No Turning Back!

Galatians 5:1 “So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.” The word law here refers to the law of sin in our lives. Our bondage of slavery to sin and our sin nature. 

The Israelites had suffered the hardships of slavery for 400 years.  During that time, Pharaoh and the Egyptians had tried to weaken them and to decrease their numbers.  God was faithful through all of that time.  The Israelites continued to thrive and multiply in spite of the cruelty of the Egyptians. 

After 400 years, God sent Moses to deliver the Israelites from slavery in Egypt.   God preformed many signs to prove to both the Israelites and Pharaoh that he was the only God.  That he had the power to do as he wished.  After the death angel passed through Egypt killing the first born male in each Egyptian household, the Egyptians drove the children of Israel out of Egypt. 

Within a matter of a couple of days, the Israelites were not only freed from slavery, but at the Red Sea they witnessed the death of the very ones who had enslaved them all those long, long years.  You would think that after all of this they would never look back or long for their former life, however, we see in Exodus 16 and 17 that they did look back and even complain about what they “missed” from Egypt.  Really? They missed some about slavery? 

Exodus 16:2-3 “There, too, the whole community of Israel complained about Moses and Aaron. ‘If only the Lord had killed us back in Egypt,’ they moaned. ‘There we sat around pots filled with meat and ate all the bread we wanted. But now you have brought us into this wilderness to starve us all to death.’”

Exodus 17: 2-3 “So once more the people complained against Moses. ‘Give us water to drink!’ they demanded. ‘Quiet!’ Moses replied. ‘Why are you complaining against me? And why are you testing the Lord?’  But tormented by thirst, they continued to argue with Moses. ‘Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Are you trying to kill us, our children, and our livestock with thirst?’”

Then we turn to Numbers 20 and see that even after God has provided manna and meat for them,  had kept their clothes and shoes from wearing out, had helped them defeat armies stronger, larger, and better trained than theirs, and had kept them from illness or harm that they once again complain.

Numbers 20: 2-5 “There was no water for the people to drink at that place, so they rebelled against Moses and Aaron. The people blamed Moses and said, ‘If only we had died in the Lord’s presence with our brothers! Why have you brought the congregation of the Lord’s people into this wilderness to die, along with all our livestock? Why did you make us leave Egypt and bring us here to this terrible place? This land has no grain, no figs, no grapes, no pomegranates, and no water to drink!’”

Made them leave slavery???  

Oh, how much like these whining, grumbling, complaining Israelites we often are.   

Let’s read Galatians 5:1 again, “So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.”  When we come to know Christ as Savior, he begins the process of sanctification.  He begins bringing changes in our lives, in our thinking, values, priorities, attitudes, emotions, etc.  If we allow him to, he also brings about deliverance in areas where the enemy has had control. 

Our struggle is staying free.  God does the work of deliverance; then it is our job to stay free.  We do this through Christ who is our strength but it is our responsibility to stay tapped into the source and to say NO to our old ways of thinking, old values, old attitudes, old sins, old priorities, etc. 

Over my years of ministry, I have watched many people I've loved and ministered to fall back into their old ways and many have walked completely away from God.  They lost their first love (Revelation 2: 4-5 “But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first! Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first. If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches.”) In my experience, it is not an instant falling back, but a gradual loss of ground. 

The process of falling back begins when:

1.  We give thought to how things used to be.  Exodus 16:3 “There we sat around pots filled with meat and ate all the bread we wanted.”  The more the children of Israel thought about the things they had in Egypt, the more malcontent they became.  As humans, we often glamorize our past in order to avoid the feelings of hurt and pain it brought.  When things get tough we are often tempted to go back to the “easier” path (this is usually the self-seeking/sinful path). For instance, when times are hard and stressful, someone who had a drug addiction might think back to how peaceful they felt while high.  They dwell on the good “feelings” but forget or ignore the pain of withdrawal and the separation from family, friends, etc. 

In Luke 9 we read the words of Jesus as he is talking to a man about the cost of being a follower of Christ.  He tells him that once we begin the journey we need to continue and not look back.  Luke 9:62, But Jesus told him, “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.”  Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 12:9 (NIV) “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’” We are not on this path alone.  Christ will walk with us, guide us, encourage us, and strengthen us on the journey, if only we will stay tapped into the source – Christ!!

      2. The enemy plants thoughts in our minds and we take a second look rather than kicking them out instantly.   2 Corinthians 10:5 (NIV) “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” 

To illustrate, when someone is delivered from a spirit of anger, the enemy will try to get the old anger to rise up.  He might plant the idea that someone at work was talking about us behind our back.  Our old man will instantly rise up with thoughts like: “Who do they think they are?” or “Oh, what I could say about them.”  We can’t keep the thoughts from coming, but we can take them captive the instant they cross our minds. If we take a second look or dwell on those thoughts for only a brief moment, we are hooked.  The enemy will follow up those thoughts with the old feelings of anger, bitterness, or resentment.  If we are not careful we will build an entire scenario in our minds that is more than likely not even happening and will never happen.  We will find ourselves so bound with anger that it will impact everything else in our life. 

We must stay in the Word, in prayer, in church, and in fellowship with other believers.  We need to be part of a community that will hold us accountable and hold us up in prayer as we walk this path.  We need to surround ourselves with others who will not tell us what we want to hear, but who will stand on the Word and tells us what we need to hear; those who will love us and invest in our lives. 

When the enemy attacks we need to remember that we are not the only ones going through battles; even Jesus faced his share. Hebrews 4:14-15 “So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.”  We need to focus our attention on Christ and resist the enemy.  James 4:7 “So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” Ephesians 4:27 “…and do not give the devil a foothold.”

We must hold fast to our freedom!  It is for freedom Christ set us free!!!! No Turning Back!

All Scripture is NLT unless otherwise stated.