Jesus Unshackled Slaves

What Did Jesus Do?

“...everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.”
John 8.34

Sin is so alluring in its promises, so beguiling in its deceits, that none of us have any hope of remaining free of this truly harsh and unremitting master. The words of Chapter Five of Proverbs, warning young men about the dangers of an adulterous woman, may aptly be understood as descriptive of sin in general, and taken as advice to us all. I paraphrase:

My children, be attentive to my wisdom;
incline your ear to my understanding, that you may keep discretion,
and your lips may guard knowledge.
For forbidden lips drip honey,
and the speech of the Deceiver is smoother than oil,
but in the end his words are bitter as wormwood,
sharp as a two-edged sword.
Sin leads down to death,
step by step traveling the path to Sheol;
sin avoids the path of life;
it wanders far and wide,
knowing nothing of it.
Proverbs 5.1-6

We must make no mistake, one cannot “dabble” in sin, from the first we are clapped in irons and led away as slaves, with no way to free ourselves (John 8.34). Only the Son can set us free (John 8.36). Any other liberation, apart from the words of Jesus, is illusory. Not pharmacology, not psychology, nor any other “-ology,” can break sin's shackles.

The Son speaks nothing but the truth of what he himself has witnessed with the Father (John 8.38a). When his Word finds a place in our heart, we are set free. Our problem is that on our own we choose instead to act on “hearsay” evidence which does not come from the Father, but rather from the father of lies, and thus we are enslaved to do his will, and are not free to do the will of the Father (John 8.38b). To believe that we have mastery over our own will is to listen to the oily speech of the Deceiver, to discover too late that what tastes sweet to our lips turns bitter indeed in our belly.

Once again it is what we believe and know about the Son that makes all the difference. And, once again, it is the Holy Spirit who reveals to us the truth about Jesus, and who imparts knowledge to our mind, and who fills our heart with faith. Slaves (to sin) have no lasting place in the Father's house, but children, set free by the Son, have a place in the Father's house forever (John 8.35).

Only by bearing witness, by sharing what we ourselves have seen and heard from Jesus, can we be employed by the Holy Spirit to set others free. As Christ's disciples it is our calling to unshackle sinners, because unshackling sinners so that they would be free to be children of the Father, is what Jesus did.

S.D.G.

Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4