“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”
1 Corinthians 6:19-20

“You are not your own.” It’s hard to imagine a statement more foreign to our society. In our cultural moment, self-discovery, individualism, and autonomy are applauded, and morality is relegated to the dictates of personal preference.  Our culture screams: “I AM MY OWN!”

…And yet…1 Corinthians 6 tells us that, as believers in Christ…we aren’t.

Why? And how does the believer living in the middle of an individualism-obsessed society understand that to be “good”? Thankfully, God’s sufficient Word speaks right into the heart of these questions:

1. WE’VE BEEN RANSOMED.

“… you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.”
1 Peter 1:18-19

The price for our ransom from death and darkness was the precious blood of Christ.

2. WE’VE BEEN TRANSFERRED.

“[God] has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
Colossians 1:13-14

What a gracious change of scenery…of everything. In salvation, our whole atmosphere, our whole composition, was changed. Our heart of stone was replaced with a heart of flesh. We now live in a new Kingdom, with a new King, and a new mission.

3. WE’VE BEEN SET FREE.

“And he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.”
2 Corinthians 5:15

Our salvation fundamentally changes who we’re living for. If we’re honest, our calling to deny ourselves stings a little, and Scripture doesn’t shy away from that. The Bible teaches that, by default, our hearts bend toward self-gratification. We’ll be wrestling with that until we get to Heaven (Romans 7:14-25). But, Scripture is also clear that at the moment of salvation, the power of sin in our lives is broken, and we aren’t enslaved to our flesh anymore:

“For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life."
Romans 6:20-22 

The fruit of slavery to sin (and self) is bitter;
The fruit of serving Jesus is sweet.

“Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.”
Romans 7:4-6

Scripture is clear that we’re always serving someone, period. But the goodness of the gospel actually transforms our perception of servanthood itself. Servanthood, through a gospel-lens, shatters all stigmas of bondage and oppression. Instead, the Spirit works in our hearts to give us the desire and capacity to please God instead of ourselves (Philippians 2:13). It is a joy to serve such a good King. And as we do, He transforms us into the most whole version of ourselves.

“I AM NOT MY OWN”

“I am not my own” isn’t oppressive or depersonalizing for the believer in Christ. “I am not my own” is actually profoundly good news, because living in the context of relationship with God liberates us to become the truest version of ourselves. The world contends that, to deny oneself is to deny goodness and self-expression. Far from it! As each of us is sanctified to look more like Jesus, we find ourselves increasingly able to walk in our redeemed agency, personality and individuality in a way that blesses the world around us. Belonging to Christ does not suppress our inherent personhood; it reclaims it! When we understand this, living “not our own” becomes a gracious act of liberation, not an oppressive stifling of our individuality. Jesus restores the very meaning of selfhood.

IN REAL LIFE 

So, what if, instead of viewing self-denial as a joyless, obligatory act, God’s Word is inviting us into something much better? Here it is:

“…Let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.”
Galatians 5:16

What if we started to recognize each impasse between our flesh and the Spirit as an opportunity to step into the liberty won by Jesus for us? We are not our own. We have been set free from captivity to our own agenda, and called to advance His agenda and His Kingdom instead. And in the end, we can trust that the fruit of this choice will be sweet, not bitter, as we allow God to make us look more like Jesus.

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Picture this: You’re driving to an engagement that you don’t care to attend. The strain of small talk just feels like too much on this particular day. As you get closer, you tell yourself it shouldn’t be a big deal, but you feel a low-key dread creeping in nonetheless. You console yourself with a game plan to slip in, look for familiar faces, check off a few conversations, and then slip out at the soonest appropriate moment. You pull into a parking space, put on your (social) game face, and walk in fueled by obligation and the coffee you drank on the way over. “Let’s get this over with.”

But what if it could look like this?

