Living in Freedom

By James G. Groth

It is amazing what God has done for us, how overwhelming this is, how unrestricted it is, and how it upsets every natural principle upon which we depend and naturally build our lives. In Living in Freedom, author James G. Groth shares an understanding of Gods grace, the new covenant, and the role they play in our lives by exploring:

the current world situation and the impact it has on our lives;
the differences and purpose of the covenants and how they affect our lives today;
the problem of basing our lives on our concepts of good and evil;
the historical, conceptual, personal, and relational aspects of the new covenant ;
the mixing the lifestyles of law and grace; and
the concept of forgiveness.

Groth also considered what it means to be a new creation, to be born again, and the consequences which take us into a life of freedom, as well as what it means to live by the spirit rather than by the letter of the law. He examines 1 John 1:9 and explains it in context with the times, the struggle of cults, and in the context of Pauls letters.

Living in Freedom addresses the true meaning of salvation and encourages Christians to walk in their faith to attain that salvation.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Aug 27, 2012
• ISBN: 9781475943085

James G. Groth

James G. Groth has been a believer all his life. He is a retired computer programmer and analyst. He coauthored and published the Alpha Series and helped establish its website. Groth and his wife, Karen, live in Greenville, South Carolina.

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Copyright © 2012 by James G. Groth.

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ISBN: 978-1-4759-4307-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4759-4308-5 (ebk)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012914325

iUniverse rev. date: 08/21/2012

Unless otherwise noted all scripture quotations are as follows:

All scripture quotations noted NIV are scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION Copyright 1973,1978,1984 by The International Bible Society used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publsihers.

All scripture quotations noted ESV are scripture taken from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV) Copyright 2001 by Crossway. Used by permision.

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Verses marked TLB are taken from The Living Bible Copyright 1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publsihers, Inc., Wheaton Illinois 60189, all rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked as HCSB are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009, by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible, Holman CSB, and HCSB are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.

Contents

About the Author

Preface

Acknowledgements

Introduction

The Tree of Life

Why Are Things the Way They Are?

Understanding Why?

The Tree of Life

Our Importance

The Creation Before the Creation

In the Garden

Satan Contends with Man

Deception

Two Trees and Deception

The Tree of Life

The Great Deception

The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, or the Tree of Life?

Living by Sight

Life After the Garden

The Resurrection and the Life

Real Food

The Tree of Life—the Vine

A New World and a New Race

The Cross—Once for All

The Resurrection—the forerunner to our resurrection

The Covenants

The Old and New Covenants

The Result of the Knowledge of Good and Evil

The Old Covenant

The New Covenant

It is Finished—Hebrews 8-10

New Covenant Applications

Historical

Conceptual

Personal

Relational

New Wine or Old Wine?

Subtle Differences

The Sin Get Forgiven Cycle

The Heart of Everything—Identity

Mixing New and Old

Living Under the New Covenant

Our Identity

A New Creation

The Bottle of Space and Time

Our Space-Time Continuum

What Went Wrong?

A New Identity

The Spirit and Human Nature

How are They Different?

It’s Only Human Nature

Perception Difficulties

Existing In Two Worlds

Adoption

The Last Ad

Other Names

Jesus Replaces Adam

The Real Problem

The Intervention—A New Representative

A Perfect Life

A Cursed Death

Something New

Faith

The Great Legacy

Living Free

Returning to the Life of Law

The Essence of Religion

The Identity Problem

The Galatians

Fear or Freedom

The Caterpillar and the Butterfly

Really Seeing—The Dilemma of Faith

Faith Transforms

Great News

Seeking Forgiveness

Possible Forgiveness

Is Forgiveness the Hallmark of the Christian?

