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Intention

To live in freedom under grace in Christ by casting off the sinful nature.

Scripture

“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”

– Galatians 5:1

“For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”

– 2 Timothy 1:7

Reflection

One of the apostle Paul’s most persistent themes in the New Testament is his confronting command to put on and cast off.

This is a sustained summons, not a polite suggestion.

From Romans, Galatians and Ephesians, right through to Colossians and First Thessalonians, we are called to clothe ourselves with Christ.

This is because we are at war. We are at war with our ageing, fallen flesh; a raging, chaotic world; and yes, a very real devil.

Hence Paul’s imperatives: cast off the old self, our sinful nature. Cast off falsehood. Cast off the works of darkness. Have nothing to do with any of it. Not even a drop.

Instead, Paul tells us, put on the armour of God. Put on faith and love. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh.

In short: put on the newness of life. As he writes in Ephesians 4:24, “Put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”

We must put on the armour of light, because we are, Paul adds in 2 Corinthians 5:17, new creations, reconciled to God, by God, and through and in Jesus Christ.

For freedom Christ has set us free!

The old has passed; the new has come. “For our sake”, Paul continues in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “He made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

This is the great gospel endeavour. Writing about Jonathan Edwards’ resolutions in his 2024 book Following Jesus in an Age of Quitters (and I’d add, an age of unrestrained narcissism), John Gillespie observes: “Jesus is the grace adventure.”

Christ is all. He, and he alone, gives us all the power we need to run well.

Four hundred years ago, William Gurnall agreed. Christ, he exclaimed, is the armour of God. Therefore, exercise grace, for “Christ and grace quench the bullet in battle, not ornaments.” Make no truce with the flesh. Instead “have true grace, and desire the advancement of it”.

All of this aligns with J. C. Ryle’s 1889 assertion that Christians need more fight in their Christianity. “The worst chains”, he observed, “are those which are neither felt nor seen by the prisoner.”

“If we had a nature like an angel, and were not fallen creatures, the warfare would not be so essential. But with a corrupt heart, a busy devil, and an ensnaring world, we must either ‘fight’ or be lost.”

This is the clear choice between holiness and sin. The choice between a house of freedom and a house of slavery.

For me, what this warfare looks like is learning to cast off the millstone of suffering in exchange for God’s yoke of sanctification.

Put on and cast off.

For his burden is easy, and his yoke is light (Matthew 11:29).

Video

Prayer

Be thou my wisdom, and thou my true word;
I ever with thee and thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with thee one…

Be thou my breastplate, my sword for the fight
Be thou my armour, and be thou my might;
Thou my soul’s shelter, and thou my high tower:
Raise thou me heavenward, O power of my power.

High king of heaven, my victory won,
May I reach heaven’s joys, O bright heaven’s sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my vision, O ruler of all.

Amen.

Author Bio

Rod, his wife Jonda, and their five kids are homeschooling veterans. Rod spent 12 years in management at Koorong, has a Bachelor’s Degree in Ministry and Theology, and is an independent journalist and writer for the theological, politically edgy news site Caldron Pool. Rod also writes for The Spectator. Find his personal blog here.

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