Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
Whoever practices sin is the slave of sin. It was spoken to Pharisees who boasted that as Abraham's seed they had never been in bondage, yet their unbelief, malice, desire for revenge, and intent to kill One who told them God's truth showed they were ruled by evil and were not doing Abraham's works, while unlike the servant who does not remain in the house forever, the Son remains forever and alone can make people truly free. That bondage is subjection to Satan as a cruel tyrant and prince of darkness, so that the soul that refuses to give itself to God is not its own but is under another power and control while flattering itself that it follows its own judgment. The slavery deepens step by step as indulged appetites, passions and evil tendencies gain control, weaken self-government, blind judgment, darken understanding, pervert affections, deprave the will, turn the mind from God, and bind the person in chains hard to break, with the carnal mind separated from truth resisting God's will and hostile to His law. True freedom is found only in Christ, in the truth and in the Spirit, by continuing in His word and walking in the light given, and the bondage is broken without compulsion as the sinner repents, turns from sin, welcomes Jesus into the heart, places the will on the Lord's side by faith, and cooperates with the Holy Spirit whose divine energy gives strength to resist temptation, obey God, and be restored to true liberty, dignity and purity.
Setting and Meaning
Whosoever commits sin is the slave or servant of sin, enslaved to sin and placed in spiritual bondage. Freedom from that bondage comes only through the Son, who alone abides in the household forever, while the servant does not abide in the house forever, and who alone can make people truly free. That freedom is life in Christ, where the Spirit frees from sin and death and enables fulfillment of the law's righteousness by walking according to the Spirit. Continuing in Christ's word makes true disciples who know the truth, and the truth and the Son make them free indeed.
The saying was spoken to Pharisees who boasted that as Abraham's seed and descendants they had never been in bondage to anyone. Those in this bondage boast freedom while hearing the word of truth yet hating the message and the messenger because the truth disturbs them in their deceptive practices.
It exposes them as being in the worst bondage and the worst kind of bondage, ruled by the spirit of evil. They were slaves of unbelief and bitter malice, ruled by unbelief, malice and the spirit of evil, with thoughts bent on revenge. Their desire and intent to kill Jesus, who spoke God's truth and truth given Him by God, showed they were not living in obedience to God nor following Abraham's example, and seeking to kill such a one is not doing the works of Abraham nor living as true children of Abraham.
Nature of Sin's Slavery
To commit sin is to be enslaved to sin, and that slavery is subjection to Satan, the most cruel of all tyrants and the prince of darkness. Every soul that refuses to give itself to God comes under the control of another power and is not its own, placed under Satan's training and direction. Such a person may talk of freedom and independence and flatter himself that he follows his own judgment, while in fact he is in the most abject bondage, obeying the will of the prince of darkness, with impulses and passions under Satan's control and the mind hindered from seeing the beauty of truth. To treat God's claims with indifference or contempt is therefore not liberty, for by sinning the person remains in bondage to sin and Satan. Even a claim to be God's child does not make a person free from that slavery while sinful traits remain, and without Christ and His Spirit people continue as slaves of sin and Satan.
Churches that set aside God's law through human speculations remain in sin's bondage even while claiming to be free. To violate or resist or disregard God's law does not bring true freedom, peace, or restoration. Those who drift toward the world and serve the enemy, even while claiming to serve God, become willing slaves to Satan. Permission to sin is bondage, not liberty.
The slavery deepens step by step as repeatedly exercised appetites, passions, and evil tendencies gain control over the higher powers. Sensual and sinful indulgence weakens self-government and the faculties, makes the soul subject to corrupt passion, quenches the desire for holiness, and withers spiritual life. Judgment is blinded, the understanding is darkened, the affections are perverted, the will is depraved, and the powers are weakened and turned from God until evil tendencies strengthened instead of subdued finally bind the person fast. What may begin as a downward course of appetite and habit gains power until a person sacrifices what matters and is held by chains difficult to break, drawn deeper into sin. Through faith a person can place the will on the Lord's side and gain control over such appetite, and God alone can help and strengthen those who yield themselves to God and bring their burdens to Jesus.
This dominion of a ruling passion holding the will in selfish or lustful indulgence can take many forms. It appears as selfishness, appetite, lust, ambition, envy, jealousy, and pride, and as prejudice and an evil spirit retained while claiming to be God's children. It appears also as acquired cravings for tobacco and stimulating drinks. It appears as indulgences such as the use of wine or cider and wine drinking and card playing, which become powerful habits that draw people step by step deeper into sin.
