If you have been viewing the studies here for any length of time, you have probably heard me mention that Jesus has made complete redemption available, and that He has made complete provision for your spirit, your soul, your body and even your finances. And indeed we have studied about His provision for your spirit, His provision for your body, and His provision for your finances.
Yet it occurred to me that we had not really explored His provision for your soul (that is your mind and emotions), in quite some time. And this area of His provision is just as important, just as powerful, and just as freeing as the others; and so we will be looking at it today in this study.
Many believers struggle with their believing… they find it difficult to believe because their human senses and their natural mind and thinking overwhelms them when situations and circumstances appear contrary to the Word of God. It’s true. Everyone has felt that way at one time or another, and then on top of that, we encounter Christians who are all too eager to inform us that because we have these thoughts and feelings, that we are “wavering” and that God will not answer prayer, because of doubting. It then begins a vicious downward spiral of struggling with believing, to being told that because we are struggling that we can’t expect anything from God, and so it just gets worse and worse.
My friend, I’ve been there, and I know the depression and feeling of hopelessness that comes from that desperate tailspin. And today in this study I want to share with you a little-known mental-shift found in the scriptures that will completely change your outlook. When you see the truths in the Bible that we will be studying today, it will lift you out of despair and into peace. It will reinvigorate your belief from hanging over the precipice, to on the very mountaintop. It is my joy to share this with you today.
In John 18:38. Pilate asks a question in talking with Jesus… the question is 'What is truth?' It is a question that many people are searching for an answer to today. The scriptures record that Pilate did not wait around to hear what Jesus' response would be. Now if you were to ask this question today, depending on who you ask, you will get a large number of differing responses or opinions. Even among church-folk. Some people will say simply that the Bible is truth; and there is nothing wrong with that answer, though it's generic. There are some today who believe that the Law is the truth that balances out Grace, as if Grace and truth are counter-measures for each-other; even though the scriptures say in John 1:17 that Grace and Truth go together and both came by Jesus Christ.
What we will be studying today is what real Biblical truth is, the way that Jesus defines it. In seeing His own divine descriptions of truth, we will get a better understanding and revelation of Him and how as He Himself said 'the truth will make us free'.
Here in America, we value freedom. Freedom to choose this thing or that thing, freedom from oppression and from the shackles of slavery. In my discussions with people, I am occasionally asked how I can believe in such an oppressive book as the Bible; they say that the Bible is outdated, or closed-minded. I have responded by saying that quite to the contrary, the Bible has not oppressed or enslaved me, but it has liberated me and set me free. You see, freedom is just an illusion, if you are still a slave to sin, still a slave to negativity, depression or the lusts of the flesh – and there are a great number of people in churches today even who are still bound by these things.
So today, we will be studying how Jesus Christ can give us true freedom from sin and self, and how as a result of His redemptive work, we can be truly free.