You take a moment on your drive to be gut-honest with the Lord. This event is pretty much the last place you want to be. Socializing and small talk feels way more intimidating than it should. You know your need for your Shepherd in this moment. You take a breath and ask Him to remind you what’s true, and what’s needed in this moment. The Holy Spirit reminds you that you’re not your own, and that you are not shackled to serving your own agenda. Instead, you have been invited to walk in the Spirit and serve a better agenda that transcends the demands of your flesh. Although your feelings and inclinations in this moment are valid, they hold no grip on you. Your thoughts shift to what Jesus’ agenda may be for this day, for this social engagement. Maybe you’ll encounter someone who can’t see past a crippling burden in their life and needs hope. Maybe there’s a conversation God has ordained for you that will unlock the unfolding of His will in someone else’s life, and He has chosen you to set it into motion. Maybe someone there really needs to be seen and heard and loved. Maybe you’ll walk in and uncover an opportunity to serve someone or walk in your calling as salt or as light (Matthew 5:13-16).

As you pull into a parking space, you still feel nervous, but you notice that the sense of dread has tapered off. You ask the Lord for grace to bless others and be kingdom-minded in this window of time. You don’t have to walk into this function with dread masked by a smile. You don’t have to wish the minutes by. You have been freed from social anxiety. You’ve been given a better agenda. You are liberated to look for the spaces Jesus wants to touch and transform. You are freed to look outside of yourself and your proclivities. And the whipped cream on top? You know that when you leave, you can trust that your surrender will yield the sweet fruit of adopting His agenda instead of your own.

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“Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”
2 Corinthians 3:17

We were saved for more than enjoying eternal security while we live in bondage to our flesh. We were saved for something more abundant. (John 10:10) We’ve been invited into honesty. Dependance. Grace. Freedom. Wholeness. Blessing. Life in His Kingdom. Praise the Lord, we are not our own.

And that’s really, really good news.

Over the last few Sunday mornings, we’ve touched on just how important it is to be a people that actively remembers. The break-neck speed of western culture, our growing instinct to “scroll” or “swipe” through new content as the old slips into the archives of the digital cloud, and even some political influences, are collectively lulling our memories to sleep. We’re not a culture that “calls things to mind” often. We’d rather race forward toward the next innovation, trend, life stage, etc. All the while, our diligence to do the sometimes mundane work of “remembering” starts to atrophy.

What is so important, then, for us to remember? It’s the soul-memory of what God has done that we’re getting at in this post. Scripture is drenched with the importance of this kind of remembering. Whether it seems like a game-changer or not, incorporating this discipline into your life can tether your heart to the Lord in ways that are proven over and over in His Word.

REMEMBER GOD’S PAST FAITHFULNESS

Scripture abounds with language like this:

Psalm 77:11-15
“I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds. Your way, O God, is holy. What god is great like our God? You are the God who works wonders; you have made known your might among the peoples. You with your arm redeemed your people, the children of Jacob and Joseph. Selah”

and…

Psalm 111:2-4
”Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them. Full of splendor and majesty is his work, and his righteousness endures forever. He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered; the Lord is gracious and merciful.”

God’s desire is for us to remember His works - what He has done. But it’s so much more than a textbook-style acknowledgement of these acts. When we “ponder”, “meditate”, and “study” what God has done, we trace the works of His hand back to the nature of His heart, where we find endless holiness, power, majesty, grace, and mercy. And once there, what else can we do but worship? This kind of remembering renews our intimacy with God.

Deuteronomy 4:9
“Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children's children…”

Jewish culture in Biblical days placed a huge value on verbally teaching history and customs in the context of the family unit. The generation of grandparents and parents diligently reclaimed moments within the routines of daily life to tell stories and testimonies of what they had seen God do, and what their ancestors had seen God do. They set up altars and celebrated feasts and festivals and observed traditions where tangible object lessons and rituals engaged all of their senses in this sacred work of remembering.

The younger generation also had a responsibility in this; from early childhood, they received the teaching and learned about the God who had been faithful to their ancestors, metaphorically taking the baton to carry on to the next generation:

Deuteronomy 32:7
”Remember the days of old; consider the years of many generations; ask your father, and he will show you, your elders, and they will tell you.”

