YOU ARE NOT YOUR OWN--YOU WERE BOUGHT AT A PRICE! CHOOSE LIFE--BELONG TO CHRIST JESUS!

YOU ARE NOT YOUR OWN—YOU WERE BOUGHT AT A PRICE! CHOOSE LIFE—BELONG TO CHRIST JESUS!

“Therefore, I urge you brothers, in view of God’s Mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices—holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s Will is—His Good, Pleasing and Perfect Will. For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.” Romans 12:1-3

“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, Who is in you, Whom you have received from God? YOU ARE NOT YOUR OWN. YOU WERE BOUGHT AT A PRICE. Therefore honor God with your body.” I Corinthians 6:19-20

“Were you a slave when you were called? Don’t let it trouble you—although if you can gain your freedom, do so. For he who was a slave when he was called by the Lord is the Lord’s freedman; similarly, he who was a free man when he was called is Christ’s slave. YOU WERE BOUGHT AT A PRICE; do not become slaves of men.” I Corinthians 7:21-23

“This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now CHOOSE LIFE, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to His voice, and hold fast to Him. For the Lord is your life, and He will give you many years in the land He swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” Deuteronomy 30:19-20 NIV

With these words, St. Paul introduces us to an entirely new way of relating to the world around us. Instead of being slaves to our own selfish motives and agendas, evil desires and bad habits, Christ invites us to a life of freedom under His Lordship. We are no longer to think of ourselves more highly than we ought, but instead must understand that we have become slaves of Christ through His death on the cross. The price of our redemption is that we give up our freedom to do whatever we choose in order to belong to Christ. “Those who BELONG TO CHRIST JESUS have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.” Galations 5:24 NIV This is true liberation! “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” John 8:36 NIV Instead of making a fruitless attempt to gain what we cannot keep, we are called to gain that which we cannot lose—eternal life with Christ. But in order to receive this free gift from God, we must sacrifice our personal wills and be willing to endure whatever our service to Christ demands. From the world’s perspective, it looks as though Christians are being deprived of their natural freedoms, but from the Christian perspective, we are really giving up that which we cannot hold onto anyway. From a practical and eternal standpoint, we are exchanging the temporal for the eternal. God tells us to choose life, and it is really this choice that is at the heart of the Gospel. We belong to Christ, and therefore have given up our “rights of ownership” in order to follow Christ’s leadership. It is also true that all of creation belongs to Christ, since He made it, and that no part of creation can legitimately claim to be independent of Him at all. But this is especially true of Christians, since by declaring that we are followers of Christ, we have agreed that we no longer answer to ourselves, but to Him. Why act as if we are free to do whatever we please, instead of pleasing God? Since we do not belong to ourselves, but to God through Christ Jesus, we have been set free from the bondage of our own wills, and have become the servants of Christ. Why not ask Jesus to come and live inside of you and transform you completely, from the inside. Ask Him to show you what “His Good, Pleasing and Perfect Will” is for your life, and then move forward, trusting that “He Who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6 NIV

Mark Overt Skilbred