Bondage or freedom: have you ever thought about what it would be like to be in bondage as a slave? I have tried to imagine what it must have been like for Ota Benga*? He lived in central Africa in 1881 as a free man in a small camp with his family. One day he returned home from an elephant hunt to find his house burned to the ground and his family slaughtered. He was captured and sold into slavery. He was later brought to America by African explorer Samuel Verner, who bought him from a slave auction. He was put on display at carnivals and fairs, placed in a cage with apes in the Bronx Park Zoo, and was studied by scientists like an animal. Those scientists believed in evolution and believed this man showed a particular stage of evolution in progress. Ota Benga was in a bondage none of us wanted to experience. We can’t imagine why anyone who would treat another human being that way. While this bondage is despicable and causes me to cry and be sick to my stomach, it is still not as bad as the bondage that millions live in day to day. This bondage is eternal bondage that is chosen by those who are in it.
The bondage common to all mankind is the bondage of sin. It is a spiritual bondage. We are all born with a sinful nature that lends itself to becoming enslaved to sin. Jesus revealed that those who are servants of sin are in bondage.
John 8:34 “Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.”
I believe that the sin of pride and selfishness is the root of all sin, and it dwells within each of us. Pride is the sin that tells us about situations others are in and convinces us that “It could never happen to me.” The drug addict, the alcoholic, the sex offender, the glutton, and the liar are all deceived. They are all in bondage that they can’t shake on their own. The one who feels they can handle anything and don’t need God is in the worst position. They are full of pride, and in our society, we have come to tag this as an acceptable sin. However, there are no acceptable sins to God. Any sin that is not laid at the feet of Jesus has control over you. If you think it doesn’t, you are deceived.
I Corinthians 10:12 “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.”
The first step to freedom is recognizing areas where you are enslaved. The freedom found in Christ is exhilarating. There is nothing as liberating as surrendering everything to Jesus and leaving it with Him. Knowing that He is in control and that all I need to do is follow Him has a calming effect on my soul. It’s a great feeling to lay your head on your pillow at night and know there is nothing between you and God and that He is in total control.
There is also comfort in knowing that when we have sins that continue to haunt us, we are not alone. In I Corinthians 10:13, we are taught that we are not the first to experience temptation in our weak areas. God will always be faithful to provide a way to escape any temptation that Satan throws our way.
I Corinthians 10:13 “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”
However, we are not to place ourselves in situations where we know we will be tempted. In every situation, the power of temptation lies within us. While there may be external things that entice us to sin, they would have no power over us if we did not have something within us that responded to it. If there were no desire for food, the chocolate pie on the table would not bother me. There must be a desire for the temptation to take place. When I give in to temptation, there is a progression that takes place. James 1:14-15 teaches that progression that leads to sin and death.
James 1:14- 15 “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.”
The bondage of sin that binds us can only be broken by the power of God. Paul said in Romans 7:15, that the sin that troubles him, he does not approve of it, and he does not understand his own actions. However, the things he wants to do, he somehow doesn’t do, and he gives in to the very thing he hates. That is how sin works. Satan knows our weaknesses, but when we seek the protection and power of God in our lives, He will work on our behalf. The way of escape will be made obvious to us, but we must take the steps to go through it.
Romans 7:15 “For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.”
As we grow in our walk with God, the things that once tempted us will no longer have an effect on us, but because we have a sinful nature, something else will pop up. It is only natural that we will have battles with sin until we die. As we grow closer to the Light, Jesus, it exposes the deep recesses of our hearts to us. We begin to peel back the layers of who we are and see ourselves the way God sees us. When Jesus is on the throne of our hearts, we no longer need to worry about the bondage of sin. While we may be tempted, we have the truth, and the truth makes us free! We are no longer a slave to sin.
*Ota Benga -One Race, One Blood A Biblical Answer to Racism by Ken Ham and Charles Ware
