For Freedom

I cannot recall a more intimate time of worship than in the fall of 2004 with a group of about 30 men and women. What made this time so special and meaningful to me was not the music, in fact the guitar was out of tune, and the woman's voice was too deep which threw off the pitch. It was not the speaking for on this particular night we actually foregone the message just to stay where we were. The difference was that we were acknowledging the Holiness of God and our inability to please Him. Let me explain it this way; In Romans, Paul organizes an intricate argument that is designed to show that it is only through God's righteousness that we are saved which comes by faith. We acknowledge that "all have sinned and fallen short of God's glory" and therefore are in need of a propitiation. It is through this central message of Christ being that sacrifice that he says in Galatians 5:1, "for freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery."

The mysterious writer of the book of Hebrews understands this miraculous work and states that "therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by the angels proved to be reliable and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation!" Paul also repeats those words in Philippians 2:14 to "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling."

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free and called us to be image bearers of His glory. Specifically we see this freedom in light of the persecution from the Judaizers who required that Gentiles be circumsized therefore being allowed into the covenant established by Abraham. But it is true that Christ's death has set us free and allowed us to "walk in the newness of life" and therefore gain understanding that "there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for all are one in Christ Jesus." What an opportunity for celebration knowing that through the death and life of the man Jesus we have access to the King.

This was the case on that Fall night in 2004 as a community of believers came together to worship the Lord for His amazing grace. With hearts and minds poured forward, the symbol of the cross, His people humbling themselves, praying and seeking His face, we realized that God will truly hear from heaven and heal our hearts. King David found this when he was confronted by Nathan. His response was Psalm 51 as he declared out of humility that "the sacrifices of God are a broken Spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise."

I had a friend once say in passing "I don't know if homosexuals can be Christians..." and as I considered that question I realized his ignorance. Not ignorance towards those that struggle with homosexual tendencies but rather ignorance of understanding "that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith- that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God... I therefore, prisoner for the Lord" Can a homosexual be a Christian? I accept the invitation of Christ that through his death and resurrection there is freedom. Freedom from sin and freedom to worship that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. AMEN!