Many people really just do not care how they live. Some just take the moral low road and do not even consider the consequences. This lesson is not for those. This is for those who are in bondage and really want out. It is for those who cannot kick the drug or porno habits, the overeating, or one of the many other bondages and prisons that we can find ourselves in.

Multitudes of Christians find themselves stuck in the mire of habits of sin that they cannot get free from. These include drugs, alcohol, various sexual additions and habits, hatred, unforgiveness and the list goes one. Check Galatians 5:17-21. Jesus does not want any of us to be slaves of sin. He paid the awesome price for our freedom.

Many of these well meaning Christians have just given up on getting free. They have tried everything until they feel no way out. They have dealt with these issues until condemnation resulting from failure has plagued their souls. This condemnation has driven them farther from God and from enjoying His presence. They avoid the very subject of their bondage, they avoid fellowship with other Christians and even church.

However, the Lord says that it is never too late and He urges us to not give up. He has the answer. Jesus was seen cooking fish after His resurrection from the dead in John chapter 21. Peter had failed Jesus by denouncing and denying him just a few days earlier. Peter said in utter disgust, "I am going fishing" (John 21:2). To top that off, he had fished all night and caught nothing. It seemed that Peter was even a failure in his old vocation of fishing. Jesus called out from the shore and told them to cast their net on the other side of the boat, and at His Word they obeyed and caught a load so large they were not able to draw it in. Peter recognized Jesus and swam to shore. I would imagine that Peter was ready to face his condemnation from the Lord. Interestingly Jesus did not even mention Peter's failure. Not only did Peter receive love, forgiveness and a meal, he also received a new assignment from the Lord. Peter's shame and condemnation were removed by Jesus' interaction with him. It will be the same with you if you have the same sincerity as Peter did.

What is your great new hope now? Your hope is in what Jesus did at the Cross and at His resurrection and the power for freedom that resulted. It also is in your now doing what is necessary to appropriate that power into your life. It is not your power that will set you free, but it is God's power and your cooperation with it and Him. Your hope is in the promises of God, many of them, to give you freedom and the abundant life.

One of those great promises is seen in Obadiah.

"But on Mount Zion there shall be deliverance, And there shall be holiness; The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions. The house of Jacob shall be a fire, And the house of Joseph a flame; But the house of Esau shall be stubble; They shall kindle them and devour them, And no survivor shall remain of the house of Esau, For the LORD has spoken" (Obadiah 1:17,18).

Mount Zion represents the presence and reality of God. Deliverance is what you are looking for, otherwise known as sanctification or salvation. Notice that the result of deliverance is holiness, or having the very clean holy character of God Himself. Then the result of holiness is "possessing your possessions" or in other words, the abundant life that God has ordained for you. The next promise in this passage is the defeat of your enemies, those spiritual powers and demons that have had you in bondage perhaps for years, and perhaps have had your family in bondage for generations.

You might say, "Okay how does this work for me?"

Perhaps you had no knowledge that the Cross and the blood of Jesus has the power to make you a free person and just this new revelation knowledge will do the job. Perhaps you have heard about this all of your life but it has not worked for you. If that is the case then listen. It can and it will deliver you if you follow the Biblical instructions. I read a book written by a pastor who himself became free from sexual additions. His church's primary ministry is in helping people become free as well. He said that the one major obstacle is that people fail to follow directions. They fail to obey. They fail to do what is needed to appropriate the sacrifice of Jesus for them.

It's all about breaking the Law of Sin and Death.

Paul had this struggle of trying, trying again, and failing, then he discovered what he revealed to us in Romans chapters 7 and 8.

"For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God--through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin" (Romans 7:22-25).

The Law of Sin and Death is described in James chapter 1.

"Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death" (James 1:12-15).

The path is: First one is tempted, then one sins and then some sort of death or bondage sets in.

The question is: "How does one break this Law of Sin and Death?" An airplane stays on the ground by the law of gravity. When the pilot applies the power, the law of lift overcomes and breaks the law of gravity. However, the pilot needed to do something to allow the power of lift to operate. The pilot's power did not break the law of gravity. However his obedience to directions allowed the power of lift to do its job.

So it is in spiritual things. The Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus sets us free from the Law of Sin and Death!

"There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace" (Romans 8:1-6).

Notice the two requirements Paul laid out here. First, you must be in Christ Jesus, and second you must not walk according to the flesh but you must walk in the spirit.

