NO MORE BONDAGE

(Grace versus Legalism)

It is for  freedom  that Christ has set us free.Stand firm, then, and do not be encumbered once more by a yoke of slavery. (Galatians 5:1, NIV)

Introduction

Alex could not believe the news. After being locked up for the last 17 years, the prison guard came to open his cell. ‘You are free to go’, he said, ‘the President has approved your release. The life sentence has been revoked’. Alex stood there speechless and almost motionless. He had become so accustomed to his life in prison. The routines and torture had become commonplace. His cuffs were removed, the prison doors opened. Nevertheless, Alex still stood there contemplating what to do.

The experience of bondage is not a friendly one. It depicts slavery, oppression, domination of a person’s life and rights by others or other things. No human being should be in such a state! But do you know that you just might be in bondage? A lot of times, bondage in spiritual matters is situated in the mind. Hence, a physically healthy and boisterous person can find themselves operating in a state of bondage to several things and not even know that they are in bondage!

It could be bondage to sin, to past experiences (good or bad), family ties and traditions. It could also be bondage to the Law which we will explain further in this article.

BONDAGE

Sin is the nature that man got when Adam and Eve sinned by disobeying God’s instruction and ate the fruit in the middle of the Garden of Eden. And sin has its practical expression. This is obvious, if you observe people in their normal day to day activities. It creates habits especially when they seem pleasurable even though they could be harmful. Hence, addictions are formed. Many addicts (whether of alcohol, lies, sex, and drugs, etc.) do not enjoy being controlled by these things especially when they know and experience the harm it causes them. However, they are unable to break the hold of the habit before it turns to addictions. Their appetite for these things drives them to surrender easily which defeats them woefully.  That is bondage to sin.

But then, what is this bondage? Bondage is coined from the word bound. It means to be held down, or tied unto something. It depicts lack of freedom to decide on your own; or lack of freedom to do the things you want to do willingly. So, when you do things not because you want to do them by yourself, but because you are forced, that is bondage. Look at the instance with Paul above typical with all of us.

And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin. (Romans 7:18-25 NLT)

Let’s take a look at another type of bondage; bondage to the past. This bondage can be tricky. One might have had a beautiful past before things went south i.e., before things went bad. Such a person may feel that it is impossible to have all that he/she had lost. It is like always grieving or bemoaning the losses. In such a case, the person might fail to realize that having exactly what one had should not be the target. Allowing for restoration does not mean replication. God restores the years cankerworms ate; He restores our joy. He restored in greater glory all Job lost. But Job’s ability to let go of the past, forgive God (I imagine that shocks you), forgive himself, his friends and believe again gave room for God to do fresh work in his life.

Consider being held down by the negative past that one has suffered. For instance; Tola, had set aside her Christian upbringing when she started dating a married man. She threw all caution to the wind and became sexually intimate with him. As time went on, the man began to physically abuse her. Even though she realized the gravity of all she had suffered, she remained in the abusive relationship.  What would you say to this? What would have kept her in that kind of a relationship? Yes I hear your answer, bondage and; bondage to a negative past!

Candidly, we all have been in one of these states of bondage at one time or the other. That time where you failed a course or exam and began to believe that you might be daft, hence loosing courage or self-esteem for other examinations. Or, think of a lady sold into sex trade who finds a way to escape but refuses because she suddenly realizes that she does not know any other way of life or means of fending for herself. Bondage is real and that is why mankind needs help. God brought this help through Christ who sets us free! Scripture says, ‘So if the Son sets free, you are truly free’! (John 8:36, NLT).

Bondage to negative family ties and traditions has wrecked many marriages. But, what is this bondage to family ties? It means not being able to go about your normal activity in your own life or your own family because of other family members such as your siblings, parents, or relatives! Rather, all your focus and effort is on them and what they want you to do or what they decide that you do. You can imagine where a couple both insist on imposing their individual family values in their marriage. This will cause problems eventually because it is a different setting; and different times require different measures and methods to handle things. Don’t get this wrong, family ties are wonderful if they help nurture love, understanding, growth and peace in the home.

There is also the bondage to ignorance which is very possible. And what is this bondage? Firstly, ignorance is a lack of awareness. This means one does not have a clue about what he/she ought to know. So, bondage to ignorance happens when one thinks he or she knows everything and does not want to learn or find out more. We all know that one cannot know everything; this means no matter how little, everyone has something to learn one way or the other. But when one does not want to learn, it is bondage to ignorance. ‘Information is power’, they say. Knowledge is liberating and it removes darkness. God said His people suffer irreparable loss (destruction) simply because of lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6). The enemy knows that God has made provision for knowledge for all of us in His word. No circumstance of life that God’s word is not able to guide us in. He knows all things, but because the children of God do not study and meditate, they are vulnerable to believe the lies of the enemy. Have you noticed the level of foolishness in the Church these days? Take for instance a woman experiences delay in conception and a “man of God” asks her to sleep with him to make it possible. If not for being ignorant, one would know that having carnal knowledge of someone other than your spouse is wrong and is a sin. But if the woman in question knows that God’s word gives rest, confidence and hope about delays that ‘though it tarries, it will surely come’ as gotten from Habakkuk 2, she will know not to accept what the so-called man of God tells her to do, but to trust God’s Word.

The last type of bondage we will look at is bondage to the Law or the Old Covenant. A quick hint: if there is an old edition of a phone, would one have the same features in that phone as the new edition? Of course not. [That is what the Old Covenant is; the Old Testament way of God getting people to Him.] God did not abolish the Law but He fulfilled it in Christ. He did not stop at that: He granted us so much ability, blessings and privileges that our efforts (efforts to accomplish the law) could never have achieved for us.

Join us as we go ahead to discuss this topic: ‘No More Bondage’, with our anchor Scripture being Galatians 5:1: ‘It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.Stand firm, then, and do not be encumbered once more by a yoke of slavery’ (NIV).I hope your heart is open to receive from the Lord’s rich table of love, peace and compassion.

The Purpose of the Law

The purpose of the Law was to achieve the following:

1. To show that we cannot do what God wants us to do. (Galatians 3:11)
2. It was given to prepare us for something better. (2 Corinthians 3:7-8, Galatians 3:23-25, 4:1-4)
3. To reveal the holiness of God and teach us that we must be perfectly holy in order to approach God. (Leviticus 11:44-45)
4. It makes it clear that we are sinners. (Romans 3:19-20)
5. To teach what is right and wrong and to clarify our understanding of sin and its consequences. (Romans 5:13, Romans 7:7,13)
6. The moral law was given to keep our carnality in check until Christ is formed in us. (Galatians 3:19)
7. It guides us to behave morally correct when we rely on God by walking according to the Spirit and motivated by love. (Galatians 5:16)

So in God’s heart, the Law was for a season. It had things it came to accomplish and when Jesus came, He said that He came to fulfill the Law (Matthew 5:17). In Romans 10:3, Paul tells us that ‘Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given. As a result, all who believe in Him are made right with God’ (NLT). The Old covenant has run its course and is no more our burden to fulfill (Hebrews 8:7-13).

The types of bondages we looked at above are just some that we picked, the list could go on. These few we looked at are examples to help you understand how sin through bondage works.