Sin can triumph only by enfeebling the mind and destroying the liberty of the soul. Separated from the source of truth, human nature resists God's will, and the carnal mind is hostile to God and not subject to His law. Under Satan's rule as the first great rebel whom man chooses to follow, the understanding is darkened, the affections are perverted, and the will is depraved. Even with the Word of God and the knowledge of Christ and the example of His pure and holy life sent as the true pattern of what humanity may be, the one who turns away from light and knowledge to gratify perverted, sinful appetite will not turn to be converted. As he sows so he reaps, sowing and reaping corruption, and without change the impenitent sinner cannot be fitted for the holy society of heaven.
Freedom Through Christ
Christ came to break the shackles of sin-slavery from the soul and deliver those held in its bondage by giving His life as a ransom, so that without His sacrifice every child of Adam would remain bound, but through Him they can be lifted to a higher plane and brought into connection with heaven's light. That deliverance was the object of His mission, set forth in His few years of labor among the Jews to lay the foundation for His disciples. The work was not to end with His ascension to heaven but to be carried forward generation after generation by His witnesses, going to those outside with the message of a Saviour's love, with greater power as He and His Father work together to do greater things for His people. By His power He rescues people from sin's slavery and makes them free.
True freedom is found only in Christ, in the truth and in the Spirit, for the Son alone abides in the household forever and can make people truly free, while the servant does not. Continuing in His word makes true disciples who know the truth, and the truth and the Son make them free indeed. That freedom comes by receiving and obeying God's word and walking in the light given to each person, and by walking according to the Spirit who frees from sin and death and enables fulfillment of the law's righteousness. The truth of God, received with repentance and through His grace, makes the impenitent free indeed from worldly principles and the bondage that holds them.
The bondage of sinful habits is broken as people repent and are converted, trust God's promise to forgive their sins, and turn from sinful indulgences and Satan's devisings. Freedom comes when the church and the individual refuse the evil and choose the good, seek God with all humility of mind, reach the high calling in Christ, stand on the platform of eternal truth, and by faith lay hold upon the attainments prepared. The slave to sin must turn from sin and welcome Jesus to take possession of the heart, for Jesus does not share it with Satan, and must make determined effort in Jesus' strength. Trusting faith in Jesus and the aid of God's grace give strength to resist temptation and put sin away, so that without that faith resolutions and watchfulness fail and people may despair of ever being free, but through Christ's might they can overcome, and God will not allow them to be tempted beyond what they can bear. Through the Holy Spirit and divine grace the mind's fetters can be broken and the heart purified by faith that works through love.
The only condition for freedom is becoming one with Christ, who is the truth that makes free. It requires seeking God with humility, placing the will on the Lord's side by faith to gain control over ruling appetite and passion, and breaking with Satan and turning from his devisings, for no one can be free while continuing in that course. Though a person has no power to free himself from Satan's control, when he desires freedom and cries for power out of and above himself the Holy Spirit imbues the powers of the soul with divine energy to fulfill God's will. God calls people to serve Him and thereby offers freedom, for obedience to God releases them from sin's power and from bondage to human passion and impulse, and from selfish desires whose impulses and passions are under Satan's control. A ruling passion holding the will in selfish or lustful indulgence and exercising dominion, whether selfishness, appetite, lust, ambition, envy, jealousy, pride, or acquired cravings for tobacco or stimulating drinks, is thus mastered when the will is yielded to the Lord.
In redemption there is no compulsion and no external force, for under the Spirit of God man is left free to choose whom he will serve, and the expulsion of sin is the act of the soul itself in the highest sense of freedom. Sin can triumph only by enfeebling the mind and destroying the liberty of the soul, while subjection to God restores a person to himself and to true glory and dignity, and the divine law to which he is brought into subjection is liberty. God's grace gives strength to resist temptation and put sin away, obedience releases from sin's power, and permission to sin cannot bring true freedom, peace, or restoration, for the truth from heaven is not a yoke of bondage but Christ brings forgiveness and restores the soul. Through Christ the bound are lifted and enlightened in connection with heaven's light.
Those made free share the liberty of God's children. Under the Holy Spirit's work spiritual life revives, vice disappears, and the mind is enlightened, its fetters broken and the heart purified by faith working through love. The transformed soul, with Christ put on and His Spirit dwelling within, does not despise anyone Christ purchased with His blood, and a mere claim to be God's child does not make a person free while prejudice, sinful passions, and an evil spirit remain. When freedom is found the church is healed and appears in her God-given simplicity and purity, separate from earthly entanglements, showing that the truth has made her free indeed, and the men and women composing her are the chosen of God, His pleasant portion, His representatives, precious in His sight.
