The school year is well under way and I am a little more overloaded than I would like to be. Nevertheless, I am going back to posting regular blogs, because it makes me write my thoughts down (which is healthy), and it allows me to keep anyone who reads this in the loop.
In my studies I have struggled with the concept of being a slave to sin, then breaking free of those chains as a result of putting faith in Christ, but yet still stumbling into sin again and again. I had a hard time putting into words a distinction between the before and after of sins control in our lives.
Romans 6:6
"For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin"
I was life guarding the other day when my thought process led me to credit card debt. When someone has a massive amount of credit card debt (an impossible amount to repay), they become a slave to it. The interest raises the debt faster than they can pay it. It causes a downward spiral in their life. Their slavery causes them to continue to use the credit card to pay for stuff. Maybe, they even give up hope, so they continue to use the card knowing they would never be able to repay it anyway.
So lets relate the debt to sin. When we put our faith in Christ, his death payed the debt in full. gone. The downward spiral begins to stop. The money we were pumping into the interest payments can be used for food and rent (instead of using the credit card for all that). We are no longer bound to using the card, we have the choice of putting it away. Maybe sometimes we stumble and swipe the card here and there... but Christ's payment covered all future debts as well.
To make matters worse... it only takes one sin to accumulate this massive debt.
John 8:34
"Jesus answered them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin'."
Thank you Jesus for paying off my debt and breaking the chains of my enslavement!
