Romans 6:16
Dearly beloved in Christ,
I greet you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Bondage is very common in the lives of people today. Why this? How this came about? What is the reason? Such questions are raised. The Bible gives clear explanations on the reasons for bondage and also the way of deliverance. Today let us meditate on it.
“…whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.” John 8:34
Man is under bondage to sin. Sin is dangerous. Sometimes it drives them to commit suicide. But the Lord God wants to overcome it and live. Being given to sin is common among people. It has become part and parcel of the modern life style. Everywhere we find people given to debauchery, drunkenness, and lasciviousness. What is the reason? They have no sense of the fear of God. They have no knowledge of Jesus Christ. They have no idea or thought of the word of God. They commit sin without any remorse. Their life is filled with sufferings. The Bible says, “whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them” (2 Cor. 4:4). They cannot discern the gospel of the glory of Christ. Thus their mind’s eyes have been blinded by Satan and they are in bondage. I once had a friend. First he learnt to smoke. In no time he came under the influence of marijuana, commonly called ‘hanja’. He had a good physique and could climb boldly any tall building or object. But because of this habit of using marijuana, he died early. His life ended sadly in sufferings. Sin leads to death. The sin has its entry through lust. It is the act of the devil to instigate one to sin. In the third chapter of Genesis, we read how Eve was tempted by the serpent. First, it seems to enquire about her and evinces keen interest in her wellbeing. When she went near the forbidden tree, she was tempted. She went near it and then she was tempted by the serpent. She was alone. The serpent enquires about the commandment of the Lord. It seems to evince interest in her wellbeing. Today some men talk with women with bad intentions but seem to be interested in their wellbeing. Then Eve gives a good report of the matter. She could not discern the evil design of the enemy. The serpent contradicts the statement of the Lord and tells her that she would not die. In her innocence she becomes a victim to the evil designs of the enemy. In her mind she is induced to pluck the fruit of the forbidden tree and to eat it. Eve looks at the fruit and decides in her heart that it should be good to eat. She has not tasted it and yet her heart begins to imagine about the goodness of the fruit. It is just like looking at a man or woman and beginning to imagine that he or she is good. We see the consequence of such marriages. Recently a marriage was broken in just a matter of three months. They were well educated and had good physical attributes. But their hearts were infested with sins. Selfishness was at its height. As their hearts were filled with trash, they had to separate. Beloved in Christ, today the devil surreptitiously enters into the hearts of people and blinds them so that the light of the glorious gospel should not enter into them. It not only keeps them in darkness but makes them do things contrary to the word of the Lord God. Eve too looked at the forbidden fruit, plucked it and ate it and then gave it to her husband. As a result, they lost the glory of God. Beloved in Christ, in your life also Satan is intent on making you sin by inducing evil thoughts. Eve gave herself to the evil thoughts and acted on it by plucking, eating and sharing it with her husband. Thereby, they lost the relationship with God. Their life was in darkness. Earlier they were the children of light; they were in the image of God. Now they lost the image of God and realized that they were naked. Today it is Satan’s design to make us lose the image of God in our life also. It is his design to make us sin and to keep us in bondage. He acts to entice us through his schemes and plots to lose the glory of God and to remain in darkness. He works surreptitiously to make us fall. We read in the Bible how people fell into sin through their lust. In Joshua 7:1, we read about Achan. When he saw among the spoils a beautiful Babylonian garment, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, he coveted them and took them and hid in the earth in the midst of his tent, with the silver under it. Consequently destruction came to him and his family and even to his animals. Apostle James explains how it happens: “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” (James 1:14,15). Being in sin, one feels helpless in his state of submission to a thing which he hates. It is a treacherous state. One cannot by one’s effort get out of it. Apostle Paul explains: “But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? (Romans 7:23,24). “For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do” (Romans 7:15). Today people lose their dignity and grandeur because of their sinful habits. Being given to the sin of drunkenness, they struggle to come out of it. But it is not possible for them to give it up. Their personal efforts end in vain.
“The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender” Proverbs 22:7
Fear haunts a man on seeing the lender. They keep themselves away from them. They run away from them. Why? They have to return the money borrowed. Satan cheats man through various means to make him a debtor. The rich become debtors through credit cards. The middle class people are enticed through instalment schemes that enable them to pay monthly dues. The poor go for loans on interest and find it difficult to repay them. So contrary to the word of God, they borrow in one way or other. Beloved in Christ, many believe that a large income is the sure way to being happy. Money is considered to be the source of all pleasures. But when the Lord blesses a person, the little one has is enough. There is the sense of sufficiency in life. Jesus Christ after completing His preaching asked the disciples to give them food. Jesus Christ blessed the five loaves of bread and two fish that belonged to a small boy. The disciples thought that those things were insignificant to the needs of the people there. But Jesus Christ took those loaves, thanked the Lord and gave it back to His disciples who served the people. Similarly He blessed those fish and gave to His disciples for serving. All of them were satisfied with the food. Then Jesus Christ asked the disciples not to waste the remaining food. They gathered it in 12 baskets. You can read this in John 6:9-13. The food was sufficient for more than 5000 people. We think that money alone can make the life a blessed one. But that is not the truth. Jesus Christ blessed the little to make it sufficient for the need. You should remember that. In Deuteronomy 15:6, we read: “For the LORD your God will bless you just as He promised you; you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow; you shall reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over you.” The Lord should bless the works of our hands. The Lord who blessed Isaac hundred times is alive even today. He also said that He would give double blessings. When the Lord blesses us, He makes us sufficient for more than 12 months enabling us to have an extra portion. Debt is caused by buying things without wisdom by lusting. Dear Brother / Sister, the Lord God who assured you that you would not borrow would enable you to live without debts. It is not His desire that you should live a slave to the lender. He will protect you from borrowing. His grace will be with you.
“Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world.” Galatians 4:3
The Lord asked Abraham to leave his father’s house and country to a place He would show him. What is the reason? He should separate himself from the evil habits, which God detested, of those people. The Lord said this with the intention of separating them to a life of holiness. When we commit ourselves to live a holy life, the Lord blesses us. Worldly people do a lot of things without understanding the reason behind it. How do we follow our Lord? When we do not follow Him but do according to the practices of this world, we would be put to trouble. Let us not be bound to the traditional practices of this world.
“and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage” Hebrews 2:15
Jesus Christ shed His blood on the cross to deliver us from the fear of death. There are many people who live without deliverance. But the Lord has borne all our sins to deliver us from them. It is only through His blood. Once an injury was caused on the head of a brother. Blood came through the ears. He would not take any medicine usually. Just because of the critical situation he had to be taken to hospital. He was treated as an out-patient. So he could not claim any insurance. But the Lord gave him a miraculous healing. It was because of his faith on the divine Healer who can heal any type of injury in any part of the body. People resort to various traditional practices. But as God’s children, let us not give room for those worldly practices. Let us not commit the mistakes of others. Wrong practices lead to fear and other tribulations. Let us avoid them by being close to the Lord’s love. The fear of death causes severe suffering . It will spoil your concentration. It spoils your sleep and you begin to struggle to live. In the lives of some it induces hallucination and imagined falsehood. They might hear voices. To deliver us from this fear of death, Jesus Christ gave His very life.
“And when He stepped out on the land, there met Him a certain man from the city who had demons for a long time. And he wore no clothes, nor did he live in a house but in the tombs” Luke 8:27
The demons keep a person in bondage according to his design of destruction and damage. Ultimately he wants to snatch away one’s life. The way for the demons to enter our lives is transgressing the word of God. We stumble from fulfilling the promises we made in the presence of God. If we are to be protected from the demons trying to enslave us, we should be made holy. The blood of Jesus Christ can cleanse us from all sin. Jesus Christ told the man who was suffering for 38 years not to sin anymore. When Jesus Christ met the man again at the synagogue, He counselled him that he should not sin anymore so that nothing more serious happened to him. Today we should live without sinning. We should not sin against the Lord. As we commit to do things that please the Lord more and more, sins disappear from us. The purpose of the Lord Jesus to come to this earth is only to deliver us from this bondage in which we find ourselves. By His mighty act He delivers us from the clutches of the devil and blesses us. John 8:36 says: “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” There are certain things that a man should do for his deliverance. There is the Lord who girds him with strength. But the Satan would tempt him through lust to indulge in sin. He is bent on trying to enslave us in his net. The Lord God wants to bless us. Both good and bad are before us. We should feel the pain of enslavement in our hearts and with a contrite heart turn to Jesus Christ for a holy life.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” John 8:32
The truth means the word of God. In John 17:17, Jesus Christ prays: “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” The fountain of life has its source in the Bible. From it you have peace, happiness and healthy life. Jesus Christ delivers us from bondage which is the cause of problems and tribulations in life. We should be delivered by His mighty acts. First, we must believe in the word of the Lord.
“Our fathers trusted in You; They trusted, and You delivered them.” Psalm 22:4
By our trust in Him, we are delivered. The Lord God delivers. In the eleventh chapter of Hebrews we read about the signs of trust. As you believe that the Lord God delivers us, there arises wonderful transformation in us.
“As for you also, because of the blood of your covenant, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit” Zechariah 9:11
The Lord who delivers by the covenant of His blood is still alive. You should believe and trust in Him that He was crucified on the cross for your sake. Then the Lord God will deliver you.
“But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness” Romans 6:17,18
As you obey the teachings of the word of God, you would have deliverance.
“...Yet when they returned and cried out to You, You heard from heaven; And many times You delivered them according to Your mercies” Nehemiah 9:28
You should repent of your sins and turn to the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ . The Lord says in Psalm 91:14, “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him. . . .” Let us love Him. Let us be delivered by Him.
May the Lord bless us!
In the service of Christ Jesus,
Bro. C. Ebenezer Paul.