At GSBC, we emphasize Christian freedom. If grace is the root of faith, freedom is its fruit.
Some claim it means we can do whatever we want, preaching that new life in Christ is unfettered. But, bondage to self is not freedom.
Others undersell it in fear of making mistakes of eternal significance for their souls. To these we ask, didn’t Jesus already take the penalty of your sins past, present, and future? Lest we forget, bondage to the Law isn’t freedom, either.
Our lack of freedom reveals both our bondage to self-righteousness and our addiction to our unrighteousness. It brings us to uncharted territory, where we have to trust in the sufficiency of Jesus and the new identity He has given us without prerequisite work of our own.
It is precisely in this freedom where true transformation actually occurs. Grace isn’t supplementary to our own work. Grace is everything.
Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. When Jesus had stepped out on land, there met him a man from the city who had demons. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he had not lived in a house but among the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him and said with a loud voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me.” For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many a time it has seized him. He was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert.) Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered him. And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss. Now a large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned.
When the herdsment saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and the country. Then people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. And those who had seen it told them how the demon-posessed man had been healed. Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.
Grace Is Way More Powerful Than Your Darkness
What do you have to do with me? It’s the normal response of all who live in an anti-grace paradigm. Our posture and desparation at the feet of the Son of God is not dissimilar.
There are things we think we can’t be freed from. Though we may not be posessed by Legion, the grip of sin is oppressive. Alarmingly, spiritual darkness is even attractive to the human heart.
We don’t have to be posessed to be overwhelmed by the power of sin. Our hearts desire things that aren’t named Jesus—things that leave us feeling completely defeated, unclean, and unrescuable.
Thankfully, there is nothing God can’t redeem. These demons were powerless to resist Jesus and could do nothing but submit completely to His authority. Jesus is certainly about casting out evil, but He does so in a way that brings redemption and overflows with grace.
The sin that haunts and plagues you has been paid for on the cross. Even the sins you’ve not yet committed are already judged and put to death. Upon the cross at Calvary, Jesus said “it is finished,” and He meant it forever.
Grace Blows Up Natural Economies
When someone is given freedom from the worst kind of oppression, you would think there would be great rejoicing. Instead, the people of the city found Jesus’ grace to be an affront. They saw what happened but could not embrace it. They were struck with fear.
This reaction reveals that there are sometimes things we don’t want to be free from. We like control. We trust our own efforts more than God’s grace.
The real scandal is not the financial impact of the lost pigs or some other earthly concern. The real imbalance at play here is God’s grace, freely given despite rejection.
Grace wrecks the system because it refuses to be earned. We don’t want to be free from our responsibility because our work to earn status, wealth, and accolades makes sense to us in a human, transactional sense. Grace is an attack on the achievement-obsessed person we’ve built ourselves to be.
In Christ, there is now not only freedom from self and Law, but redemptive grace—a grace with which we are armed to share good news with others who are enslaved.
Grace Commissions Us With Only One Message
There is nothing that is keeping you from being used by God. Stop and reflect; do you believe this? Or do you still fear that some hidden sin in a dark corner of your heart makes you unusable?
The man Jesus helped couldn’t keep silent. His heart burned to proclaim what Jesus had done for him. This is what every heart transformed by Jesus wants to do.
Jesus didn’t tell the man to prove his worth. He simply said, “go and tell.” The power of the gospel we have been given lies in Christ’s work. We simply recognize that Christ has given us everything we need and walk in freedom, going and telling.
The grace that saved you is the same grace that Jesus pours out to save others. Our message is singular: grace. Because of Jesus, we have a life beyond the grave. We are secured by the One who bore the wrath that we deserved.
You, Christian, are free. Live in that freedom. Declare His grace.
This article is a recap of a sermon preached by Pastor Hunter Sipe at Good Shepherd Bible Church on Sunday, February 23, 2025 entitled The Surprise of Jesus – Part 2: The Exorcism. This sermon continues our expositional series on Luke’s gospel entitled Luke: Good News for the Rest of Us. This sermon and others are available for listening on the Good Shepherd Bible Church Sermon Podcast.
Good Shepherd Bible Church is an Acts 29 church located in Pataskala, OH serving the eastern Columbus area.
We invite you to explore our website to learn more about GSBC, consider connecting at our church, or read about our core beliefs.