You are in Christ if you have made Him your Lord. Walking in the Spirit now is perhaps what you may be missing.

Walking in the flesh is simply doing what Paul was describing in Romans 7. It is trying to be good in your own power. It is applying a law that has no power to accomplish its intended good. You may know the Law of God, and you may wish to live by it, but the Law and your own desire to keep it has no power by itself.

"For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" (Romans 7:15-24).

Walking in the Spirit is a simple but powerful lifestyle.

"I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law" (Galatians 5:16-23).

"And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit" (Galatians 5:24,25).

The power of walking in the Spirit is to apply the blood covenant, not only the Cross of Jesus and what He did, but also by taking up your cross. One can sit back and see what one blood covenant partner has done on his side, but if the other partner does not shed his blood as well, there is no covenant power. Walking in the Spirit is simply a matter of taking up your Cross daily, and even continually.

How does that work?

1. First you must be passionate about keeping your relationship fresh with the Lord on a daily basis. This includes, but it not limited to, allowing the Word of God to dwell richly in your heart. You must keep the Word in front of you. If you know, for instance, by reading this passage in Galatians, that hatred is a work of the flesh and it will lead to some sort of death and bondage through the Law of Sin and Death, then you can begin to deal with it. But without being in the Word, you may not even realize that when you feel hatred that it is like the first sign of cancer.

2. When you sense hatred in your soul you must "take up your cross." How? By opening your soul to Jesus, confessing the truth to Him and putting the sin of hatred on His Cross. If you close that door of hatred and harbor it, it will go down the path of the Law of Sin and Death. You must open the harbor entrance and allow Jesus to come in. You must also repent from living in the environment that will bring more temptation.

3. The result of this is that your sin will go to the Cross, you will be cleansed and then as you continue in the Word, Jesus will become real to you. You will see Him via wisdom and revelation. When His presence comes to you in the Spirit and in the Word, it will transform you, give you peace that passes all understanding, and it will do its work of sanctification and deliverance like no other power can.

If you apply your cross and Jesus' Cross at any time during the cycle of Sin and Death, whether it be at the point of temptation or at the point of sin, it will break the Law of Sin and give you the Law of Life.

The difference between walking in the flesh and walking in the Spirit is simply the appropriation of the Cross by taking up your cross. You need gut level honesty with God!

Look at what John said as he connected being transparent with God with the flow of the blood and the working of the Cross in your life.

"If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:6,7).

My wife and I were boarding a plane recently and all of a sudden as we were in the entry door, a flight attendant rudely ordered my wife off the plane. I questioned her asking why. She responded by acting more rudely and again ordering my wife off the plane. Then she accused me of blocking the doorway. Finally she told me that my wife had three pieces of luggage instead of two that were allowed. I showed her that she only had two indeed. Then the attendant ordered my wife again, even more rudely to exit the plane. As my wife went by me I grabbed her purse thinking that perhaps this made up the third piece. It was a very slim and small purse so I placed it in my briefcase with room to spare. The attendant sharply told me that now I had too many pieces and I could not board the plane. Then she noticed it was in my briefcase and ended the entire incident.

The result for me was hatred! I became indignant although I did not say a thing. I made sure I had her name and was planning to report her after the trip. This hatred increased during the flight and I had difficulty thinking about anything else. I constantly forgave her with my will over and over. I brought it before the Lord and asked Him to forgive me of hatred.

Nothing changed with me until the next morning when I was in the Word. The Lord spoke and said, "Larry, she has sown some very bad seed, and what she is going to reap is bad enough without your adding to it. It would benefit both her and you if you just dropped it." Wow! The presence of God flooded my soul, hatred was dissolved and joy came. The blood did its work! The Cross entered and took my sin and the flight attendant's sin.

Remember what Paul said in Romans 7. "It is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me." When Jesus took my sin of hatred, it was all over. I did not want to hate, but the sin in me did. When I allowed Jesus to remove me sin, the promise in Obadiah took over. Maybe someday the airline attendant will also be free.

I submit, that even though sexual sins and drug additions can be more powerful than hatred, that the same process of "deliverance on Mount Zion" as Obadiah spoke about can take place with you as well. It may take longer, but the power and the deliverance by the blood and Cross of Jesus cannot be blocked by anybody except you. You hold the key, you must obey. You must open the door of the harbor and let the sin out and the presence of God in.