Sin is bondage. Sin holds us back from a relationship with Christ that He wants so badly. It holds us back from living the life God has called us to and from being effective workers in His kingdom.
We have also created our own shackles. Our churches have created doctrines that were never intended by the Biblical writers. John, Peter, and all the others would be appalled if they came to our time and saw how we now rip apart their letters one word at a time and create entire crazy doctrines and write books and tear down other Christians, other parts His bride, because of a word or simple phrase. Don't mistake what I'm saying and think that I'm saying that doctrine is not important because it is. I am saying though that we have created doctrines that act as shackles.
But there is good news! And that news is the blood of Jesus Christ. That blood covers our sins and has already paid for our freedom. That blood also took away regulations on worship, sacrifice, and some matters of daily living. We're human though and have traded in our freedom for the shackles of regulation that we imposed on ourselves. I guess we like the security of living in the prison rather than freedom. I like freedom and there is more good news... Jesus' blood paid for those shackles too! These lyrics have become the anthem for so many churches and people and in Jesus' name by the power of the Holy Spirit it can be your's too:
"No more shackles, no more chains, no more bonage, I AM FREE!"
I was reading today about freedom and I might write some more blogs about it but for now I'll leave you with a scripture and a list of other scriptures that you should read.
In Galatians, Paul was writing to a group of Jews who had become Christians. They trade in their freedom in Christ for the shackles of their old Jewish ways and were trying to impose those ways on Gentile converts even to the point of circumcision. He conveyed that Christ did not want us to be enslaved to sin or to religious regulation and that is the very reason He died. Paul wrote:
"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." (Galatians 5:1)
Scriptures to meditate on- Luke 4:14-21 (especially v. 18); 1 Cor 8:9-13; 2 Cor 3:12-18 (especially v. 17); read Galatians with this in mind; Eph 3:12; Col 2:6-23 (that's full of good stuff!!); James 1:25; James 2:12-13; 1 Pet 2:15-17; 2 Pet 2:19 (in the context of that chapter, you're a slave to false doctrine if you believe it to be true)