The Problem

The Inheritance—Condemnation

New Life

Gathering the Chosen

Repentance

Jesus and the law

Jesus Teaches the Law

His Relationship to the Old Covenant

His Relationship to the New Covenant of Grace—Burden Verses Rest

No More Punishment

His Relationship to his Father—Not My Will but Yours

The Yoke of the Law

The Logic of the Law

The True Perfect Lifestyle—Depending upon the New Covenant

The Transfiguration—Jesus Fulfills and Completes The Law and the Prophets

True Worship

The Critical Ministry

The Ministry Quest

Missing The Ministry

Recognizing the Real Ministry

The Critical Ministry

Understanding Love

For a Suffering Christian

Suffering Changes Things

God Cannot Stop Loving Us

Understanding Our Needs

God’s Purpose

Performance Does Not Count

Survival Mentality

Proper Focus

The Eternal View

John 1:9 and Grace

John 1:9 and Grace

Walking in the Light

Our Problem—the Flesh, the Sin Nature

The Conflict

Paul’s Concept of Grace

Paul’s Struggle with Sin

Historical Context

Biblical Context

Resolution

Life is full of many challenges. Many of these are of a catch 22 variety. We’re wrong if we do and we’re wrong if we don’t. In these circumstances it is difficult if almost impossible to know what to do if we live under a legalistic creed that we use to guide our lives and please God. Too many people offer simplistic formulas and rules to apply, regardless of the mitigating circumstances that destroy the spirit and offer no help. This is where the Gospel of Grace found in Jesus Christ brings relief and joy.

We can be lost in a phony marriage in which the Spirit is absent, and in which there is nothing but resentment, fear, and hate. What should we do? Continue living a lie? Continue the sham, or end the sham?

Consider a fellow in church. He is always there doing his duty. However, he has a family that rarely sees him. There is constant bickering at home about this. In one sense, he is led to be at church, in another at home. What should he do?

Consider someone at work. It is tough times, and jobs are hard to find. He discovers his company is involved in unethical tactics—not illegal but unethical. Remember, in this situation, times are tough and jobs far and few between. Should he resign? What about his obligation to his family?

What about a family member near death? Is it time to disconnect all the artificial means of keeping them alive and allow them to die?

There are many other situations where clear cut answers are hard to come by especially when you are in the mix. Guilty feelings result whatever we decide.

The answers to these questions are not easy to find. In Living in Freedom we discover the principles of grace, in Christ, that give us the freedom to formulate our own answers in our own particular situations, knowing that God’s grace does not demand the right decision every time nor does it expect we have the ability to make correct decisions every time. In Christ, we are free to live, led by the Spirit, not by the law, to live free of fear guilt and pride and to live confidently with faith, love and hope.

Dedication

Many thanks to my wife Karen for her help in proof reading the entire document. She has corrected many typos, missing words and awkward expressions. Her many hours in this endeavor are greatly appreciated. This book is dedicated to her. She inspires me and encourages me. Without her, this book may not exist. She has been my helpmate for over 28 years, giving me strength and conviction. Her faith helps me to see clearly what is truly important. God bless her.

About the Author

Jim Groth has been a believer all his life. In his growth as a Christian, God used some difficult life circumstances to help him understand the unique ability of the Gospel to answer many questions about life. Why am I here? What does God want me to do? How can I count on the Grace of God? Who am I? How do I relate to God as one who continues to sin? Through a God-led sequence of events Jim met John Glenn, the Senior Pastor of Alpha Ministries’ Church in the Woods, Okeechobee Florida. Although he was a Christian and understood most of the elements of the Gospel and his faith, Jim found them coalesced to form a better understanding of the whole as he studied The Alpha Series presented by John. Finally, his understanding of the Gospel was structured in a way that led to real confidence and meaning.

Subsequently, he joined with John assisting him with publishing The Alpha Series and other publications as well as the Alpha Ministries web site. Jim, a writer himself, has co-authored the Alpha Series Workbook as well as contributed various articles for the Messenger, a quarterly magazine published by Alpha Ministries.

Since retiring as a computer programmer and analyst, his passion for the gospel of Jesus Christ has motivated Jim to continue to write.

