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In the Word
by Chuck Livermore
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Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
They answered Him, "We are Abraham's descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, 'You will be made free'?"
Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. John 8:31-36 NKJV
Everyone shares this problem. We have all inherited a sin nature from our common father Adam and mother Eve. We have insisted on exercising our freedom to choose and it is our nature to choose poorly. Our choices have resulted in our enslavement. We are held captive by our proclivity toward sin.
Once we are enslaved to sin, we are no longer free to choose. We obey our taskmaster, sin. Should we decide not to sin, we find that we cannot help ourselves. We are compelled. The things that we would not do are the very things we do. We cannot control our thoughts; and, as a result, we cannot control our actions.
But there is a way out of captivity. It is through adoption as sons. The master of the house has permitted the taskmaster to run rough-shod over the slaves. The taskmaster hates the slaves and will kill them if he can, but the taskmaster cannot treat the sons this way. If you are a son, you can move out of the slave cabin and into the mansion. There are rules in the master’s home as well, but they are not egregious. They are our delight. As we want nothing more than to please our Father.
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