Consider the tension between our knowledge and our experience… the union that we have with Christ in His death and in His resurrection is both now and not now, both eternal and temporal, both finished and ongoing, both triumphant and desperately clinging to Him for all things. For we know the truth and power of God that He HAS freed us from the cruel bondage of sin, but we also know the despair that we feel when we fall down again into the ruinous power of abiding sin and temptation… we know that the Scripture promises us that we are seen AS Christ Himself is seen, that God counts us as righteous because of Jesus' death on the cross, that God poured out on His Son the fullness of His own wrath for our sin and that there remains therefore NO wrath for us! And yet, we also know the experience of our frailty. We know the manner in which we so often turn to the old ways for the momentary comfort they offer, but the pretense of peace which our flesh craves is so quickly consumed in the sorrow we feel over our failure once more. This feels like a slavery to us, and still the Word of God promises us that we are NO LONGER slaves to sin! The Word of God promises us that our experience is LESS real than His declaration! No matter what our mind believes, the truth stands unchanged, unmoved and unafraid. The truth of God is simple, He has done what He has promised. He will deliver everything else in the fullness of time, and that assurance is so sure that we are to consider it as already ours. The secret to peace, oh beloved, is this: Preach the truth of God to your own heart, daily, hourly, minute by minute, breath by breath; do not allow the lies of the enemy to creep in to your mind, do not listen to your emotions and NEVER believe your heart for it is deceitful above all things! Preach to yourself the truth that you will see the promises fulfilled both now and forever! If you are in Christ, you died with Him, and you, dear child, HAVE BEEN delivered from slavery to sin!! Walk in truth, and you will not be enslaved to lies!