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Who's Slave are You

John 8:31-41

By Robert D. Pace

Christ's Words in our text infuriated the Jews.  Even the casual reader can readily detect their anger.  Since the time of Moses and Egyptian captivity the Jews had been sensitive about the subject of slavery.  Here's what triggered the controversy:

 

Jesus said: "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

 

They fired back: "We are Abraham's offspring, and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that you say, ‘You shall become free'?"

 

Christ's very insinuation that Israel was enslaved supremely insulted the Jews.  And that's despite the historical evidence that proved they had been enslaved numerous times.  For example: Moses wrote of Israel's Egyptian captivity; Jeremiah and Daniel chronicled Israel's Babylonian captivity; and the First Century Romans governed the Middle Eastern world.

 

But actually, these Pharisees had misinterpreted Christ's statement. Jesus wasn't referring to national slavery He was identifying their spiritual slavery—their slavery to sin.  Jesus said, Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin." That's the greatest bondage known to man.  And it's inescapable and universal.

 

Once the Jews realized that Jesus referred to their spiritual slavery their anger intensified.  And you have to understand why they thought this way.  The Hebrews considered Abraham to be their spiritual prime minister—the eminent personage of their patriarchs.  To the Jews there was no equal in Hebrew history as a prophet, priest, or king.  And Scripture supports this assessment.  So much so that He's called "the friend of God."

 

But here's the problem.  Since they could genealogically trace their ancestry through "God's friend," they considered themselves inherently righteous.  He became their spiritual connection and they assumed the righteousness God imputed to Abraham was automatically transferred to them.  They could live as they wanted.

 

But let's not smugly convict the first century Jews of this heresy without recognizing the error of many churchgoers today.  How many people do you know that were saved five, ten, or twenty years ago" but continue living without any spiritual fruit or passion for Christ or desire to reflect His image?

 

Here's what the Bible says about our spiritual connection to God. It's found in 1 John 2:28-29, "abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming."  (NASU).

 

We aren't connected to God through Abraham or a rich paternal heritage rooted in the Christian religion.  We obtain our spiritual connection to God through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.

 

In a nation where seventy-five million people claim to be Christians, I believe Jesus is saying: "If you're for real, produce the fruit!  If you claim the title, display the merchandise!"

 

And if any generation needed to heed that admonition it's today's. Today's generation exhibits an "in your face" mentality.  America today isn't the "free love," "live and let live" society of the sixties. It's a culture with an attitude.

 

The highways are filled with road rage.  The secular universities gleefully poke fun at moral absolutes and openly demean the Christian Faith.  Even the cable talk shows are filled with hostile bantering.

 

This is why it's necessary for Christians to provide a demonstrable witness of Christ's love and standard of righteousness.  We need to answer the world's contempt by bearing the fruit of the Spirit and following Christ's commands.

 

That's what John the Baptist demanded in Matthew 3:8 when he said: "Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.  (9)  And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.' I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham."

 

There's a reason Jesus and John preached this way.  They realized people unsubmitted to God in conduct were slaves to sinful practices.

 

(Transition)  That leads us to point one, The slavery of sin.

 

I.          The Slavery of Sin

 

Romans 6:16 says: "For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.  (15)  What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!  (16)  Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey‑‑ whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?  (17)  But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted.  (18) You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness."

 

That couldn't be clearer.  Whoever transgresses is enslaved to sin and whoever lives righteously is enslaved to righteousness.  I prefer being the servant of righteousness.

 

You better be careful who you serve and submit to because the consequences couldn't be more disparate.

 

I want you to consider the consequences of serving the sinful nature.  First, slavery to sin is controlling.  

 

A.        Slavery to sin is controlling.

 

Have you ever heard someone say: "It's my life and I'll live the way I want?" Nothing could be further from truth.  People that practice sin don't do what they want, they do what sin wants!

 

Sin is dominating.  Its grip and pull are greater than the force of gravity!

 

Habits and compulsions can so bind people they're nearly impossible to break.

 

Nicotine or alcohol can become so controlling you can hardly escape them.

 

Certain drugs can so dominate people that they become powerless before them.

 

That's why Simon Peter said: "for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him" (2 Peter 2:19).

 

(Quote)  The philosopher Seneca said: "A man can get into such a state that in the end He hates and loves his sins at the same time."

 

(Transition)  But then sin is not only controlling it's confining.

