Today we’re sharing an excerpt from Lifeway Women’s new Bible study Live Free by Elizabeth Woodson. Learn more about this impactful new Bible study!
When Paul tells us how to use our freedom in Christ, he directs us to walk by the Spirit (5:16). This means surrendering ourselves to the Holy Spirit’s work of sanctification in our lives. As we yield to God’s commands and live in obedience, the Holy Spirit gradually transforms us to become more and more like Christ. He also brings us closer to God’s goal for our lives—holiness.
All of us are born with a sinful nature, which leads us to choose our own way over God’s way. Sin has corrupted many things since the time of Adam and Eve, including our ability to live out our divine design. God created humans to be image bearers, which means that we were designed to serve as His “image,” reflecting His character to the world. We were set apart as holy to show the world what God is like. Unfortunately, our sinful nature prevents us from doing this. However, through the power of the Holy Spirit, God is on a mission to restore what sin has corrupted.
Once we put our trust in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit initiates a gradual process of sanctification within us. The aim of this transformation is not merely to change our behavior, but to make us into a new person. It impacts the entirety of our being and leads to wholeness. As J. I. Packer put it, “personal holiness is personal wholeness—the ongoing reintegration of our disintegrated and disordered personhood as we pursue our goal of single-minded Jesus-likeness.”1
People are desperately searching for wholeness and freedom, seeking to discover their authentic selves. To achieve this, they tend to relentlessly pursue happiness through indulgence in created things. But the Scripture shows us how true humanity can only be found in Christ, for genuine humanness is genuine Christlikeness. Living like Jesus did is what makes us genuinely human. We are called to imitate the character of Christ so that the things that hold us back from living whole and holy are left behind.2
When Paul calls us to walk in the Spirit, he is inviting us to be freed from sin and freed to live the only way we were created to live—as image bearers of our Triune God.
Want to learn more about the Live Free Bible study? Watch the short video below or view a free sample and teaching video clips at lifeway.com/livefree.
And here are some fun wallpapers for your desktop and phone! Click the text below to download the free wallpapers.
Looking for more? Listen to our conversation with Elizabeth Woodson on embracing our freedom in Christ on the MARKED Podcast.
Works Cited
1. J. I. Packer, Rediscovering Holiness: Know the Fullness of Life with God (United States: Gospel Light, 2009), 86.
2. Packer, 27.
