John 8:36
"Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”
For a prisoner of war or anyone who has suffered under the hand of an evil taskmaster these are the words he or she longs to hear-freedom, glorious freedom. What exuberance must fill the soul of who has been held in bondage for days or possibly decades!
The sunrise and sunset will hold a peculiar beauty as never before. The stars that fill the heavens will burn brighter than ever. Every relationship which this horrific slavery has severed will be reunited with unfettered joy. No matter how strained or difficult the relationship was prior to the slavery, all wrongdoing and ill-will will be lost and seem absolutely minuscule at that very moment.
I’ve never been a prisoner of war or been held in slavery under human authority upon this earth and, therefore, I cannot adequately explain the utter joy that true freedom will bring to the individual that has been set free from these awful conditions.However, I can speak on slavery and being under the sway of an evil taskmaster. I am one who has been set free and liberated from the wages of sin and the one who held me captive for almost 20 years. In this bondage I tasted many things that the prisoner of war and slave tasted.
Yet there is one difference between sin’s stranglehold on the sinner and the enslavement of prisoners and slaves. The prisoner of war or slave never doubted for one second that they were being held in utter slavery.The scriptures speak clearly about the condition of every human being to ever take a breath upon this earth.
Humanity’s condition is bondage and slavery to sin. And what makes this bondage and slavery 100 times worse than the P.O.W. or slave is that this spiritual bondage actually deceives man into thinking that his or her condition of being in bondage and slavery to sin actually does not exist.
There are two crucial texts which poignantly teach this reality. Jesus, the Son of God, God of very God, speaks to this condition in John 8:34. “Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.”And the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 2:1-3 said, “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, In which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
”Humanity is all in the same boat. We all have the same condition. We all suffer from the same disease. Before anyone’s eyebrows are raised to this accusation, just look around at all the devastation around us. Everyone we know has some blemish, even the ones we hold in high esteem have skeletons in the closet. If we’re truly honest with ourselves we know deep within our heats that we are greater sinners than anyone could ever imagine or think that we are. In honestly dealing with ourselves, each and everyone of us would have to confess that the prophet Jeremiah was indeed right when he spoke these words concerning the heart of humanity. Jeremiah 17:9 "The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?" Even our best days are tainted! Our best offerings are as filthy rags.
Come on! Let’s be real. We live in a day that hates to be real. We are always looking for some way to pass the buck. Let’s call a spade a spade and deal with the sin which reigns in the heart of us all.Jesus said in Matthew 15:17-19 “Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.”
All of these things are absolutely true concerning the plight and condition of our hearts. What we need most of all are new hearts. We don’t need to turn over a new leaf. We don’t need to paint the outside of the house when the inside remains a pig-sty. What we need are new hearts, hearts given by King Jesus who came with full and resolute determination as the ultimate heart surgeon. Jesus said in Luke 5:31-32 “Jesus answered and said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance." In Christ there is real freedom-freedom from what we need most. The bondage and dominion of sin have been overthrown by Him conquered death, hell and the grave!
Great GraceBondage, slavery, and freedom are what the gospel is all about. Man’s condition is utterly horrific. His plight and destination is an eternity separated from a Holy God who demands peerless perfection! But none of us have peerless perfection. In the words of Paul, “No one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:11-12; 23)
The great question we must ask ourselves is, “Who can deliver me from this heart that is in bondage and slavery to sin?” Praise God there is a glorious answer! There is deliverance! We read about it in these verses.1 John 3:8 "For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil."John 10:10 "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."John 8:31 "So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."Jesus came to save sinners.
One of the greatest deceptions in the world that men often claim is, “I’m too bad to be saved. If you only knew how bad I’ve been then you can fully understand why Jesus could never save me.” These words are a cop-out. What unconverted men and women fail to understand is just how bad they actually are. We are greater sinners than we could ever image and that’s why we need a great savior. Jesus left His throne in glory to save rotten, hell deserving sinners from the fury of God’s wrath. Praise God He sent such a One!!
So, dear friends, without delay put all pride away and run to Him and Him alone who can free us from the bondage of sin! Let us plead for new hearts. Let us pray to see the true state of our souls and let us pray that we might be given the grace say with Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:55-57, “O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?" 56 The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
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