THE PERFECT LAW OF LIBERTY
Pastor
Larry Gatlin, So Oregon
A few years ago I felt
the Lord prompting me to write a book about the, “Perfect Law of Liberty”. This
book is based on the premise that many Christians do not fully comprehend what
their rights are as “Born Again Christians”. For many Christians the “Perfect
Law of Liberty” is just a nice verse that expresses how they feel about the
gift of salvation. But it is way more than that. It is in fact meant to lead us
into an understanding of just what a wonderful price Christ paid for us to be
free from the tyranny of legalism and tradition.
There are people who
might think that I am trying to make a statement about their denomination or
other church affiliation. But I honestly feel that those are not relevant to
understanding the “perfect Law of Liberty”. There are Pentecostals, Baptist,
Methodist, Catholics and more that have come into the “Perfect Law of Liberty”.
There are also many of those who have not. They have been stifled and held back
because of legalism, tradition, and church governments. Many of which are not
founded on or based on sound scriptural principles. Some who have experienced
sound principles from Gods Word have turned to religious traditions and
legalism just to avoid confrontation and a feeling of rejection. Face it, most
of like to be liked and accepted by our peers. When we become more concerned
about acceptance than we are about flowing in the liberty that Christ died to
give us we actually move into a form of Spiritual bondage. The only thing that
will shake us from the bounds of legalism, tradition, and religion is to have a
head on encounter with, “The Perfect Law of Liberty”.
My personal encounter
with the “Perfect Law of Liberty” was in May of 1995. For a year I had been
hearing about a church in Toronto that was experiencing a full-blown move of
God. The reports were varied and most were actually negative. I began to pray
about going to Toronto to find out for myself what it was all about.
I was nearing a place
of fatigue and ministry burn out and felt that I really needed something to
turn me around or a new vocation. So I started talking about actually going
there. One afternoon one of the parishioners came by my house and we began
talking about the things of God. I had expressed from the pulpit several times
how I would like to travel to Toronto and find out for myself if this was God
or just another passing fade that some church was experiencing. This brother
who remains to this day a man that I highly esteem and love in the Lord told
that he and his wife had prayed and the Lord told them that they were to pay my
way to go to Toronto. I immediately began making plans to go.
Finally the big day
arrived and I was all set to go. However, there was just a bit of skepticism in
my heart. I had paper and pen and I had decided I would go there and if
anything were out of line I would quickly return home and forget about all of
the reports that I had heard. Well, except the negative ones. When I arrived in
Toronto it was on an off day and there were no meetings until 10 A.M. the next
morning. I went to that meeting and was totally blessed and ministered to by
the staff of the “Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship”. During the evening
service I started to be critical when a young man with long brown hair said,
“Excuse me but we really need to get out into the isle where we can dance“.
Well being from a fellowship where dancing wasn’t particularly accepted I
became a bit leery. But my concerns were soon vanquished as I watched hundreds
of fellow Believers enter into a wonderful explosion of liberating praise and
worship. I had never experienced such a sense of freedom and an all out
expression of joy and celebration of the goodness of God.
I spent the next two hours
completely enjoying the worship and the ministry of Gods Word. At the end of
the service Pastor John Arnot said that he felt that they were to minister to
pastors. He asked all of us to come forward and stand across the front. I got
there as fast as I could. The ministry team started praying for us and I found
myself excited to be in a place where so many people cared enough to take time
out of their busy schedules. They stayed as long as it took to not only pray
for the pastors there that night, but also every one else in attendance that
wanted prayer.
Finally, it was my time
to be prayed for. I have to admit that I was a little disappointed when I
realized that neither Pastor Arnot nor any of his staff were going to pray for
me; but instead a little lady about eighty years old. As she stood there in
front of me I remember her saying just get ready to receive from the Lord. So I
relaxed and thought, well it will encourage her if I just kind of play along.
An hour or so later as I drug myself up off of the carpet I had learned a
valuable lesson. God isn’t nearly as concerned about status as we are. That
eighty-year-old sister just barely touched me on the forehead and I was, as
they had so appropriately named it, doing carpet time. That night will go down in history, as the
night that I finally realized that indeed there is a, “Perfect Law of Liberty”.
The joy that I witnessed and experienced was more than I had been associated
with since my childhood days when I would run and play and often talk to Jesus.
Pastor Larry
