Slavery is dreadful: Someone with few if any rights, constantly compelled to do what others want, no freedom to choose or move or change. It’s an awful existence and one which quite rightly Christians like William Wilberforce were at the forefront of banning across the British Empire almost 200 years ago.
Yet the Bible is clear that all of us, every human being is a slave… to sin.
Jesus said “…everyone who sins is a slave to sin.” (John 8:34)
What every slave needs is freedom! Yet freedom is costly and the slaves must have their freedom won or sometimes paid for, that is they have to be redeemed. The good news is that God has done that for us – as Paul wrote to the Colossian Christians:
“He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”(Col 1:14)
As we repent and put our faith in the Lord Jesus, so we find that He has redeemed us and given us true freedom at the cost of the cross. It’s truly astonishing mercy!
Last Sunday morning we considered what our right response to God’s mercy, both individually and collectively, should be. The apostle Paul described the right response in clear terms:
“…Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (Rom 12:1,2).
Since Christ has redeemed us we are free to choose self-sacrifice every day: using minds transformed by God’s Word to change behaviour to reflect our Saviour. Isn’t that the least we can do?!
Spencer Shaw