If you read the last teaching on “The Slavery of Sin,” you know the answer to being free from the slavery of sin is to fill your mind and heart with the words of God. By learning that Jesus did not sin, nor was He a slave to sin, it would seem that we would be provoked to ask what He did that kept Him from sinning and being overcome by an oppressor. There are many answers to that question, but let’s begin with a straightforward conclusion; Jesus had the words of God written in His heart and mind and lived by them. In doing so, He did not sin because He was too busy keeping the words of God.
In conversations with Jesus, when the subject of being a slave to sin came up, Jesus left no doubt on what causes slavery to sin and how to be free from it. Let’s look at John 8:31-38.
So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, ”If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered Him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices 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. I know that you are offspring of Abraham, yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father (the devil).”
I am captivated by the words of Jesus here. This conversation is the answer to freedom in our life. Let’s post these words all over the walls of our house. (Our spiritual house, of course.) In this conversation, He is after a very critical point. It’s a secret that empowers the true kingdom of God, including the new and true Israel. If you practice sin, you are a slave to sin, and no matter what your fleshly birthright is, you will not remain in God’s house if you continue in sin. Only the sons of God who are born of God and do not sin will inherit the kingdom and live in the house of God.
To abide, which is also to continue, in the word of truth means that you do not practice sin. Therefore, you are a son who remains in the house forever.
Truth, not lies, frees you from the slavery of sin. Abiding in the words of Jesus makes you His disciple. You cannot and will not be a slave to sin as long as you continue to follow and stay in the truth of God. In the conversation in John 8, the Jews of Jesus’ time, in their thinking, had every right to feel entitled to inherit God’s kingdom. That’s because they were the children of Abraham according to the flesh. The problem, however, was that they continued in sin, ignoring the righteousness of faith and using the word of God to make up their own commandments, allowing them to excuse themselves from the truth. In other words, they could choose between what was a sin and what wasn’t. Because of their self-entitlement, they used their ethnicity to justify being God’s people.
As you know, ethnicity was no longer a thing under the new covenant. All believers who follow Jesus Christ by faith are counted as the sons of God. The idea of ethnicity may have worked in the old covenant, but under the new covenant, righteousness by faith wins out over ethnicity according to the flesh. These so-called children of Abraham were only his children through the flesh but were not his children by faith. Jesus was the true heir of Abraham because He was born of promise, not of the flesh. Therefore anyone who believes in Him will be heir with Him by faith. The born of God experience erases the need for a fleshly seed line. Being born of God is better.
Guard yourself against what tries to overcome you.
The apostle Peter made a very enlightening comment about those enslaved by wickedness. “Whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved.” (2 Peter 2:19). This statement is a teaching in itself, but I will say that the only time that sin has power over you is when you have been overcome by it. Let’s remember that if we abide and continue in the words of Jesus Christ, we will not be overcome; we will be the over-comers who sit on God’s throne with Jesus and His Father.
We will not serve sin, which will not have dominion over us. If you desire to be free from the slavery of sin, it’s time to look to the words (sayings) of Jesus and continue in them until your salvation from sin is complete.