Bondage in Freedom

The New Testament is full of wonderful paradoxes. The King has come (Matt. 2:2) and His reign is not yet fully realized (Matt. 25:31). The Kingdom of God is at hand (Mark 1:15) and we should pray that it comes (Matt. 6:9-10). Jesus reveals God (John 1:17-18) and He hides Him (Mark 4:10-12).

One of the most familiar paradoxes is that of the freedom and slavery of Christians. In one sense, Christians are set free from sin (John 8:34-36) only to be enslaved to God (Rom. 6:22). Christians are both free and enslaved (Paul plays with this idea in 1 Cor. 7:22); both are true at the same time. How does this work out practically in our daily lives?

Christians have been set free from the ruling principle of sin in their lives—sin no longer has dominion over them (Rom. 6:4). They have been transferred out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of light (Acts 26:18, Col. 1:13). This does not mean that they no longer commit sins (cf. 1 John 1:8), but only that sin no longer dominates them entirely. Now they are able to obey God, which was impossible before (Rom. 8:7-8). The Spirit of God enables Christians to put sin to death (Rom. 8:13), to wait for the hope of righteousness (Gal. 5:5), and to bear godly fruit (Gal. 5:22-23).

The freedom is that they may now serve God, having been set free from captivity to Satan (2 Tim. 2:24-26). What is the bondage that exists in our lives?

Principally, we are bound by the weakness of those whom we serve. Paul says that in matters of conscience we should live in such a way that we do not offend the conscience of the weakest brother or sister in our current setting (cf. 1 Cor. 8:9-13). It is not that eating or abstaining from a certain food commends us to God (1 Cor. 8:8), but that if we cause a brother to stumble we sin against Christ. In this way, we are bound to avoid certain things at certain times (1 Cor. 10:27-29) or to avoid them as a principle (1 Cor. 8:13). These are sweet bonds that build up the church, but we are bound nonetheless.

Paul also wanted to ensure that our general freedoms as Christians are not used to advance our own sinful pleasure. In Galatians 5:13 he said, “For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” Peter said the same thing: “Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God” (1 Peter 2:16). Now that we have been set free from the law of sin and of death (Rom. 8:2), we should not delight in sinning but rather in serving God and others. God calls us to sweet slavery to Himself, not because we are compelled to by some external law, but because we are His children and we delight to do His will (John 14:15; 1 Pet. 4:2; 1 Cor. 6:19-20; 2 Cor. 5:9, 5:14-15, 6:18-7:1).

--Dean of Admissions