‘It is for freedom that Christ has set us free’ (Galatians 5:1)

We were once the slaves of sin, Satan, and the world; we were under the law as a covenant of life; but Jesus has made us free. We are now delivered from the law, and are under grace. We are dead to sin, and are justified from it. We are delivered from Satan, and are at war with him.

We overcome the world, and our hastening out of it. We are at liberty to serve God, and walk with Him in friendship and holy love. The price of our freedom was the life and death of Jesus; the cause of our freedom was the power and operation of the Holy Spirit; the underpinning cause was the infinite and everlasting love of God our Father; the instrument by which we are made acquainted with our freedom, is the holy Gospel; the grace which puts us in possession of our freedom is faith; and the end of our freedom is that we may serve God in righteousness and holiness all the days of our life, and then be glorified with Him forever.

We are freed from sin, that we may be holy; and are introduced to God and accepted by Him, that we may be happy. Let us stand firm in the liberty that Christ has made us free.

Sweet is the freedom Christ bestows,
With which he makes his people free;
A liberty no mortal knows,
Till they His great salvation see;
Freedom from wants, and fears, and cares,
From worldly lusts, and dangerous snares.

THE DAILY REMEMBRANCER by James Smith (1802-1862)

Journal Jottings

‘What shall I render to the Lord for such great mercies! Still I fear trials are not far off, I cannot help anticipating them, and I dread church troubles; for in them there is so much sin committed, the gospel is so much dishonoured, and the Spirit of God, who is a Spirit of love and peace, is so grieved. Lord, preserve me from sin and then lay on me what Thou wilt. I feel this morning, willing to be, to do, and to suffer, just what the Lord pleases, so that I may be kept from sin’.