Freedom from Shame
Key Scriptures: Hebrews 12:1-2
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Main Idea: In Christ, we have the confidence to fully live out God’s purpose because he continually heals us from shame.
Lesson One: Holiness is an identity that brings confidence to live fully free. Shame destroys that freedom.
1 John 3:19-20, This is how we know we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in His presence: If our hearts condemn us, we know God is greater than our hearts, and He knows everything.
Psalm 34:4-5, I sought the Lord, and He answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.
Hebrews 4, confidence to approach the throne of grace
Hebrews 10, confidence to enter the most holy place, that your perseverance will be rewarded, and that you will receive what he has promised
Hebrews 11, confidence in what we hoped for
1 John 4, even on the day of judgement
1 John 5, that he hears us
Philippians 1, that he will complete the good work he started in you
Lesson Two: Jesus’ work on the cross that saves you from your sins is only the beginning. Now, going forward, in his presence you have full and unfiltered access to healing.
1 John 2:1-2, …if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
Revelation 12:10, “And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.
Isaiah 54:4, “Do not be afraid; you will not be put to shame. Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated. You will forget the shame of your youth and remember no more the shame of your widowhood.”
Lesson Three: Holiness, God’s plan for you = Wholeness, for every part of you
1 Peter 2:3-5 and 9, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ… But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
Matthew 22:37-39, …You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Galatians 6:1-3, Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way, you fulfill the law of Christ. If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves.
1 John 3:2, “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known.”