Through another God-led sequence of events, the Lord led Jim and his wife Karen to Greenville S.C. where they continue to live. In Greenville, following God’s lead, they joined Riverside Baptist Church. After numerous conversations with, and the encouragement, of his pastor Marcus Buckley, Jim began work on Living in Freedom. After it’s completion Jim and Marcus Buckley co-taught the manuscript to the congregation through the Sunday Night Bible Study. Based on a number of requests and encouragement Jim decided to publish Living in Freedom with the hope it will encourage other Christians in their walk in faith.

For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

-Ephesians 1:15.23 ESV

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.                          —Ephesians 3:14.19 ESV

Preface

Many believers do not enjoy the fullness of God’s grace because they have been misinformed about the fullness of his grace and love. In doing so they actually misunderstand his nature. They try to be as good as they can wondering if God is approving of and pleased with their lives. They live as if God is always judging their actions and thoughts. Although saved, they do not understand the greatness of his grace and what happened two thousand years ago that makes this kind of thinking counter-productive and actually in variance with what Jesus intended for us.

We are all on the same journey leading to an eternal state. Along the journey the way we think can make the journey a joy or a chore.

At the end we must consider that at the end of life there are only two paths or alternatives. It doesn’t make any difference if you like it or not, believe it or not or just think it’s unfair.

The one alternative available is Heaven. In heaven, you will experience eternal joy, peace, love, happiness, security. It will be unspeakably wonderful.

Or…

You will go to Hell. There you will experience eternal bitterness, hatred, envy, total hopelessness, with no joy, no happiness, complete insecurity, and extreme torment.

The problem is that we must decide our path on this side of death, and there is a reason. The Bible tells us we are made righteous by faith. Faith can only be exercised on this side of the grave. Once we die, there is no need for faith, our path is then obvious.

If you think you are safe with God because you are a fairly good person—think again. If you think you are so bad God will have nothing to do with you—think again. We all have a quite different problem—the real problem—the same problem. We are born into this world alienated from God and are his enemies. Everyone! You cannot escape it.

It makes no difference how good you think you are or how bad you think you are.

It makes no difference what you may have done or not done or why you did it.

It makes no difference who you are.

The worst part is there is nothing at all we can do about it. The evidence of this problem is seen in the acts of behavior often called sins. They are proof of our problem just as spots are the symptoms of chicken pox. Because of our sin behavior now, we have personal accountability. Unless God intervenes, we are all condemned.

God in his love has intervened. Jesus was born as a baby. But his birth was very different than ours. He was born of the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary. In contrast, we were all born in the natural way. He was not born alienated from God as we were. His birth was unique.

He lived a perfect, sinless life. He described it this way. He said he never did anything that the Father did not tell him to do, and he never did anything without the Father telling him to do it. His will was always subject to his Father’s will. They lived in perfect unity of will and mind, all based on their love for each other. This was his perfection. They were completely united. This is what God intended for us… to have the same unity and love. It was his desire that we should have the righteousness of Jesus. He lived a perfect life in our place so that his perfection can be transferred to us. God wants no one to be alienated from him.

In his life, we see the kind of perfect unity of will, mind and love when Jesus asked his Father, in the Garden of Gethsemane that the burden of the cross be lifted from him. But he concludes with the words, Not my will but yours be done. He is always in subordination to his Father and without resentment.

And so we see Jesus go to the cross. At the moment of his greatest agony, he cries out from the cross, My Father my Father why have you forsaken me? Why has the one who created the universe been forsaken by God? The answer to Why? is because at that moment your sins, my sins and the sins of the whole world were laid on him. The Father reacts the only way he can. Sin cannot be in the presence of God. He steps away from Jesus. In horror, He turns his back to him. Jesus, with our sins, is rejected by God. The Bible tells us Jesus became sin. He became sin so we may receive his righteousness. Here in the greatest moment of history, we are all declared not guilty of sins and Jesus, God himself, takes the blame, guilt and shame. So the slate is cleared. No longer do our acts of sin, lying-cheating-hating, etc, count against us. They now count against Jesus. We all, the entire human race, is declared not guilty of any evil acts. The sin problem is resolved.

