The Freedom of Grace

Dear Readers,

There is a passage in the Bible that describes the relationship between God and you and me. This passage is in the letter St. Paul wrote originally to the Church of Ephesus. Ephesus was a thriving city in what is now Turkey. It is on the southwest coast of the Mediterranean Sea.

The one thing that St. Paul was teaching was "we are saved by means of God's grace." There is no better passage that describes God's grace and how it is, than in Ephesians 2:1-10.

And you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you previously walked according to this worldly age, according to the ruler of the atmospheric domain, the spirit now working in the disobedient. We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and by nature we were children under wrath, as the others were also. But God, who is abundant in mercy, because of His great love that He had for us, made us alive with the Messiah even though we were dead in trespasses. By grace you are saved! He also raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavens, in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He might display the immeasurable riches of His grace in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God's gift - not from works, so that no one can boast. For we are His creation - created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them.

This is a great passage about bondage to sin and being freed to live in grace. The human nature is sinful. God writes in Psalm 51, "Into sin my mother conceived me." Our natural existence is based upon satisfying our own selves. We are naturally disobedient, we are naturally stuck in the rut of selfishness and satisfying what we want only. We are bound to this. We cannot work our way out of it. Without God, we are not free. And now, God sent Jesus into our lives. Jesus brings the freedom of grace from sin. Grace is the instrument God uses to bring salvation. By the miracle of conversion, we are freed into a life of grace. The Holy Spirit changes our hearts and souls and minds and to believe in Jesus and receive the grace that Jesus gives. Jesus gives us grace freely. It is not earned by what we do or how good we are. Grace is the great equalizer of people in the sight of God. We are all equally freed from sin, condemnation, and wrath. God the Father, looks at us through God the Son Jesus Christ eyes. We are forgiven. We are changed. So now our works take on a whole new light and purpose. Our works are done so that will fulfill the Will of God. There are many works that can be done. We are created so that the works are done. For example, I cannot do all types of work. I am created in a special way in order to do some works. You are created in a special way in order to do some other works that will complement what I do. And there are many more believers created by God in special ways that will complement all what we do to the glory of God.

So it is grace that frees us from the bondage to sin. Grace given to us by Jesus Christ, frees us to experience the life of God. It is His free gift. Let us live in grace.

Your servant in Christ,

Pastor Hemsath

The Freedom of Love

Dear Readers,

I want to share briefly with you the freedom of love. Love is a wonderful thing. Yet love, as it is used currently, is a lousy word. Where else can the phrase, "I love you, man" be used in order to coerce a beer from a friend. The use of the word, love, is so badly used today.

Yet love is freeing. Here the Word of God from 1st John 3:16-21

This is how we have come to know love; He laid down His life for us. Whe should also lay down our lives for ur brothers. If anyone has this world's goods and see his brother in need but shuts off his compassion from him - how can God's love reside in him? Little children, we must not love in word or speech, but in deed and truth; that is how we will know we are of the truth, and will convince our hearts in His presence, because if our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts and knows all things. Dear friends, if our hearts do not dondemn us we have confidence before God ...

We know love. We know the love that God gave to us through the self sacrificing actions of Jesus Christ. God so loved the world that He sent His one and only Son into the world to save the world. God demonstrated His love for us in this. For while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. This is true love. This is the love that God gave and it has freed us from sin, death, the influence of Satan, and hell. We believe and know that God loves us so much, that no sacrifice was too great to save us from our sins and selves.

Then we demonstrate and live that love that God lives in us. We "pay it forward" to others who are in need. We demonstrate God's great grace so that others will see Him in us. Are we perfect at it? By no means. We will fail to show love "24/7." That is when our hearts condemn us. But the Holy Spirit is there in convicting us that we are not living in the freedom of God's love. He causes repentance in us so that we are once again connected to God's love. Then we are freed again to serve Him and our fellow man.

That is the freedom of love.

Your servant in Christ,

Pastor Hemsath