Whoever practices sin is the slave of sin. It was spoken to Pharisees who boasted that as Abraham's seed they had never been in bondage, yet their unbelief, malice, desire for revenge, and intent to kill One who told them God's truth showed they were ruled by evil and were not doing Abraham's works, while unlike the servant who does not remain in the house forever, the Son remains forever and alone can make people truly free. That bondage is subjection to Satan as a cruel tyrant and prince of darkness, so that the soul that refuses to give itself to God is not its own but is under another power and control while flattering itself that it follows its own judgment. The slavery deepens step by step as indulged appetites, passions and evil tendencies gain control, weaken self-government, blind judgment, darken understanding, pervert affections, deprave the will, turn the mind from God, and bind the person in chains hard to break, with the carnal mind separated from truth resisting God's will and hostile to His law. True freedom is found only in Christ, in the truth and in the Spirit, by continuing in His word and walking in the light given, and the bondage is broken without compulsion as the sinner repents, turns from sin, welcomes Jesus into the heart, places the will on the Lord's side by faith, and cooperates with the Holy Spirit whose divine energy gives strength to resist temptation, obey God, and be restored to true liberty, dignity and purity.
Setting and Meaning
Whosoever commits sin is the slave or servant of sin, enslaved to sin and placed in spiritual bondage. Freedom from that bondage comes only through the Son, who alone abides in the household forever, while the servant does not abide in the house forever, and who alone can make people truly free. That freedom is life in Christ, where the Spirit frees from sin and death and enables fulfillment of the law's righteousness by walking according to the Spirit. Continuing in Christ's word makes true disciples who know the truth, and the truth and the Son make them free indeed.
The saying was spoken to Pharisees who boasted that as Abraham's seed and descendants they had never been in bondage to anyone. Those in this bondage boast freedom while hearing the word of truth yet hating the message and the messenger because the truth disturbs them in their deceptive practices.
It exposes them as being in the worst bondage and the worst kind of bondage, ruled by the spirit of evil. They were slaves of unbelief and bitter malice, ruled by unbelief, malice and the spirit of evil, with thoughts bent on revenge. Their desire and intent to kill Jesus, who spoke God's truth and truth given Him by God, showed they were not living in obedience to God nor following Abraham's example, and seeking to kill such a one is not doing the works of Abraham nor living as true children of Abraham.
Nature of Sin's Slavery
To commit sin is to be enslaved to sin, and that slavery is subjection to Satan, the most cruel of all tyrants and the prince of darkness. Every soul that refuses to give itself to God comes under the control of another power and is not its own, placed under Satan's training and direction. Such a person may talk of freedom and independence and flatter himself that he follows his own judgment, while in fact he is in the most abject bondage, obeying the will of the prince of darkness, with impulses and passions under Satan's control and the mind hindered from seeing the beauty of truth. To treat God's claims with indifference or contempt is therefore not liberty, for by sinning the person remains in bondage to sin and Satan. Even a claim to be God's child does not make a person free from that slavery while sinful traits remain, and without Christ and His Spirit people continue as slaves of sin and Satan.
Churches that set aside God's law through human speculations remain in sin's bondage even while claiming to be free. To violate or resist or disregard God's law does not bring true freedom, peace, or restoration. Those who drift toward the world and serve the enemy, even while claiming to serve God, become willing slaves to Satan. Permission to sin is bondage, not liberty.
The slavery deepens step by step as repeatedly exercised appetites, passions, and evil tendencies gain control over the higher powers. Sensual and sinful indulgence weakens self-government and the faculties, makes the soul subject to corrupt passion, quenches the desire for holiness, and withers spiritual life. Judgment is blinded, the understanding is darkened, the affections are perverted, the will is depraved, and the powers are weakened and turned from God until evil tendencies strengthened instead of subdued finally bind the person fast. What may begin as a downward course of appetite and habit gains power until a person sacrifices what matters and is held by chains difficult to break, drawn deeper into sin. Through faith a person can place the will on the Lord's side and gain control over such appetite, and God alone can help and strengthen those who yield themselves to God and bring their burdens to Jesus.
This dominion of a ruling passion holding the will in selfish or lustful indulgence can take many forms. It appears as selfishness, appetite, lust, ambition, envy, jealousy, and pride, and as prejudice and an evil spirit retained while claiming to be God's children. It appears also as acquired cravings for tobacco and stimulating drinks. It appears as indulgences such as the use of wine or cider and wine drinking and card playing, which become powerful habits that draw people step by step deeper into sin.