But, even though we are no longer guilty of sins, we are still alienated from God. We are still spiritually dead. Jesus, when he took our sin, made what was not possible now possible. We can have new life. We can be made as righteous as Jesus. Jesus wants us to have the perfect life he lived for us as our substitute.

The means for this is faith. The Bible tells us we are made righteous by grace through faith. All we need to do is trust what he says is true. God wants us to count on it and turn away from our own schemes and mechanisms to appease God to get him to bless us. God is not interested in our sucking up to him. All he wants is our trust. We put our hand in his, trusting him trusting that what he said is true. It is when we do this we are born again as new creations with the righteousness of Christ. Our identity has completely changed. We are no longer his enemies; we are his friends. This is true for you ifyou simply trust in Jesus.

Once we become believers, we engage in a new life but with the same problems, and evil inclinations we always had. But something is new. We have the indwelling Christ enabling us to see things from a new perspective. We are no longer dependant nor required to live life under our own power; we are to live in freedom from the things we used to depend on; the things we thought were needed to appease God, the things we thought made us important. Rather we now walk not according to the letter of the law or our own wits but by the Spirit. Living in Freedom is written to encourage us in this; giving up the old and putting on the new.

Acknowledgements

I would like to express my gratitude to Marcus A. Buckley, Senior Pastor at Riverside Baptist Church. His insight and suggestions have also been very helpful. I especially want to thank him for his encouragement to write and his suggestion and willingness to co-teach this material to our congregation. He continues to be one of the greatest blessings God has provided me over the years. He truly understands and presents the significance of the Cross of Christ and the purpose, meaning, and proper separation of law and grace.

Also, with gratitude to John Glenn, Author of The Alpha Series, and the Power to Love. He is the Senior Pastor of Alpha Ministries Church in the Woods and the Training Director for two large recovery programs in South Florida. He has been a good friend and mentor for many years. The work the Lord has done through him and his teaching and mentoring has produced truth and growth in my thoughts and life. Many of the ideas presented here are based on what I learned from him. He is a true disciple of Christ.

I want to express my gratitude to Dr. Julia Drummond, Professor of English at North Greenville University for her many hours in reviewing this document for grammatical errors, punctuation, inconsistent expressions and readability. She has been a real blessing. This book is much better because of her efforts.

Introduction

As a Christian for many years now, I am still, from time to time, plagued with understanding and applying the reality of the Gospel to myself and my hopeless shortcomings. Just when I think I got it; I realize not so fast there buddy! I start to think about my life and all the self-invoked problems I have created for myself and others. I think about how I have been selfish and self-serving. The sins of the past (and present) still haunt my soul. This is when I go off course.

These are the times when I have felt abandoned, times when I wondered what was going on, times when God seemed far off.

But, then there were times of great kinship, of closeness (that brought tears to my eyes) of great rejoicing, wonderful times.

I have changed churches, gone without a church and struggled; not so much with faith but with its relevancy here and now. God has always been there; I have not.

What made the difference?

I now know these are the times I have started to focus on myself and have taken my eyes off Jesus.

This is a very similar problem to the one the Apostle Paul had and wrote about in Romans chapter 7: 15.24. Through all this, God hung on to me. His plan was and is working.

In many conversations with other Christians, I discovered they too share many of the same feelings and concerns. It is my purpose to share an understanding of the Grace of the New Covenant that brings real joy. So many of us continue to live under the Old Covenant as we try to please God and hold him at bay. This is not as God meant it to be. We cannot possibly receive the fullness of the New Covenant while we try to live up to the Old. To do that, our righteousness would have to exceed that of the Pharisees. And if we could, we would then be guilty of pride, based upon what we did as if we obligated God. The problem is we are looking at