When Jesus is the Lord of our life we shift from a legalistic mindset to a mindset of faith, and freedom. We owe our experience of God’s embrace to His grace alone. The forgiveness of our karma, or sins, and God’s indwelling in our lives is based on the merits of Christ.
We stand in awe knowing that salvation has always been by the grace of God through faith in Christ (Eph. 2:8-9).
People with religious mindset think Christianity is about suffering now so we can celebrate later; they are forgetting that we live in the joy of the Lord now as we walk by faith in Christ Jesus.
The new and joyous life is directed and empowered by the Spirit of God, flowing from the interior recesses of our heart.
When we fail to operate by faith we fall in the category of being only religious. God wants us to live by faith. “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith’” (Romans 1:17).
This mindset of faith will change our attitude towards God, as well as our interaction with others. We will begin to realize we are not under bondage, and therefore not force others into bondage.
“For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”
The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God (Romans 8:15-16). We enter into the glorious liberty of being sons and daughters of God.
The liberty God offers frees us to become the person He intends us to be. God alone brings us to our destiny; transformation of our character into the likeness of Christ. Let us by faith live in the freedom Christ gives by the power of the Holy Spirit.