Scripture Text: John 8:34
Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.
John 8:34
Jesus is incarnate Truth, and when He says to His followers, "truly, truly I say to you..." we should pin back our ears and pay special attention to all that He has to say. "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin." The Lord Jesus came to earth to set fallen men free from his shocking enslavement to sin and to deliver us from the ruinous nature of sin which is imputed to every member of the human race. Jesus came to bring freedom to all who are enslaved by sin, but many refuse to acknowledge that as sinners, we need salvation. As slaves to sin, we all need to be set free. Freedom is a condition which all men long. But even in the comparative freedom of today's world, men are far from free, for each one is restricted in many ways. We are limited by laws of the land... the air... the sea... and the sky. We are also regulated by government laws, taxes, and an array of intrusions into our own personal lives, which seem to multiply with every passing year as the invasion of diverse technologies and statutory requirements, to which we are forever chained, scrutinize us and regulate our every move. The proud Jews of Christ's own time were incapable of admitting that they were enslaved, or that anything had dominion over their lives. Jesus came to free them from the tyranny of sin and told them that if they continued to follow Him and trust in His Word, they would know the truth and the truth would set them free. However, they were quick to reject His gracious words and offer of salvation and boasted that because they were Abraham's descendants, they were already free men! They conveniently forgot that they had been slaves to many different nations in their checkered past including the Egyptians, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks, and the Roman government, under whose control they were presently enslaved. But Christ was referring to much more than physical or national slavery in His discourse with the Jews. Jesus was talking of the terrible human tragedy of slavery to sin. "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin." Jesus came to set His people free from the curse of the Law and the chains of sin and death, but they could not accept that they were sinners in need of salvation. They would not admit that they were in need of a Savior. They did not understand that we are not sinners because we sin... we sin because we are sinners. Every member of the human race is a sinner by nature. Every human being is imputed with sin, for when Adam sinned in the beginning, sin was passed on to all his offspring. We are born into sin. We are all slaves to sin. We are imputed with sin. We inherit a sinful nature. We are all enslaved by the fleshly sinful nature—for everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin—until and unless we are made free by grace through faith in Christ.
Jesus is the incarnate Son of God. Christ is incarnate truth, while sin is the personification of a wicked and cruel slave-master, from whom there is no escape, except by grace through faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. It is only those that are saved by grace through faith in Him that are enabled, by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, to be freed from sin's slavery. It is only those who are born-again and positioned in Christ who are enabled to live each day by grace through faith in Him—for Jesus not only paid the penalty for our sin but broke the power of sin in the life of all who believe.
Reflect
1. Do you understand that we are all sinners?
2. Do you want to have the freedom that Jesus is offering to the world?
3. What will be your best solution to receive that freedom?
Remember
Jesus had come to offer His freedom from bondage of sin and liberty from enslavement to the sinful nature. Don't refuse to admit that you are sinner and in need of a Savior, and so close the only door to freedom and refuse to walk down the only path to liberty.
Read
Romans 6:16, 19-20; 2 Peter 2:19; John 3:3; Titus 3:3
Pray
Thank You Father, in Jesus' Name the penalty of sin has been paid in full and the power of sin has been broken in my life. Thank You that in Christ, I have the power of the indwelling Spirit of God to hold me steady, as I allow the life of Christ to rule in my heart. Thank You, Father, that in Christ I am no longer a slave of sin but have been set free through Him who loved me and gave Himself for me. Praise His holy Name. Amen.
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