Today I want to talk about how God intended for us to experience true freedom.
In a synagogue in the city of Nazareth Jesus unveiled his mission statement.
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” Luke 4:18-19 NKJV
The short version is that Jesus came to set us free from the bondage of sin and the deceptions of the devil.
The first step of experiencing freedom is understanding the finished work of Christ. The faith that God gave only works to believe and receive something that has already been accomplished.
So we can start with the assurance of Jesus’ words.
“I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.” John 17:4 NKJV
So we have to understand that Jesus finished his part.
Secondly Jesus tells us what our part is.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:32 NKJV
It is our believing and acting upon his word that allows us to receive what Jesus has already paid for.
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So what was God’s plan for us to understand and believe his word?
“However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.” John 16:13 NKJV
The role of the Holy Spirit is to guide you into all truth or to declare what is true.
Declare means to clear; to free from obscurity; to make plain; to make known; to tell explicitly; to manifest or communicate plainly to others by words.
What qualifies him to be our guide?
“For prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” 2 Peter 1:21 NKJV
The Holy Spirit is the author of the Bible, therefore, he is the most reliable guide and his purpose is twofold. First he has to give you understanding about the truth of God’s word. But it’s only the truth that you believe that can set you free, so the second thing he does is make the word so real to you that you believe it was written just for you.
In order for the Holy Spirit to guide you into truth, there are some things you have to submit.
1)You have to submit your natural mind.
“But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” 1 Corinthians 2:14 NKJV
Your natural mind cannot receive the things of God, because it works based on logic and reason and will never believe anything that can’t be proven by facts or data.
2)You have to submit your experiences.
You’re feelings, emotions and experiences will always contradict God‘s word, because God is a spirit and his word is spiritual truth. God‘s promises always exist first in the spiritual realm, and you have to use your faith to believe them before you can experience the manifestation of them.
Satan will always try to use your 5 senses and natural experiences to cause you to doubt God’s word. He will say “if God’s word was true and you WERE healed, your symptoms would be gone.”
It doesn’t require any faith to believe something you can see. Jesus said you have to believe it because his word is true. The moment you believe what you cannot see your faith brings what is already true in the spiritual realm into the natural realm of your experiences.
“Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.” Mark 11:24 NKJV
If you will allow him, the Holy Spirit will not only reveal the truths of God‘s word but he will persuade you that these words were written just for you, and you will develop the faith to receive all things.
“Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”” Mark 9:23 NKJV