Friday, August 08, 2008

Spiritual Bondage

What do you think of when you think of "spiritual bondage?" At one time in my life, I thought of spiritual bondage as all the sins that I was in "bondage" to. I thought of spiritual bondage as all the bad things I needed to overcome in order to maintain my right standing with God.

But if we look at what the Bible says about spiritual bondage, we get a completely different picture! While I was at work today, I randomly selected another message from my old pastor to listen to on my mp3 player, and again it was from 1995. I was amazed at how well this message really goes along perfectly with my post from the other day, "In order to be free, there's a certain thing you need to get out of your life...", along with the comments on that post.

This message gets into what bondage really is, as compared to true freedom in Christ. Again, we tend to think of bondage as "sin" and freedom as "living right." Of course, there are a lot of sinful things that we can be in bondage to. And it certainly wouldn't hurt if everybody would "live right." But again that's not what the Bible is talking about when it talks about bondage and freedom!

In Galatians 4, Paul says, "For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar — for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children — but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all."

What exactly came from Mount Sinai and gave birth to bondage? The Ten Commandments - that's what came from Mount Sinai and gave birth to bondage! The same Ten Commandments that Christians today think means freedom for them! But in fact, Paul not only called them bondage, but he also called them the ministry of death ("written and engraved on stones") and the ministry of condemnation (see 2 Cor 3:7-11).

True freedom comes when we STOP judging ourselves and condemning ourselves based upon rules and laws and how well we're performing in our Christian lives, and begin simply trusting in the truth that we are accepted in the Beloved by God's grace and nothing else!

Again I invite you to download and listen to this encouraging message. If you've got an sort of a religious mindset - I mean, even the tiniest inkling you may have that leans towards trying to live by law or judging yourself or others according to performance - then hold on tight and get ready for your foundation to be completely shaken and upheaved! And if you're searching for true freedom in Christ - really wanting to get out of religious bondage and have a wonderful, free relationship with Christ, based upon God's grace and upon His favor that is upon you due to nothing other than the finished work of Christ - then get ready to have your foundation in Christ strengthened and secured.

Posted by Joel Brueseke at 10:46 PM
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12 comments:

  1. Joel,
    I think 'bondage' is living/believing what is NOT truth, because Jesus said it is the truth what sets us free. So if we are not free, we either don't know the truth or we don't believe the truth. I agree with you I too thought sin is the bondage but it's more than that. Yes living in sin is a bondage but that is because we are believing a lie.

    I am going to listen to the message as I get time. Thank you for posting it.
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  2. Bino,

    Amen! Believing truth sets us free from the bondage of believing lies (what is not truth).

    I also think that the law itself was bondage, as Paul put it, because it condemned and killed those who were under it. That was the law's job. Sadly, Christians continue to live under both the bondage of the law and the bondage of believing falsehoods about Jesus and the Christian life.

    And so all I can say to that is... let's keep preaching the truth! :)
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  3. Joel, to use the vernacular, you is da bomb! How strange that we view ourselves through our supposed relationship with sin, the very thing we have died to. What if we viewed ourself and others through the redemptive work of the cross?
    The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin(unbelief) and Christians of RIGHTEOUSNESS! To be convicted of anything else is bondage!
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  4. RJW,

    Right on! We've been translated from death to life, and from condemnation to righteousness, and from "sinner" to "saint," all through the finished work of Jesus. How wonderful it would be if the church began to understand itself in this light, as well as being the beautiful feet that bring this good news to the world.
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  5. Amen.

    Understanding what spiritual bondage is so important. Unfortunately, many churches teach incorrect concepts. That's where the Law/Religion has a hayday.

    Great post.

    ~Amy :)
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  6. That's true, Amy. Law/religion is prevalent in the church today, being the source of much bondage in people's lives.
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  7. Joel, I'm still playing catch up and just read this post. Just as you said, I've always thought of bondage to sin. I really like what Bino had to say.

    "Yes living in sin is a bondage but that is because we are believing a lie.'

