I’ll be posting some thoughts on the glorious doctrine of Christian freedom in the next few days, but wanted to whet your appetite with this wonderful quote from Andrew Murray. I’ve added one tiny word for clarification in a sentence I had to read 10 times before I understood it – other than that these words have stood the test of time.

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Freedom is counted in Scripture as one of the greatest privileges of the child of God. There is nothing in history for which nations have made great sacrifices except freedom. Slavery is the lowest condition into which man can sink, for in it he can no longer dispose of himself. Freedom is the deepest need of his nature.

To be free, then, is the condition in which anything can develop itself according to the law of its nature, that is, according to its disposition. Without freedom nothing can attain its destiny or become what it ought to be. This is true alike of the animal and man, of the corporeal and the spiritual. It was for this cause that God in Israel chose the redemption out of the slavery of Egypt into the glorious liberty of God’s people, as the everlasting type of redemption out of the slavery of sin into the liberty of the children of God. (Ex. 1:14; 4:23; 6:5; 20:2; Deut. 24:8)

On this account, Jesus said on earth: ‘If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.’ And the Holy Scriptures teach us to stand fast in the freedom [Read more...]

J B Phillips’ famous translation of Romans 12:2 is “Do not let the world squeeze you into its mould, but instead let yourself be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

It’s easy to apply this to the big things in life: immorality, drunkenness, pornography. But Paul has in view the subtle as well as the obvious, as the next chapters prove. And perhaps the best way to expose our failings in this area is to examine the things we do without thinking. It’s those things that show us what our mind is really like.

So, when you come home from work and slump onto the sofa? If you’re hand stretches for the remote control, then it’s likely that the world has squeezed you into its mould. But if your hand reaches for your young child, or to help your wife in the kitchen, or your eyes close in silent grateful prayer for another day spent in the presence of God, then it’s likely that your mind is being renewed.

If you’ve had a bad day, and are thoroughly fed up, and your hand reaches automatically for the fridge door or the cookie jar, then it’s likely that the world has squeezed you into its mould. But if your hand reaches for the Scriptures, and you open them at the Psalms or the Gospel accounts, then it’s likely that your mind is being renewed.
[Read more...]