Chris' Corner -- Sunday, October 18, 2020
Under the Constitution of the United States, freedom is one of the greatest privileges we Americans enjoy. How thankful we are to God to live in this country and be blessed by the principles of liberty so many in our world do not have.
Christians enjoy another kind of freedom many in this world have never known. The people of God are those who have come to know the destructive nature and bondage of sin. They have taken advantage of the means of escape that God provided for everyone who hears, believes, and obeys His message of redemption—the gospel (Romans 1:16).
When our Lord died, was buried, and resurrected from the grave, He broke the chains of bondage and sin. Romans 6:3–6 tells us, “Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.”
Paul continued in verses 16-17, “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? 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.”
It is simple and yet so profound. Those who submit to water baptism, are buried with Him in His death are raised up to live a life free from the power and consequences of sin. This action brings us into the kingdom of Christ and under His will. We are challenged to remain loyal to His spiritual laws. “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage” (Galatians 5:1).
American citizens must abide by the laws of the land or forfeit their rights of freedom and liberty. How sad for those who at one time experienced the freedom and liberty in Christ Jesus, and then have decided to walk away and return to the bondage and servitude of sin and condemnation. The apostle wrote, “While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage. For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning” (2 Peter 2:19–20). Be sure to continue reading verses 21 and 22, and also Hebrews 6:4-6.
Most citizens would not leave the freedoms of our country and exchange them for the repressive, controlling restrictions of some other government. Why would anyone entertain the idea of leaving the freedom we have in Christ, which will last throughout eternity, for the bondage and pain of sin, with the eternal condemnation that comes with it?