    When we focus on teaching people the truth, that truth has the power to set them free and when they're free, sin won't look so appealing.
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  8. Aida,

    Yep I really loved Bino's words as well.

    Living in sin means that we are living in a lie that that has told us that we'll get something better or we'll be more fulfilled through the sin.

    But wen the truth sets us free from the lies, sin becomes less and less of an issue, because for one thing, the lie keeps us focused on sin, and our "selves," as opposed to the truth keeping us focused on the One who is the Truth, Jesus Himself.
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  9. This stuff is all so new to me. I am like a child in the arms of acceptance of a God I never knew. Living by the law as a Christian, quite literally, nearly killed me.
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  10. Anonymous,

    What a story you must have. I'm glad that you say you are now like a child in the arms of acceptance of a God you never knew. That's the way to be! Keep on letting yourself feel that loving embrace, as you "grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." :)
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  11. titus2homemakerDec 11, 2009 11:34 AM
    Thank you Joel for this post and for the message, which I hope to listen to this afternoon. I was twenty when I was saved and previously had lived a very immoral lifestyle. The grace of God and the truth are what totally set me free. I knew there was absolutely nothing I could do to earn my way to heaven - if my past was any "prerequisite" for eternal life, then I had no hope!! I also quickly realized after receiving Christ that I was not cut out to live perfectly even though I was now a Christian. No, instead, I simply put on the Lord Jesus Christ everyday, and when I fail (which I'm prone to do and so is everyone else), I confess my sin and He is faithful and just to forgive my sin and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness. That is the beauty of grace!! If I was saved by grace, meaning Christ's gift to me whereby He imparted His righteousness to me, then I need to continue to walk in grace and not pick up the yoke of performance or perfect adherence to the law. Saved by grace and sanctified by grace.

    However, the reason I am visiting your blog is because my husband had quite the opposite childhood and growing up years. His was one of a very legalistic church upbringing. We are now forty years old and my husband recently committed a major moral failure in his life. Instead of repenting, he is "stuck" and won't pray because he doesn't understand God's grace at all. In his mind he blew it and it's all over. Even though he's been forgiven by the offended parties, he's still measuring himself by the law and is, I'm afraid, in terrible bondage to it. He has always been very hard on himself and others (including our children and I) whenever someone has blown it. I've tried and tried to explain that Christians do blow it but that if we repent God forgives us, picks us back up, and sets us on our feet again. Then he argues back that "Christians don't sin" and that we're supposed to "be Holy as God is Holy." He'll say that he knows we're saved by grace, but I think the part where he gets bogged down is how we are to live after coming to know Christ. All our married life I have observed that he seemed to serve God more out of "duty" rather than love and thanksgiving for what He has done for us. Our pastor has also tried, unsucessfully, to discuss grace with him. It's very sad to watch as now he is embittered against people in our church because he thinks that they're all judging him, when in fact, they most certainly are not and many have told me they've spent hours in prayer for him - a true labor of love! Please, if you read my comment here could you pray for him? His name is Aaron. Thank you and may God bless you.
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  12. Hi titus2homemaker,

    I definitely feel for you in this, and I will be praying for your husband Aaron. It's hard - well, it's impossible - for us to open anyone's eyes to the grace of God. It must be the work of the Holy Spirit. As I've heard it said, the truth of God's grace is caught, not taught.

    That said, you and others can keep on sharing the beauty of God's grace with Him, and pray that the Holy Spirit does a wonderful work in him so that his eyes and heart truly will be opened.

    Keep on sharing, as you are led by God, things such as "God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting men's sins against them" (2 Cor 5:19).

    It's also been a 'bondage breaker' for me to know that all those supposed 'oughts' and 'shoulds' of the Christian life aren't rules that we must live by, and they aren't conditions that Christians must follow in order to be a real Christian, but rather they are things that are representative of the life of Christ exuding out of us supernaturally - not out of our own efforts. It sounds like you know this, but perhaps it's the type of thing you can continue to share with your husband.

    I don't know if this helps at all, but I'll be praying with much hope that the wonder and truth of God's grace will penetrate Aaron's life deeply.
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