 

B.        Sin's slavery is not only controlling it's confining.

 

(Illustration)  Years ago the African people discovered a unique way to capture monkeys.  They would take a hollow log and cut a hole in it barely large enough for a monkey's hand to press through.  Bait was then placed inside the log.  When the monkey discovered the bait he would squeeze through his hand and clench his find.  But with a clenched fist the monkey could not bring out his hand or the bait.  That's when the captors moved in and apprehended the monkey.  The monkey was captured because it refused to turn loose of its desire.

 

That's the consequences of sin.  There comes a point when men have such an attraction toward sin and sin has such control over them that they are unable to loose themselves from it.

 

Ask the drug addict, alcoholic, prostitute, gambler, or the one addicted to pornography.  If they're honest they will admit their attraction and desire toward sin eventually incarcerated them.

 

If you're dabbling with any vice the best counsel I can offer is to abandon it! Forsake it.  One chain-link won't confine you but the strongest of men can eventually be bound by the interconnecting links of sin.

 

That's how it begins—with one insignificant link!  You graduate from one successive sinful link to the next.  And one day you say, "That's it, I'm tired of this lifestyle. It's time to walk away." But you can't.  Those interconnecting links of sin have captured you.

 

There's an incarcerating point when you can't say "No" to sin.  You're consumed by it and it not only controls your thinking it controls your behavior.  When that happens sin has lost its luster and pleasure and it's tormenting.

 

So what's the answer?  You must appeal to Calvary.  You bow at the place where Christ conquered sin and ask for God's help.

 

(Illustration)  Years ago I preached for a Pastor in Naples, Florida that had also served as a missionary to Germany.  He said: "The older I get, the more I discover that everything happening in life is provoked by spiritual forces."

 

There are controlling and confining spirits that cloak themselves behind sin.  Label them whatever you want: demons, Satanic forces, "principalities and powers," but there are forces of darkness that powerfully influence this world.  And these spirits of evil never work for your good.  They're out to overpower and manipulate you like a puppet.

 

Let me tell you where this is all headed.  The Bible predicts a period of world-wide anarchy.  In 2 Timothy 3:3 the Apostle Paul said the disposition of the End-time would be "without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self‑control, brutal, not lovers of the good, (4) treacherous."  Paul predicted the last days would be plagued by a storm of evil spirits creating cosmic chaos.

 

And then listen to Paul's words in 2 Timothy 2:26. Paul asked for Christians to pray for men to come "to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will."

 

When you sin you are dabbling with more than an abstract of evil. You are engaging the very demons of hell and you're no match for them!  That's why Jesus commands that we repent!  He commands us to turn from evil and place ourselves in the path of righteousness.

 

(Transition)  Third, let's discuss, Slavery to Jesus Christ.

 

III.       Slavery to Jesus Christ

 

Let me repeat a statement from the introduction.  Everyone is enslaved to something—everyone!  I choose to submit to the loving lordship of Jesus because nothing brings a more satisfying sense of well-being and liberty.

 

Our position in Christ is the highest position you could hold.  The apostles knew this and that's why they proudly proclaimed their servant-hood to Christ:

 

Romans 1:1 Paul called himself "a servant of Jesus Christ."

 

In James 1:1 the Lord's half-brother referred to himself as a "servant of Jesus Christ."

 

In 2 Peter 1:1 Simon identified himself as a "servant of Jesus Christ."

 

And in Revelation 1:1 John called himself a "servant of Jesus Christ."

 

Do you know why the apostles gladly submitted to Christ's lordship?  Because they knew servitude to Christ meant more than being His slave, it meant being His child.  And if we're God's children that means everything belonging to Christ belongs to us!

 

This is exactly what Galatians 4:7 means when it says: "you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God" (NASU). 

 

We are heirs of God's promises, provisions, blessings, and the inheritance prepared for us in heaven.

 

He's given us the treasures of power over sin, healing, deliverance, provision, and "precious and magnificent promises."

 

Conclusion

 

(Illustration)  If you place a buzzard in a cage eight feet square and completely open at the top that bird could never escape.  It would be imprisoned to its surroundings.  Buzzards need ten to twelve feet to sprint for their takeoff.  Without takeoff space they're captive for life.  Nocturnal bats can't take flight from level ground.  They need uneven ground or slight elevation to thrust themselves into the air.  Bumblebees can't escape from a long-neck bottle.  They're unable to lift their eyes and see an escape hatch.

 

In many ways man resembles these creatures.  We desire freedom from earthly sins and struggle tirelessly to escape.  The problem is we aren't always able to break free from sinful habits and addictions because we're employing methods of man and not soliciting the help of God.

 

The answer to getting free from sin is by understanding the way out is up.  No matter what the dilemma, the Lord Jesus Christ offers freedom from every bondage.  Ask for His help today and trust in His Cross to save you.