Being Set Free

If Abraham Lincoln were living today, he would say, “11 score and 13 years ago our fathers brought forth to this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” The liberties we have in this country were not and are not free. There was a price to be paid and a price that continues to be paid today. Thousands upon thousands of men, women, boys and girls have paid the price so that you and I can assemble without fear.

In 1776, the first assembly gathered in Philadelphia to approve the final draft of what is called the Declaration of Independence. Within this document, the citizens of America were telling the king of England that they would no more pay unfair taxes, that they would no more be ruled by the iron fist of England. This was a bold stand that our forefathers were willing to take. Because of them, freedom and liberty exists in our country today. The freedom and liberty we have today must continually be fought for. When our fathers wrote the Constitution, there was no separation of church and state. Our founding fathers believed that church and state should work together. The history books, though they have changed over the years in an attempt to desensitize us to the truth, reflects and reveals this idea. Our fathers were willing to fight for our freedom. It wasn’t until the 1930’s when a Supreme Court justice came up with the idea of “separation of church and state.” Ever since that time, we have be gradually taking God out of our countries equation. Yes, we must continue to fight for our liberties and freedoms, even today. The price continues to be paid.

Eight thousand years ago we lost our spiritual freedom when sin was introduced into the world. Satan, disguised as a serpent, tempted Eve and we man have been under the bonds of slavery ever since. Sin is the transgression from the Law of God. God told Adam and Eve that they were not to eat of the one tree in the garden, but they transgressed from the command of God and sinned. With this sin came a separation of man from the sinless God.

Jesus said in John 8:34 that everyone who sins is a slave to sin. You can draw a picture in your mind of different forms of slavery. You may be thinking of the slavery of the blacks in our country some 200 years ago. Perhaps you are thinking of the slavery of the Hebrews in Egypt, or maybe of the Jews when they were taken captive to Babylon. Whatever the picture that you see is, I’m sure we would all agree that slavery is evil. When I see slavery, I envision masters and taskmasters using a whip on the backs of men and women. I see God’s creation shackled in leg irons. I see the women being sexually abused by their “owners.” I see men having a foot cut off because they tried to escape from slavery to freedom. Paul said in his letter to the Romans that if you offer yourself to someone as a slave, you are indeed a slave to that person (Romans 6:16). The Hebrews did not volunteer to be slaves in Egypt. The Jews did not volunteer to be slaves in Babylon, and the blacks from Africa did not volunteer to be slaves in America. Slavery was forced upon them. Yet, every one in the world has volunteered to be a slave to sin. Peter said in his second epistle that a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him (2Peter 2:19) Because of the sin of Adam and Eve, we were all born into sin but yet, those of us who are Christians know that we are not accountable for our sins until we reach the age of accountability. The age of accountability is different for everyone, but for simplicity sake, let’s says that the age of accountability is the age when you know right from wrong. So if you are sitting here this morning and you know that it is wrong to commit adultery, if you know it is wrong to lie, if you know it is wrong to steal, if you know it is wrong to want what someone else owns, if you know that it is wrong to love things more than people or God, then I would say you are at the age of accountability. If you are therefore accountable, then the question is, why are you remaining a slave to sin? Why are you deliberately, voluntarily serving Satan and choosing to spend eternity with him? Hell is a forever separation from God, it is a forever separation from love (God is love). It is a forever burning and torturess existence. There is never, not even one second, relief from pain and anguish that one will suffer in hell.

You may be sitting there say, “I’m a good person, I don’t hurt anyone, I’m a this and I’m a that, and I don’t do this and I don’t do that.” Isaiah said that all of this and all of that is “as filthy rags.” No matter how good you are, you are still a slave to sin. You can even sit there and try to live a Christian life and do good for others, but that too, is as filthy rags. You can give all of your wealth away and hold the highest position in church, but this too is as filthy rags.

In the Book of Acts, we read where Simon the Sorcerer attempts to purchase the spiritual gift of the laying on of hands. Peter tells him that he was full of bitterness and a captive to sin. This was another way of saying that he was a slave to sin. That Simon was in bondage to sin.
We can go on every day living in slavery. We can go on every day not being a part of the family of God because, as Jesus said, a slave has no permanent place in the family. We can be so arrogant and we can be so proud and boastful like many of Jesus’ followers when they said to him that they were of Abraham’s seed that they were never in bondage to any man, so how could Jesus say they would be made free. Then Jesus answered them and said, “Whoever commits sin is a servant (slave) of sin.” (John 8:34)

The Bible says that every man has an appointment to keep and that appointment is with death. Once we die, we then go before the righteous One for judgment. If you have been a slave to sin, if sin has been your master, if your father is the devil, then the judgment God will render to you is eternal punishment in hell.

Paul wrote to the Romans that there is no condemnation (judgment) for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free and set you free from the law of sin and death. It was through Jesus that sin was condemned in sinful man. Paul also wrote to the Corinthians and reminded them that when Moses is read, a veil not only covers their face, but also their heart. Paul tells them that those who turn to the Lord have the veil covering their heart lifted and that we are given freedom. And as Jesus said, “if the son has set you free, you are free indeed.”

When you have been set free from your sins, you are then dead to your sins. Your sins are no longer. They are separated from you as far as the east is from the west. When you surrender it all, when you turn it all over to God, when you confess your sins and repent of them, when you accept the God-given gift of His son Jesus Christ, who was spotless, blameless, sinless, then you are no longer a slave to sin. Satan is no longer your master.

You have been set free. This freedom came at a big price…the sacrifice on Calvary of the Lamb of God. He paid the price of death that we are deserving of, so that we are not slaves, but are free, a part of the family of God. And being a part of the family of God makes us joint heirs with Jesus Christ, if you will accept it. The invitation is yours. It is not God’s desire that you spend eternity in hell. It is His desire that you spend it with him but the only way to do that is by believing in his only begotten son, Jesus.

Joshua told his kinsmen just prior to his death, he said, “Choose you this day whom you will serve, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” You must choose this day, likewise.