SALVATION'S REMEDY FOR FEAR AND BONDAGE

"Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same; that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage" (Heb 2:14-15). "For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father" (Rom 8:15).

Devotion 2 of 18

THE CONDITION PRODUCED BY SIN: BONDAGE

In considering Salvation's marvelous remedy for fear and bondage, we should give some time to a delineation of "bondage." As I will be using the term "fear," it is related to "bondage" --a condition poroduced by sin. Notice the perspectives set forth in our texts. Jesus came to deliver those who "through FEAR of death were all their lifetime subject to BONDAGE." Again it is written that we have "not received the spirit of BONDAGE again to FEAR." In one sense, fear led us into bondage. In another sense, bondage leads into, and promotes, fear. Where one of these traits is found, the other is also present. Neither fear nor bondage can exist independently of each other. They are joined, working together to alienate the individual from God.

"Bondage" is enslavement to the cursed order, which cannot enter into the kingdom of God. It is being captivated by the enemy of our souls, and brought into servitude to sin. Considerable is made of this circumstance in the Word of God. It is written, "for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage" (2 Pet 2:19). This particularly applies to sin, and man's servitude to it. As it is written, "But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you" (Rom 6:17). "For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness" (Rom 6:20). In this regard, God Himself had to deliver us from bondage to sin. We were not able to extricate ourselves. That is why Jesus announced in His manifesto, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised" (Lk 4:18).

The Spirit also speaks of those ensnared by the devil as "having been taken captive by him to do his will" (2 Tim 2:26). Here bondage is viewed as subjection to the devil himself. This is a very real bondage, as vividly described in the second chapter of Ephesians. "Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience" (2:2). This too is a dreadful bondage from which no man can free himself. Jesus must first "bind the strong man," else no soul will be freed from the tyranny of the devil (Mark 3:27).

There is a third form of bondage mentioned in Scripture. It is bondage to the condemning Law. Until we are liberated from our sin, we cannot get away from the condemnation of the Law of God. It is a ministry of condemnation and death to all who remain in their sin (2 Cor 3:7,9). There is no escape from its sentence apart from Jesus Christ. In salvation, men become dead with Christ (Rom 6:8; Col 2:20). In that death, they are liberated from the condemnation of the Law. As it is written, "Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God" (Rom 7:4).

Actually, these various views of bondage are different aspects of the same enslavement. From the standpoint of conduct, we were in bondage to sin, unable to cease from committing it. From the perspective of origin, our enslavement was enforced by the devil, who worked freely in us, captivating us to do his diabolical will. From the view of status, salvation frees us from condemnation, allowing us to stand fully exonerated before the Lord of glory.

Let there be no mistake about this. Sin produces bondage–bondage to sin, the devil, and the condemnation of the holy law of God. This is a very real bondage, not a mere philosophical one. It is moral, in that it involves choice, decision, and the human will. It is spiritual in that it binds men at the very core of their being.

Salvation, and the Savior who wrought it, are to be understood within this context. Jesus did not come to simply make men better, or lift them to a greater degree of human goodness. He came to liberate them from a bondage that had reduced them to a powerless and impotent state.

PRAYER POINT: Father, I praise Your name through Jesus Christ for liberating me from bondage to sin, the devil, and the condemnation of the Law. Father, grant me grace to stand fast in this liberty, and be not entangled again in the yoke of bondage.

– Tomorrow: FEAR, THE MEANS THROUGH WHICH BONDAGE ENFORCED --