Freedom

“Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” “But we are descendants of Abraham,” they said. “We have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean, ‘You will be set free’?” Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin. A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever. So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.”
‭‭John‬ ‭8:31-36‬ ‭NLT‬‬
With today being Martin Luther King Jr. Day  I thought it would be appropriate to speak about freedom from slavery to sin. Sin is the worst form of slavery. Every human being is a slave to sin and must be set free (see Romans 3:23 and Romans 5:12). Sin is the great slave master of mankind. Every form of oppression is a direct result of the fallen nature of mankind. True freedom is found in Christ alone. He is the great emancipator. In Him we can truly know the bliss of freedom. I'm Him we are able to live as free men and women. When we understand who He is and what He has done, we can live our lives in proper understanding of ourselves and others. A slave cannot set themself free. However, a rightful heir - the Son (Jesus Christ) has authority to declare freedom. When Jesus sets us free, we are absolutely free.
No matter what our status in the natural world may be, we are all slaves that need freedom. Vices of all kinds have us clutched in their grasp. Hatred, malice, envy, strife, jealousy, murder, pornography, prostitution, human trafficking, and the list goes on and on. As humans we are slaves! Slaves to sin. Prestige, power, popularity, position, place of birth, personal achievement, prosperity, etc. - none of these determine our freedom from sin. We cannot learn enough to break sins power. Education can only make is intellectual barbarians. We cannot earn enough to break sins power. Money only make us crave more of what it offers. The love of it is the root of all evil (see 1 Timothy 6:10). The house we live in, the car we drive, the clothes we wear are incapable of identifying us as free. Only the Son (Jesus Christ) can make us free. Only He can clothe us in the garments of true freedom. When we truly know Him, we can truly know freedom.
Until we get home, where we belong, we will live as pilgrims in a strange land, longing for our rightful place at the table of grace. One day soon, all the saints of God will gather at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (see Revelation 19) and we will finally say goodbye to all of the oppression of this sin cursed world. We will arrive in the land of the eternally free, where there will be no Satan, sin, sorrow, sickness, or suffering! Until that day let's remember: In Jesus Christ we are free!!!
“Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭6:18‬ ‭NLT‬‬
“We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭6:6‬ ‭NLT‬‬
Jesus Christ - the Great Emancipator!!!

Curtis R. Norris