Surpassing Mere Morality to Enjoy True Freedom

Smoking degrades the body God made. So don’t do that.
Tattoos degrades the body God made. So don’t do that.
Fake healthcare degrades the body God made. So don’t do that.
Bitterness and unforgiveness degrade the soul God made. So don’t do that.
Gossip and jealousy degrades the mind God made. So don’t do that.
Eating shellfish or pork degrades the body God made. So don’t do that.
Sexual immorality degrades both body, soul and spirit — so don’t do that!
Etc. Etc. Etc.

The above is “too simple” for a religious mind or a mind that feels “judged” when truth comes along. (for example the Bible’s forbidding to get a tattoo). If you feel “judged” by anyone simply presenting what the Bible says, that is a clue that it is time for immediate internal change at the foot of Jesus.

Degradation of any kind has serious consequences. WE ARE NOT OUR OWN; we have been bought with a price — the HIGHEST price in fact — the Blood of Jesus. (more on this at the conclusion)

NO DEGRADATION OF ANY KIND, even the smallest amount, can enter the Kingdom of God. All sin disqualifies you from any relationship with a Holy and Moral God other than the relationship called condemnation and death. Our FLESH was corrupted at the fall of Adam/Eve. Our flesh cannot enter the Kingdom of God. But God wants to wash us in the Blood and the Water, not fixing our degraded flesh, but filling our soul and spirit with Himself — Jesus in us and us in Jesus.

1 Corinthians 6: 9–11
“9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such WERE some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”

1 Corinthians 6: 15–20
“15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! 16 Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” 17 BUT HE WHO IS JOINED TO THE LORD BECOMES ONE SPIRIT WITH HIM. 18 Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

So we desperately need the righteousness of Jesus for we have no real righteousness of our own and we cannot hope to be acceptable in God’s Holy sight. In Christ (Messiah) we have a NEW identity. We have FREEDOM to do what the old sinful us could never do — have fellowship with God.

Do we use this freedom to going back to indulging the nasty and corrupted flesh? Hell no. We use freedom for what freedom is there for — to love and serve each other in truth. We have freedom to be what we could never be before — ONE SPIRIT with God Himself.

Having been brought from spiritual corruption and deadness, back to LIFE in Christ Jesus. We are now One Spirit with Christ, thus… thus we DO AS CHRIST DOES, for we ARE as Christ IS — which is to say we use this life granted to us by divine grade to:
• glorify God with our bodies and lives (1 Corinthians 6:20)
• serve each other in God’s love (Galatians 5:13)

“For you have been called to live in FREEDOM, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to gratify your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. “ (Galatians 5:13)

What does this “love” of God do? Many things. But among them is a refusal to participate in self-degradation!
• sexual immorality
• tattoos
• smoking
• botox
• ungodly attitudes
• fake healthcare
• and so forth

If it degrades you, it is not fitting for who a person actually is, having received the salvation of Jesus/Yeshua. Don’t engage in behaviors that war against your soul and are contrary to yourself — so basic!

In Christ, we are not doing this behavior as a burdensome effort. No, we are now YOKED to Jesus and His burden is light (Matthew 11:29–30). We are upholding the highest standards and encouraging others to do the same. NOT from some ‘better-than-you’ attitude, but from true love. Yes, a true love that has the FREEDOM to fully give itself over to that which best serves and uplifts every person it encounters.

We are not living life with a RELIGIOUS or LEGALISTIC or MORALITY focus. This is an important point! We are living like with a JESUS focus — and from that everything truly good flows. And doing that not from self-effort, but from a responsive relationship with the person of Jesus so that we move beyond that which cynicism, selfishness, or resignation can hinder.

Hebrews 1:2,3 “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

The conclusion is that if you are living with a focus on some external morality standard or religious structure, you are NOT free. True freedom includes the freedom to be your real self. For the Christian, your true self is united with Christ. For you to live IS Christ (Philippians 1:21) — a living extension of all that Jesus is, in this physical world. That is a standard utterly impossible for even the most moral person. We cannot elevate to God’s holiness. We must surrender to receiving the righteousness of Jesus, not earned, but BESTOWED upon us. (The righteousness that only comes by faith — Only then can we be authentic and free, for we are free to love others unbound by ego and selfishness. Free from an old identity of trying to keep some external dogma in order to be good. Free to be an unstoppable force for good through our union with Christ in Father God. Free to live from the truth of WHO Jesus is and WHAT Jesus did for us and as us.