Romans 6: 6 - 11 NKJV
There is a chorus from one of my favorite worship songs that I always enjoy. This song, by Micheal W Smith has the chorus "My chains are gone, I've been set free." Now, there are numerous passages in the word of how we have been but should no longer be in bondage to sin and our fleshly desires. I agree that we, as our heavenly Fathers creation, have often fallen under that feeling that we are under compulsion to sin. There have been many times, when I have fallen short, where I've felt that I was indeed in bondage. For it seemed to me, as it was, that I was controlled by the behaviors which I truly wished to avoid. I was a slave, chained to the desires of my flesh. I've talked with enough believers who have echoed these thoughts, so I know I wasn't alone in my struggles. Sure, I knew what I was doing was wrong, but as a slave obeys the orders of his master, it seemed I would continue to fall into that same behavior. Time and again smacking myself in the head claiming, "I know better!" I was indeed a slave. However, as a slave dreams of eventual freedom, so it was that I wished for better times for myself. This was not something I wanted to be remembered for. One of my first clues that these chains of bondage were not what my heavenly Father had in mind for me was the truth that Christ Jesus had come to wash away the very sins it seemed I was in bondage to. For if indeed Jesus had become sin on my behalf that I might have life, was I still in bondage? Had my chains finaly been broken? Had I finaly been set free?
1Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all, 2but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father. 3Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. 4But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. 6And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, b“Abba, Father!” 7Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
Galations 4: 1 - 7 NKJV
In Romans 6, the apostle Paul stakes claim that it is Christ Jesus who broke those chains of bondage for us. It is Jesus Himself who has set us free from the bondage of sin that "We should no longer be slaves of sin." It is the man Christ Jesus who Himself became sin on our behalf that we would have our freedom {2 Corinthians 5:21}. Those chains I struggled with for so long have now been broken, I HAVE been set free! This freedom didn't take a act of congress or a social action prostest, only the selfless act of one man. Paul follows up his revelation of our broken chains from Romans by telling us that we who were once in bondage to our sin have now, through Christ Jesus, traded in our chains for the honor of being sons of the most high. Not only sons, but heirs to our heavenly Father through Christ Jesus. Not only have our chains of bondage been broken, but we who have accepted Christ Jesus now share in His inheritance. We are no longer slaves, but sons. Sons of the living God. This realization came late in life for me, but was revealed to me in Gods fullness of time nonetheless. There was no tool that could have broken those chains of mine, only the crucifiction of Christ Jesus. The struggle I now deal with is accepting that my chains are indeed broken and that I need no longer live my life in bondage to something I am dead to. This is the freedom we now have in Christ Jesus, my chains are gone, I've been set free!
~Scott~
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