Enslaved To Righteousness

THE BASIC DEFINITION OF A SLAVE IS “A PERSON WHO IS THE LEGAL PROPERTY OF ANOTHER AND IS FORCED TO OBEY THEM.” THE PREMISE OF SLAVERY IS WHEN A PERSON OR BUSINESS OWN OTHER HUMAN BEINGS, LABEL THEM AS COMMON PROPERTY AND TO FORCE THEM UNDER THE BURDEN OF UNPAID LABOR.

HISTORY OF THE WORLD RECORDS COUNTLESS STORIES WHERE GENERATION UPON GENERATION DEALT WITH ISSUES OF SLAVERY. ONE ONLY NEEDS TO GO BACK TO THE BIBLE TO SEE THAT ONE OF THE EARLIEST ACCOUNTS ADDRESSED SLAVERY NEARLY 4,000 YEARS AGO.

GENESIS 15:13, “THEN THE LORD SAID TO ABRAM, ‘YOU CAN BE SURE THAT YOUR DESCENDANTS WILL BE STRANGERS IN A FOREIGN LAND, WHERE THEY WILL BE OPPRESSED AS SLAVES FOR 400 YEARS.’”

ACCORDING THE US DEPARTMENT OF STATE, THERE ARE STILL 167 COUNTRIES THAT OPENLY ALLOW SLAVERY. THE COMBINED TOTAL OF ALL THESE COUNTRIES ARE ESTIMATED TO BE AROUND 48 MILLION PEOPLE IN BONDAGE AROUND THE WORLD.

TODAY, ALTHOUGH THE WORD “SLAVE” IS NOT AS PREVALENT, IT IS NOW REFERRED TO AS “TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS,” AND “HUMAN TRAFFICKING.” ALTHOUGH THE TERM HAS CHANGED, ITS DEFINITION HAS EXPANDED!

HUMAN TRAFFICKING OR “MODERN SLAVERY” IS “THE ACT OF RECRUITING, HARBORING, TRANSPORTING, PROVIDING, OR OBTAINING A PERSON FOR COMPELLED LABOR OR COMMERCIAL SEX ACTS THROUGH THE USE OF FORCE, FRAUD, OR COERCION.”

THE TOP 6 COUNTRIES TRAFFICKING TODAY ARE INDIA, CHINA, PAKISTAN, BANGLADESH, UZBEKISTAN, AND NORTH KOREA. THESE SIX COUNTRIES, ALONE, ACCOUNT FOR 27.7 MILLION TRAPPED IN THE HUMAN TRAFFICKING MARKET.

SLAVERY HASN’T GONE AWAY. THERE IS ANOTHER TYPE OF BATTLE WAGING IN THE WAR ON SLAVERY WHICH IS THE CONFLICT BETWEEN SIN AND RIGHTEOUSNESS.

IT IS OUR BATTLE. IT IS OUR CHOICE. THERE ARE ONLY TWO CHOICES AND IT IS “ONE OR THE OTHER.” THERE WILL NEVER BE ANY “GRAY AREA” IN BETWEEN. THE CHOICE IS EITHER SLAVERY TO OUR SINFULNESS OR SLAVERY TO RIGHTEOUSNESS.

JESUS EMPHASIZED THIS WHEN HE SAID IN MATTHEW 6:24, “NO ONE CAN SERVE TWO MASTERS. EITHER YOU WILL HATE THE ONE AND LOVE THE OTHER, OR YOU WILL BE DEVOTED TO THE ONE AND DESPISE THE OTHER….” WE CANNOT HAVE IT “BOTH WAYS” BY CREATING HYBRID LOYALTIES TO SUIT OURSELVES. WE CANNOT BE “SOLD OUT” TO THE KINGDOM OF GOD IF OUR HEARTS ARE DIVIDED.

MAY OUR ONLY CHOICE BE GOD. WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN NEW LIFE BY GOD. OUR BODIES ARE TO BE GIVEN TO HIM TO USE FOR PROMOTING RIGHTEOUSNESS. WE ARE TO REFUSE SIN AND INSTEAD BE WHOLLY COMMITTED TO LIVING FOR GOD. THESE ARE CHOICES WE MAKE MOMENT BY MOMENT, DAY BY DAY, CONSISTENTLY BECAUSE WE HAVE ALLOWED IT TO BECOME OUR WAY OF LIFE.

THIS IS WHY PAUL LATER WROTE IN ROMANS 12:1-2, “AND SO, DEAR BROTHERS AND SISTERS, I PLEAD WITH YOU TO GIVE YOUR BODIES TO GOD BECAUSE OF ALL HE HAS DONE FOR YOU. LET THEM BE A LIVING AND HOLY SACRIFICE—THE KIND HE WILL FIND ACCEPTABLE. THIS IS TRULY THE WAY TO WORSHIP HIM. DON’T COPY THE BEHAVIOR AND CUSTOMS OF THIS WORLD, BUT LET GOD TRANSFORM YOU INTO A NEW PERSON BY CHANGING THE WAY YOU THINK. THEN YOU WILL LEARN TO KNOW GOD’S WILL FOR YOU, WHICH IS GOOD AND PLEASING AND PERFECT.”

OUR PRAYER IS THAT WE CHOOSE THE WAYS OF GOD OVER THE WORLD! THE LAST THING WE WANT TO BE IS IN SLAVERY TO THE THINGS OF THIS WORLD.

WE KNOW WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A SLAVE. IT MEANS NO CHOICE. SLAVES DO WHAT THEIR MASTER TELLS THEM. IT MEANS NO FREEDOM. SLAVES GO WHERE THEY’RE TOLD, LIVE WE’RE THEY’RE TOLD, GET UP, GO TO BED, WORK, WHEN THEY’RE TOLD. YOU ARE OWNED, CONTROLLED, AND EXPLOITED.

SLAVERY TO SIN IS COSTLY. THE WAGES IT PAYS FOR YOUR SERVICES IS DEADLY. IT IS DEATH ITSELF! SLAVERY TO SIN WILL STRIP US OF OUR DIGNITY AS IT DEGRADES AND HUMILIATES. SIN’S DEATH DESTROYS FAMILIES, FRUSTRATES OUR ABILITY TO MAKE A LIVING, AND CRUSHES DREAMS AND CREATES DEPENDENCY AND RENDERS SOME UTTERLY HELPLESS. WE NEED FREEDOM FROM SIN!

HERE IS THE GOOD NEWS: FREEDOM FROM THE SINS THAT ENSLAVE US IS POSSIBLE AND WITHIN REACH! YOU CAN BE SET FREE BECAUSE OF JESUS! WHEN JESUS DIED ON OUR BEHALF, HE MADE IT POSSIBLE FOR US TO BE FREED FROM THE BONDAGE TO ALL SINS.

WHEN JESUS ROSE FROM THE DEAD, HIS RESURRECTION POWER GAVE US THE FREEDOM TO HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM, TO BE FORGIVEN, TO BE RESORTED SO THAT WE CAN FOLLOW HIM AND TO BE ABLE TO DO WHAT HE WANTS US TO DO.

HERE IS THE KEY: YOU MUST WANT THIS! YOU MUST DESIRE TO DO WHAT IT TAKES FOR THIS TO BE YOUR WHOLE LIFE. WE STILL HAVE TO FIGHT THE BATTLE IN THE POWER OF THE SPIRIT, BUT WE DO SO, KNOWING THAT THE POWER OF THE ENEMY IS BROKEN AND THE CONSTRAINTS OF OUR SINFUL BODIES HAVE BEEN REMOVED.