A handful of years ago we bought and raised up four ducks. Upon bringing them home for the first time I fenced in a small yard for them to stay in to ensure that they didn’t escape, as well as to keep out any predators that may have wanted to have eaten them. Well, after they had grown up to adult size we decided that we would try to open up the gate of their yard to let them run free around our backyard. The first time that they came out of their yard they seemed a bit bewildered, as though they thought we had made a mistake by forgetting to close the gate, but the new area before them drew them to go and explore. They had been set free.
And as I was thinking about this memory it reminded me of how everyone is enslaved to their sins, but when Jesus offers His forgiveness to us it is like He is opening that door and sets us free.
John 8:34-36 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.
If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
When you do something, that is what you are. If you work in the fields growing fruits and vegetables, you are a farmer. When you drive around in a giant garbage truck picking up bags of trash, you are a garbage man. If you install electrical wires in a home, you are an electrician. You are who you are by what you do.
And it is the same when you sin, because when you sin you become a sinner. However, unlike a job such as a farmer where you may quit if you decide and pursue a different vocation, there is no getting away from being a sinner. You are essentially enslaved to your sins with no escape from it, kind of like our ducks were when they were in their yard. But what Jesus did and still does is continually offer to set us free from the bondage of our sin and give us freedom. He wants to give us His forgiveness, and when we go through that gate which is Jesus we can have freedom.
Romans 6:16-23 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.
I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.
For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.
What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.
But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
It is through Jesus, and only Jesus, that we have forgiveness. It is only through Jesus that we can be set free from the bondage of our sins, and when we make that decision to come and serve Him we must not serve sin anymore, but become servants of righteousness. Everyone has this opportunity to turn away from their sins; not everyone will do it, sadly, but everyone still has this offer before them.
Have you made the decision to follow Jesus and receive His forgiveness? Have you decided to stop being a servant to sin, and serve Christ instead? Have you gone through that gate and been set free?
In Christ
Andrew
Teufer Lake King James Bible Church 