Free Indeed

Free Indeed

By

Bishop Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr.

OPENING:- According to Wikipedia Slavery is any system in which principles of property law are applied to people, allowing individuals to own, buy and sell other individuals, as a form of property. An enslaved person is unable to withdraw unilaterally from such an arrangement and works without remuneration. Many scholars now use the term chattel slavery to refer to this specific sense of legalized, slavery. In a broader sense, however, the word slavery may also refer to any situation in which an individual is forced to work against their own will. Scholars also use the more generic terms such as unfree labour or forced labour to refer to such situations.

Passed by Congress on January 31, 1865, and ratified (sign or give formal consent to a treaty, contract, or agreement, making it officially valid) on December 6, 1865, the 13th amendment abolished slavery in the United States. The 13th amendment, which formally abolished slavery in the United States, passed the Senate on April 8, 1864, and the House on January 31, 1865. On February 1, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln approved the Joint Resolution of Congress submitting the proposed amendment to the state legislatures. The necessary number of states ratified it by December 6, 1865. The 13th amendment to the United States Constitution provides that "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."

However; there is a statement that causes us to pause and do a little inspection and that phrase is “except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction”.

QUESTION:- So if an amendment abolishing slavery has an exception clause in it did it really abolish slavery or just change the name of it. Slavery under any other name is still slavery. Remember slavery is any situation in which an individual is forced to work or live against their own will. Freedom according to the 13th amendment is iffy at best, based upon interpretation and circumstance, but the Bible says in John 8:36 “Whom the son hath set free is free indeed”

Today we are going to talk on the subject “Free Indeed”

PRAYER:-

SCRIPTURE:- John 8:31-36 “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. They answered him, We are Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed”.

There are 124 occurrences in the New Testament of the word doulos, which means “someone who belongs to another” or “bond-slave with no ownership rights of his own.” Unfortunately, most modern Bible versions, as well as the King James Version, most often translate doulos as “servant” or “bond-servant.” Which causes one to believe that the situation isn’t as serious as it really is. A servant is one who works for wages, and who, by virtue of his work, is owed something from his employer / master. A slave is not payed anything and if forced to work and perform duties against their will.

DEFINITION:- Freedom, generally, is having the ability to act or change without constraint. Something is "free" if it can change easily and is not constrained in its present state. A person has the freedom to do things that will not, in theory or in practice, be prevented by other forces.

Political & Economical freedom are important, but don't bring true freedom. Freedom of the will which philosophers discuss is also a form of freedom that we enjoy, yet it doesn't make one free indeed.

Free Indeed:- People claim political freedom, but are in reality are the subjects of Governmental rule. There are those that claim religious freedom, but they are slaves to Religion and Rituals. Some claim moral freedom but are in the bondage of sin. The freedom which Jesus proclaims is true freedom, for it was the freedom of true life delivered from the thralldom of sin and brought into atonement with God.

The word Free in scripture as defined from the original Greek text is this: unrestrained (to go at pleasure), i.e. (as a citizen) not a slave (whether freeborn or released from slavery), or (genitive case) exempt (from obligation or liability):—free (man, woman), at liberty.