DEVOTIONAL
“For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.”
Romans 6:20 ESV
My brothers and sisters in Christ, what a great joy it is for us to look back upon our life for just a brief moment to see how the Gospel of Jesus Christ has changed us forever. We were once in bondage, yoked to the power of sin and what a cruel taskmaster it was. It blinded us to the reality of God’s justice and imposed upon us a verdict of guilt before we were ever born. Yes it is true, though some will try to refute it, we were by nature children of wrath, enemies of the most high, awaiting the fiery indignation of God’s justice and fully deserving of it. What a helpless state we were in as the scripture reads, “For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.” Sin was a very natural part of our life. We openly and freely indulged in immorality, filling our minds with impure thoughts, as passion and pleasures ruled the domain of our deepest affections. We stood on the precipice of hell as the anger of God burned forth with great fury towards our rebellion. It was there in ignorance that we shook our fist in the face of the Almighty with no regard for His righteous Law. O what a feeble, impotent, powerless condition we were in.
But in the fullness of the time, God in His infinite love enraptured us in His mercy. He come to us with divine grace subduing our rebellious heart. Do you see Him coming in love as a husbandman for His bride? Do you hear the anguish of his voice as the lash of the taskmaster tears through His back? Oh what love, He bore our sins and took our punishment with His body on the tree. The nails, the vinegar, the spear, the thorny crown; let us never forget the cost of our redemption. The Fathers eternal love that sent Him to us and it was His eternal love that executed Him on the cross. As it is written, “God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ, His only begotten Son.” There is no greater love than one who will lay their life down for another and that is just what Jesus has done for all who will come to Him in repentance and faith. For while we were slaves to darkness, we were washed in His blood, sanctified by His grace, and justified by His righteousness in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. So then Christian, rejoice, sing of His kindness, revel in His immutability, for the prison cell of death has been opened and you have been set free, for who the Son sets free, is free indeed.