International 2009. All Rights Reserved.
Compilation of daily Bible readings © Hodder & Stoughton Limited 1988. Published by Hodder & Stoughton Limited as the Bible in One Year.
Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version Anglicised, Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 Biblica, formerly International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Publishers, an Hachette UK company. All rights reserved. ‘NIV’ is a registered trademark of Biblica. UK trademark number 1448790.
Scripture quotations marked (AMP) taken from the Amplified® Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)
Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from The Message, copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.