Bondage

If you are a child of God you are not in bondage anymore to sin, you have been set free.  Every person at one time was a slave to sin except the Lord Jesus.  But praise God!  He sent Jesus to earth, his only begotten Son, and Jesus bought us with His precious blood and set us free.

This reminds me of the story of Lazarus who was bound by grave cloths after he died and then he was buried.  When Jesus got to where they had laid him He said to move the stone away.  Lazarus had been dead for four days.  He was not only bound with grave cloths but he was bound in the tomb, death had its grip on him and the grave cloths had him bound. Lazarus didn’t know it but he was about to be liberated and set free, not only from the grip of death but also from the grave cloths that had Him bound, like I said.  

In John 11:43 it says this about Jesus, “When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come forth.’”  Then Lazarus came forth being set free from the grave, but he still had a problem, he was still bound.  In verse 44 it says this, “The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him, and let him go.’” 

When Lazarus came out he was free of death but until they took away the grave cloths he was still bound.  Jesus used people to completely set Lazarus free.  I think about what happens to every born-again believer; before Jesus sets them free from sin they are enslaved to it.  The problem is that many believers don’t fully understand this so the Lord uses people to reassure them and to help them understand this mystery.  Many believers act like they are still bound by sin, not completely comprehending the truth.

Let me tell you my version of a story that I read this morning that I think relates to this subject very well.  There was a man that owned a goat that he loved and cared for.  One day he got a call from the Sheriff’s Office and was told that his goat was dead lying in a ditch.  This made the man very sad, but when the man got to the place where his goat was he became very happy realizing that his goat wasn’t dead at all, he was just tied up and was lying in the ditch bound tightly around his legs with the rope.  The man quickly cut the rope but the goat didn’t move.  The man slapped the goat and he still didn’t move, so he slapped him again and told him to get up but he still didn’t get up.  So finally he picked the goat up and pulled his legs apart and stood him on his feet and then the goat started walking, realizing that he had been set free.

It seems like many Christians feel this same way, they have been bound by sin so long that they still act like they’re bound to it.  Romans 6:1-2 says this, “What shall we say then?  Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?  May it never be!  How shall we who died to sin still live in it?”  It also says this in verses 6-7, “knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.”  When we were born-again we were set free of sin so that sin no longer has control of us.  So instead of yielding your members to sin you need to yield them to righteousness.  We need to make this disconnect in our minds and hearts, that we are no longer ruled or controlled by sin or our sin nature.

So stop feeling like the victim and take control, resist temptation and sin start walking in the Spirit then you will not gratify the works of darkness or the works of the flesh, then start praising the Lord and rejoice for being set free.  The Word says in John 8:36, “So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.”  I hope this is a help in your walk with the Lord, God bless you and have a great day!!