Now you have been freed from sin and have become God’s slaves. This results in a holy life and, finally, in everlasting life.
Romans 6:22
Have you been freed from sin? Or are you still in bondage? If a sin still controls you, then you have your answer. You’re still a slave to something other than God.
When you are a slave to sin, you can’t get out from under its control, and the result, according to God’s Word, is death (see Rom. 6:23). But when you are a slave to God, the result is a holy, even everlasting life. See the difference? One pays you with death and the other pays with life. Jesus came to set the captives free, not to make them feel more comfortable while in captivity. The freedom he gives you is complete; it takes off the chains of sin and destroys its power over you. Does that mean you aren’t going to sin anymore? Nope, but it does mean that sin can’t be your master anymore (see Rom. 6:12–14). In other words, you might sin occasionally in an area you used to sin in, but you won’t keep giving in to its call day in and day out, because you have found salvation from sin, a way out of it.
The Israelites were set free from slavery to the Egyptians, but when things got tough in the desert they wanted their slavery back (see Exod. 14:12). They liked the control more than the faith that they needed to survive in the desert. Sometimes slavery is more appealing than trust. It’s definitely more familiar, and what’s familiar can seem easier, but slavery to anyone other than God is never really easy. That is a lie, because when you’re a slave to sin you’re out of control and out of God’s will.
Freedom can be yours when you realize that sin isn’t your master anymore and that Jesus came not to just send you to heaven but to free you from captivity to sin.