Freeing the Slaves

Truly, truly I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. (Jn 8:34-6)

We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. (Rm 6:6)

You have freed me, O Lord! Hallelujah! I am free!

Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves, and in doing so, he changed the course of history and improved the plight of millions of people, in his own day and in ours. But Scripture says that Christ has done something that far surpasses what Abraham Lincoln did. It says that Christ has freed the slaves. He has freed them from a bondage whose consequences are far worse than those of a nasty plantation owner. He has freed them from chains that they could never run away from, for these chains are in our own hearts. Scripture states that apart from Christ, we are slaves to sin, but the Son has set us free. Hallelujah! Scripture also tells us how this has happened. Christ has destroyed the bondage of sin through the Cross.

The Cross was a multi-faceted event. Christians say, “Jesus died for our sins,” and sometimes we say it so much that it becomes cliché. Many who say the words never allow the words to sink in. We need to see the glory of redemption. In the sight of God all our sins are gone. Praise be to His name.

But the Cross has done much more than redeem us and wipe away our sins. The Cross has actually changed who we are. It is not just that Jesus died for our sins. It is also that we died with Christ (Rm 6, Gal 2:20; Col 3). Our old self — the self that wants its own way — has been crucified. The heart that was steeped in sin has died, and the chains of sin have been broken. The bondage is gone because in Christ our old self has died. We are now free.

This is a transaction of a different sort. In the Cross, God offers not just a payment for sin and forgiveness. He also changes our very essence, for on the Cross, He destroys our old nature.

This transaction is the foundation for a holy life. When people are in bondage to their sinful selves, they are utterly incapable of living in righteousness. But Paul says that our old self was crucified with Christ and that we are dead to sin. Because this is true, he then concludes that we should not let sin reign in our mortal bodies (Rm 6:1-12). In Colossians, he says that we have died and our lives are now hidden with Christ in God. Therefore, we are to put to death all sorts of sins (Col 3:3-10). In both Romans and Colossians, Paul begins by telling us what God has done and concludes by telling us how we ought to live in light of what God has done. The Cross is the power through which God does this work. Thus, a righteous life is just as much a result of the Cross as forgiveness is. If we lean on the Cross for our forgiveness, we ought also lean on the Cross for power to live a right life.

The Cross is the power of God over sin. It is the ultimate Emancipation Proclamation. It frees us from our old master. We were in bondage to sin, enslaved to our own selfish desires, but the Cross destroys the chains by putting to death the old self. Through the Cross, sin is dead. Through the Cross, God says, “You are free from sin. Now live that way.”

This teaching is generally neglected in the church. People hear of Jesus’ substitutionary death and the pardon that comes with it fifty times more often than they hear of this, yet this is just as much a work of the Cross as that is. This part of the Cross prevents cheap salvation. When Paul teaches this doctrine, his purpose is to combat the idea that people in Christ can live in sin (Rm 6:1). God may forgive us, but that doesn’t mean we can live as we please. Paul is saying, in effect, “If you think you can live in sin, you don’t understand what happened on the Cross.”

It is no coincidence, then, when churches that neglect this teaching often breed shallow faith. “Just come to Jesus and His blood will cover your sins and God will forgive you.” That statement is gloriously true, but it is incomplete. Sometimes our message stops in Romans chapter 3, but Paul’s message doesn’t.   The good news is that in Christ, followers of Jesus are made right in the eyes of God AND made right in their very nature. Forgiveness and reconciliation are built upon the Cross. But so is a holy life. We are to live a certain type of life because, through the Cross, God has made us into a certain type of person.   Our slavery to sin is over. The Son has set us free.