PRACTICAL POSSIBILITIES

Although we don’t share the same culture and customs in our context, we are still called to practice the Biblical mandate to “remember”. Here are a few possibilities for what this could look like in your family:

• Tell and hear the stories. Grandparents and parents, tell your stories of God’s faithfulness to your children. Children, ask your parents and grandparents to tell them. Some of our grandparents, aunts, and uncles lived through wars, national crises, and family tragedies. Next time you find yourself at a family gathering, ask them about the ways they saw God’s faithfulness carry them through.

• Document God’s faithfulness in your home. Keep a jar and add slips of paper as tangible evidences of God’s faithfulness as you observe it, and then read them on New Year’s Eve. Carve out a couple of minutes at the dinner table to talk about the great things God did that day. Whatever it looks like, embrace the discipline of remembering.

• Read missionary biographies & autobiographies. This is an incredible opportunity to see God’s hand at work in prior eras in history and in foreign contexts.

• Study the history of the early church. God has preserved and delivered His people and His Word through seasons of intense persecution and trial.

Remember what He’s delivered you from

Old Testament saints were quick to remember God’s deliverance from bondage to slavery in Egypt:

Deuteronomy 5:15
You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm.

Each of us have stories of deliverance. Every believer has been delivered from the bondage of slavery to sin.

Romans 8:2
For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.

We could fill books with stories of God’s deliverance from depression, disease, anxiety, tragedy, addiction, abuse, mental illness, deep disappointments, and even complacency.

He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son (Colossians 1:13). He drew us up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set our feet upon a rock, making our steps secure (Psalm 40:2). He made us alive together with Christ and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 5:5-6). He forgives our iniquity, heals our diseases, redeems our lives from the pit, crowns us with steadfast love and mercy, and satisfies us with good, so that our youth is renewed (Psalm 103:3-5).

He has and still is delivering us from even that which we don’t know! The psalms tell us that He is our hiding place, preserving us from trouble, surrounding us with shouts of deliverance, keeping our soul among the living, and not letting our feet slip (Psalm 32:7, 66:9). Knowing our own weaknesses, temptations, and the proclivities deep in our hearts, where would we be apart from the mercy of God?

PRACTICAL POSSIBILITIES

• Journal it out. Find 10 minutes today, and intentionally remember what He has delivered you from. If you know Jesus Christ as your Savior, start with remembering how He delivered you from living for yourself (2 Corinthians 5:15). Explore the other bonds He has broken in your life since then.

• Tell someone. A personal testimony is simply telling what God has done for you.
  

REMEMBER HOW HE SATISFIES YOUR SOUL

Every instance of sin in our lives reveals that we’ve forgotten God. Our hearts have lapsed, and for a moment, we’ve suppressed the knowledge that God is more satisfying than any hollow offering of sin. Author Jackie Hill Perry describes that first instance in the Garden of Eden: “…Eve bypassed her Creator’s sufficiency and wanted to be satisfied apart from him.” When we bypass the knowledge of God’s sufficiency for our souls, we seek satisfaction apart from Him, which always leads to sin. If we reverse the logic, we realize that the work of remembering God’s sufficiency to satisfy our souls circumvents us from searching elsewhere, and sinning. This work of remembering is more important than we may realize.

Biblical authors cry out with testimonies of God’s ability to satisfy the soul completely:

• “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Psalm 16:11)

• “And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.” (Isaiah 58:11)

• “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” (Psalm 73:26)

Our hearts need continual reminding that the best times, are the times we spend in God’s presence. May we say with the Psalmist, “But for me it is good to be near God” (Psalm 73:28a).

PRACTICAL POSSIBILITIES

• Make a list. Call to mind the specific moments where God has filled your soul to the brim and overflowing. Whether it was a worship experience, a moment outside as you drank in His creation, an instance where He made a passage of the Bible come alive in a new way, a time spent with Him in prayer, or a breakthrough moment He gave you. Remember how good it is to be near Him.

• Make small trades. In the moments you are tempted to fill your soul with entertainment, social media, or distractions, make a trade and choose something that will center your heart on God. Turn on a podcast, listen to scripture, read a book, talk with Him, or take a walk. Do the thing that brings you closer to His heart. You’ll be reminded all over again that He alone can satisfy your soul.