Author: ChristianHolinessDaily

A Slave No More

August 3, 2018 by ChristianHolinessDaily

The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed Several years ago, I wrote an unpublished novel based the true story of the Osage Nation and the missionaries and government agents who worked with them on the American Frontier during the Civil War. A scene in the book recounts the tale of a runaway slave. When caught, the slave’s master sends the slave away to a distant farm as punishment. The slave is convinced he will never again see his home or his family. As he is carried off, he cries for mercy, cries out to his wife and children, and is sure that he will never again see his home or his loved ones, but there is no hope for him. There is no one to rescue him.

We’re discussing bondage to sin and freedom from sin this week on Christian Holiness Daily.

The master’s son takes mercy on the slave and purchases him. Upon the slave’s return, the son grants him his freedom and tells him that he has also purchased the freedom of his family.

We learned yesterday that – according to the words of Christ as recorded in John 8:34 – everyone who practices sin is a slave to it.

The Son, though, has purchased our freedom – the Son of God – paid for with His own blood, His own death, and sealed with His resurrection. He has paid the price to set us free from the bondage of sin.

The story is not a perfect analogy, but take a look at the next two verses in John 8, verses 35and 36 (ESV):

The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed

If we are living as slaves to sin, it is because we have not accepted the gift that the Son is offering us, freedom from sin.

If you’re faith in Christ is not sufficient to believe that you can be free of the bonds of sin, do you think it is really sufficient to believe you can be free from the bonds of death?

We believe, God. We believe in the gift Jesus has given us. We believe the Son of God died to pay the price for our sins, that we may be free from sin and death. Lord, help us to believe.

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Holiness is, perhaps, the most misunderstood concept in Christianity. Anyone who has striven to follow the life of Christ can likely tell you that it is impossible to do. No one can match His love, His grace, or His compassion. For no one but Jesus is perfect. Once the believer is filled with and empowered by the Holy Spirit, though, he or she is filled to the brim with the love of Christ, and desires nothing more than to please God and follow in Christ’s steps. The love of sin is gone. In its place is a love and passion for others. That is Christian Holiness. This is Christian Holiness Daily.

Imprisoned by Sin

August 2, 2018 by ChristianHolinessDaily

I grew up on ’60s and ’70s television. I consider myself as knowledgeable as anyone about the subject. I figure I can win at JEOPARDY so long as every category deals with classic TV shows. I still watch those old programs today. I especially love the intelligent sitcoms of the era, like M*A*S*H, Mary Tyler Moore, and The Dick Van Dyke Show. One TV movie, though, broke my heart.

We are continuing our conversation on sin and freedom from sin, on Christian Holiness Daily…

The Morning After (1974 – ABC TV from the novel by Jack B. Weiner, adapted for TV by the legendary Richard Matheson) was an amazing movie, and the first one that presented alcoholism as a real problem, and not simply a comic prop. It is still shown today in rehab centers worldwide. It starred Dick Van Dyke as an alcoholic who could not admit he had a problem. Van Dyke, for those of you too young to remember, was everyone’s favorite TV husband, dad, chimney sweep, and funnyman. When he made The Morning After, no one could accept him – this wholesome TV comic – as an alcoholic. When it became known that he took the role because he closely identified with the character, no one could believe it. I, myself, was devastated, for I had admired the actor tremendously (rather, I admired the characters for which he was known).

The movie portrayed Van Dyke as a businessman who repeatedly drank to excess, picked himself up, promised to never repeat his actions, promised to live on the straight and narrow, and once again falls into the same routine. Get drunk. Hurt those you love. Sober up. Apologize. Stay on the straight and narrow for a few days. Get drunk again. Over and over and over again. From the outside, he looked okay, but those who knew him, saw his problem, and realized that every time he failed, he fell a little harder and a little farther into a black hole from which – someday – he would eventually never return.

Alcoholism, like sexual addiction, gluttony, and a myriad of other sins is just a vicious circle. Alcoholics feel like they are a slave to the drink; they cannot – of their own power – resist the temptation. Jesus characterizes sin well when he says, “Those who practice sin are slaves to it.” Likewise, those who are slaves to sin can do nothing but practice it. According to Jesus, in John 8:34, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. As one who struggled for decades with the same old sins, the same old temptations, the same old struggles, and as one who has rarely won a battle against temptation, I know what it is to be a slave to sin. It is like being bound hand and foot and chained to a chair, to be at the mercy of a diabolical master. It is like one of those movies where a maniacal bad guy threatens to kill the good guy’s family unless he does “exactly as I say.” Living as a slave to sin is watching your perfect Van Dyke-esque life shattering all around you and you can do nothing to stop it.

Only Christ can free us from the sin that imprisons us.

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Holiness is, perhaps, the most misunderstood concept in Christianity. Anyone who has striven to follow the life of Christ can likely tell you that it is impossible to do. No one can match His love, His grace, or His compassion. For no one but Jesus is perfect. Once the believer is filled with and empowered by the Holy Spirit, though, he or she is filled to the brim with the love of Christ, and desires nothing more than to please God and follow in Christ’s steps. The love of sin is gone. In its place is a love and passion for others. That is Christian Holiness. This is Christian Holiness Daily.

The Holy Spirit is Freedom

August 1, 2018 by ChristianHolinessDaily

I would suffocate, I thought. The jail cell was covered in plexiglass, not a single air hole in it. While suffocation was the last of my worries (I had betrayed and destroyed my marriage, turned my back on my kids, hurt my employer, and ruined my life), it is the one thing that is vivid in my memory about that day decades ago.

We are talking this week about bondage to sin and freedom from sin through the Holy Spirit on Christian Holiness Daily.

Of course, I did not suffocate. While the cell was stifling, I had an adequate supply of oxygen. I try not to think about such things when I look back on life, and, at the same time, I don’t want to forget them.

That cell, and the year that I spent locked up after that day, represent to me a life in bondage to sin. There was no humanly way to break free from that cell, just like there was no humanly way to break free from the sins that placed me inside it.

Yet, that year, while locked up, I discovered incredible freedom. I surrendered my life to Christ, learned to pray, and determined to pray continuously. I learned to love God so much that temptation withered away, unable to grow in the bright light of the Son.

Only years later, while sick with cancer, I experienced very much the same thing. It is when we are at our weakest that we are strongest because it is then that Christ fills us with the power of His perfect love.

Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 3:17 that the Lord is the Spirit. And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. If we ask Him to fill us with His Spirit, then we will be free from sin. Free indeed.

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Christian Holiness is, perhaps, the most misunderstood concept in Christianity. Anyone who has striven to follow the life of Christ can likely tell you that it is impossible to do. No one can match His love, His grace, or His compassion. For no one but Jesus is perfect. Once the believer is filled with and empowered by the Holy Spirit, though, he or she is filled to the brim with the love of Christ, and desires nothing more than to please God and follow in Christ’s steps. The love of sin is gone. In its place is a love and passion for others. That is Christian Holiness. This is Christian Holiness Daily.