Gal. 5:13-14 - You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. 14The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself. 15If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
When a man receives Christ as his personal Savior and Lord, he also receives the freedom from Satan’s yoke of slavery, oppression and destruction (John 10:10a). Charles Kingsley an English novelist said, there are two kinds of freedom. One is false freedom where a man is free to do what he likes and the other is the true freedom where a man is free to do what he ought to do. In other words, the former is FREEDOM TO SIN and the latter is FREEDOM FROM SIN.
When I first learned how to swim during my childhood days, I learned it in a river not in the sea although my parents’ house was just about a kilometer away from the seashore but our house was just about fifty meters from the river bank. Every time there is a flood I was fond of jumping into the river when the bank is flooded because that’s the only time that the water is deep. No matter how hard I swam in the direction I wanted, I can’t beat the current. I had no choice but to go with the flow of the strong current down the river that sometimes put me in danger of hitting a rock and floating debris.
You see, it was the river - not me - that was in total control. In the same way, a man living in a life of false freedom, it is sin and evil, not man himself that is in control. No matter how hard he tries, lusts and forces of evil push him straight ahead into ruin and eventual destruction. It is a fearful thing that people can be consumed by their own lusts.
True freedom can only be experienced under God’s control, direction and grace thru Jesus Christ. It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery (Gal. 5:1). God created us to be a success and a winner. Let’s do it together because we have tasted the goodness of the Lord and whoever takes refuge in Him is blessed (Psalm 34:8).
About Me
- Roy Montecillo
- Roy R. Montecillo was born in Catmon, Cebu, Philippines in 1952, the 7th child in a family of four boys and 6 girls born to Nicodemus Montecillo and Jovita Rojas. He graduated from the University of San Jose Recoletos, Cebu City in March 1974 with the degree of Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. He married Zenaida Barrientos of Bangar, La Union in 1987. Year 1991 was the year that Roy came to know the Lord on a personal level in Muscat, Oman. In 1992 he and his wife immigrated to Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Roy and Zeny became members of the Jesus Is Lord Church (Ontario) in 1992 and from that time on, both were active Ministry workers. As part of his commitment to serve God, he responded to God’s call to shepherd the JIL Church in Scarborough, Ontario as non-full-time Church Pastor that began in May 2005 to present. His wife Zeny as well is a full-time staff of JIL Church. They became Canadian citizens in 1996 and were blessed with one daughter, Nichole, born on June 15, 1993.
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