“Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another” (Romans 7:4).
We all serve someone. No matter how free or independent we like to think ourselves, we are all under the authority of a master. We can’t change that. But what we can decide is whom we will serve.
From the beginning of our lives, we serve sin. We are born into a world broken by evil, and our lives reflect that. We choose every day to do what is wrong, preferring our own way to the perfect one God has revealed to us.
We don’t have to remain in that state, however! God is infinitely gracious, and He has provided a way of escape. When we believe in Jesus—that He is the perfect Son of God who died on our behalf to free us from sin, who came back to life so that we might have eternal life—we transfer our allegiance to Him. No longer are we enslaved to sin. We belong to God, and no one can ever take us from Him!
Our allegiance to sin was so complete, though, that the only way for us to be separated from it is through death. And this is exactly what Jesus has accomplished for us. When He died, He broke the chokehold that sin has on the world. There is now a way out. When we believe in Him, we die with Him, and with Him we are raised to a glorious new life in which sin no longer has any power.
Our sin is a horrible curse, one that is impossible for us to break. But Jesus has broken it! In Him, we are free. We can choose to serve Him, to follow Him and live in His life, and in so doing we are finally who we were created to be.
True freedom comes from serving Jesus.
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