Sin can triumph only by enfeebling the mind and destroying the liberty of the soul. Separated from the source of truth, human nature resists God's will, and the carnal mind is hostile to God and not subject to His law. Under Satan's rule as the first great rebel whom man chooses to follow, the understanding is darkened, the affections are perverted, and the will is depraved. Even with the Word of God and the knowledge of Christ and the example of His pure and holy life sent as the true pattern of what humanity may be, the one who turns away from light and knowledge to gratify perverted, sinful appetite will not turn to be converted. As he sows so he reaps, sowing and reaping corruption, and without change the impenitent sinner cannot be fitted for the holy society of heaven.
Freedom Through Christ
Christ came to break the shackles of sin-slavery from the soul and deliver those held in its bondage by giving His life as a ransom, so that without His sacrifice every child of Adam would remain bound, but through Him they can be lifted to a higher plane and brought into connection with heaven's light. That deliverance was the object of His mission, set forth in His few years of labor among the Jews to lay the foundation for His disciples. The work was not to end with His ascension to heaven but to be carried forward generation after generation by His witnesses, going to those outside with the message of a Saviour's love, with greater power as He and His Father work together to do greater things for His people. By His power He rescues people from sin's slavery and makes them free.
True freedom is found only in Christ, in the truth and in the Spirit, for the Son alone abides in the household forever and can make people truly free, while the servant does not. Continuing in His word makes true disciples who know the truth, and the truth and the Son make them free indeed. That freedom comes by receiving and obeying God's word and walking in the light given to each person, and by walking according to the Spirit who frees from sin and death and enables fulfillment of the law's righteousness. The truth of God, received with repentance and through His grace, makes the impenitent free indeed from worldly principles and the bondage that holds them.
The bondage of sinful habits is broken as people repent and are converted, trust God's promise to forgive their sins, and turn from sinful indulgences and Satan's devisings. Freedom comes when the church and the individual refuse the evil and choose the good, seek God with all humility of mind, reach the high calling in Christ, stand on the platform of eternal truth, and by faith lay hold upon the attainments prepared. The slave to sin must turn from sin and welcome Jesus to take possession of the heart, for Jesus does not share it with Satan, and must make determined effort in Jesus' strength. Trusting faith in Jesus and the aid of God's grace give strength to resist temptation and put sin away, so that without that faith resolutions and watchfulness fail and people may despair of ever being free, but through Christ's might they can overcome, and God will not allow them to be tempted beyond what they can bear. Through the Holy Spirit and divine grace the mind's fetters can be broken and the heart purified by faith that works through love.
The only condition for freedom is becoming one with Christ, who is the truth that makes free. It requires seeking God with humility, placing the will on the Lord's side by faith to gain control over ruling appetite and passion, and breaking with Satan and turning from his devisings, for no one can be free while continuing in that course. Though a person has no power to free himself from Satan's control, when he desires freedom and cries for power out of and above himself the Holy Spirit imbues the powers of the soul with divine energy to fulfill God's will. God calls people to serve Him and thereby offers freedom, for obedience to God releases them from sin's power and from bondage to human passion and impulse, and from selfish desires whose impulses and passions are under Satan's control. A ruling passion holding the will in selfish or lustful indulgence and exercising dominion, whether selfishness, appetite, lust, ambition, envy, jealousy, pride, or acquired cravings for tobacco or stimulating drinks, is thus mastered when the will is yielded to the Lord.
In redemption there is no compulsion and no external force, for under the Spirit of God man is left free to choose whom he will serve, and the expulsion of sin is the act of the soul itself in the highest sense of freedom. Sin can triumph only by enfeebling the mind and destroying the liberty of the soul, while subjection to God restores a person to himself and to true glory and dignity, and the divine law to which he is brought into subjection is liberty. God's grace gives strength to resist temptation and put sin away, obedience releases from sin's power, and permission to sin cannot bring true freedom, peace, or restoration, for the truth from heaven is not a yoke of bondage but Christ brings forgiveness and restores the soul. Through Christ the bound are lifted and enlightened in connection with heaven's light.
Those made free share the liberty of God's children. Under the Holy Spirit's work spiritual life revives, vice disappears, and the mind is enlightened, its fetters broken and the heart purified by faith working through love. The transformed soul, with Christ put on and His Spirit dwelling within, does not despise anyone Christ purchased with His blood, and a mere claim to be God's child does not make a person free while prejudice, sinful passions, and an evil spirit remain. When freedom is found the church is healed and appears in her God-given simplicity and purity, separate from earthly entanglements, showing that the truth has made her free indeed, and the men and women composing her are the chosen of God, His pleasant portion, His representatives, precious in His sight.