Quick Note – Acts 13:38-39 – Freedom in Christ

Acts 13:38-39 – “Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.”

This weekend, as Americans, we celebrated the 4th of July, the day we declared our independence from England in 1776. It is a time of joy and celebration, where most families throw a barbecue or picnic, watch fireworks, and give thanks for the freedoms that we enjoy as Americans. It is truly a very patriotic day. My family doesn’t tend to do anything big on the 4th, but we do get the day off to reflect on the wonderful freedoms we have like freedom of religion and freedom of speech. But even though many of us get to enjoy these freedoms (whether you are an American or not), many of us are still enslaved. Enslaved to what you may ask? The simple answer is to sin and to our desires to sin and to the results of sin. Jesus stated it best in John 8:34, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.” Sin is a horrible curse that has fallen upon all of humanity. We all have practiced sin and are/were slaves to it; without Christ changing the sin nature in our hearts, we cannot help but sin. Even the Law, which God had set for us in the Old Testament, could not do anything to free us from sin. All it could do was temporarily pay for the punishment of our sins. It could never fully deal with the sin problem of the heart. It dealt with the surface issue of a sinful act but never with the deep issue of a sinful nature. Paul addressed this in our passage today, when he was speaking to the Jews in Antioch of Pisidia, when he said, “…Through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by Him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.” Paul was speaking of the one Person who could set us truly free from sin – Jesus Christ.

In our passage today, Paul said that Christ could set us free from everything by which we could not be freed from by the Law of Moses. What were those things? The first thing is the penalty for our sin. The Law of Moses provided sacrifices that could pay the penalty for the individual sins we do like lying, cheating, stealing. Each of one these actions had a specific offering that could be brought before the Temple and used to cover for the sin, but it could not pay for the actual problem – missing the mark that God had set for us – perfection. That penalty is clearly stated for us in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death…” That penalty was paid for us by Christ’s death on the cross. The perfect, sinless Lamb of God died in our place so that we would not have to pay that penalty. All we need to do is trust Christ as our Savior. The second thing is our sin nature, in other words, our natural inclination to sin and to be in the wrong. Ever since the fall of man that fateful day when Adam and Eve ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, we have all fallen prey to sin. Once again, sin simply means that we have missed the mark that God has set for us, which is perfection. We can never be perfect; therefore, we will always miss the mark and will always be considered sinful. But when Christ came and died for our sins, He not only paid the penalty for them, He completely wiped out that nature and replaced it with a new one for those who choose to give their lives to Him. That is why 2 Corinthians 5:17 states that we are all new creatures in Christ. Our sin nature which could not be changed by the Law of Moses can be changed in Christ. All we need to do is trust Him as our Lord. The third thing is the guilt from our sins. Before we became Christians, sin did not really matter to us. We may have felt a little sorrow for doing what was wrong, but that sorrow always went away with time. But when we gave our lives to Christ, whenever we sin, guilt overcomes our hearts. It is a good thing, for it is a reminder that we have sinned. But the thing is that we need not dwell on that guilt any longer and allow it to bring us to depression, for Christ has forgiven us of our sins both now and forever. 1 John 1:9 says that “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” The Law of Moses allowed for us to wipe away the guilt of a particular sin, knowing that it was covered until we sinned again, but it could never place us in the right standing before God all the time. We could only be presented before God as fully forgiven for everything from all our sins to our sin nature if we accept Christ’s gift of salvation from sin. All we need to do is trust Him as our Forgiver.

 

What the Law of Moses could not do, Christ did for us. He is our Savior, Lord, and Forgiver. Find your freedom from sin in Him. You no longer are a slave to sin but free in Christ (and in actuality a slave to Christ – 1 Corinthians 7:22). Let Him set you truly free, so that the next 4th of July, you won’t just be thanking God for the freedoms you enjoy here on earth but the freedom in Christ as well.