“Don’t become idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and got up to party.”
1 Corinthians 10:7
A staple of modern cultures is the pre-marriage blowout. The basic idea is going out with friends for a final hooray to do all the fun things considered off-limits and taboo within the stifling context of marriage. There’s typically excessive drinking, bad choices, decreased inhibitions, paid performers, risqué entertainment, various symbols of human anatomy, and a “free pass” mentality: whatever happens is fine as long it gets squeezed in before the fateful “I do.”
Ironically, the outcomes of these celebratory “last night of freedom” blowouts often end in embarrassment, tragedy, and loss. Amid the drunken folly of impaired judgment—ugly words and diseases are often exchanged, property and relationships are often damaged or destroyed, and the glorious illusion of our desired “freedom” is exposed as a self-imposed prison.
The Apostle Paul lumped these kinds of behaviors into a particular category two thousand years ago, noting that “fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts… disgraceful passions… inflamed in their lust… filled with all unrighteousness, evil, greed, wickedness… envy, murder, quarrels, deceit, and malice… gossips, slanderers, God-haters, arrogant, proud, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, senseless, untrustworthy, unloving, and unmerciful… sexually immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, idolatry, manipulation, hatred, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions… drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar” all result from our being “dead in your trespasses and sins” because “In their case, the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”
Whether we believe in God or not doesn’t change reality. Claiming to be an agnostic or atheist doesn’t somehow alter the truth. The Bible reveals that the concept of autonomous freedom is a lie. As created beings, we are subject to all kinds of laws, limitations, and forces: oxygen, gravity, light, nutrition, hydration, aging, etc. In a very real sense, human beings are fragile and finite beings. As created beings rather than gods, we have no choice but to be slaves.
Our sinful rebellion against our Creator, Christ Jesus, doesn’t grant us freedom. In fact, the perilous folly of sin has quite the opposite effect. The wisdom of God is woven into the fabric of reality. When we violate that wisdom through our “fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts…” and “disgraceful passions…” we lose our social, economic, relational, and spiritual freedoms.
Choosing to rob a bank, rape, murder, traffic drugs, etc., are all options open to everyone. The fools who commit these kinds of crimes always suffer consequences. Those who are not apprehended by the authorities are often shackled with guilt and forced to live in prisons of fear as fugitives. Those who are apprehended typically spend years, decades, or the rest of their lives in actual prisons. Similarly, liars, cheaters, adulterers, fornicators, the sexually immoral, those who embrace “alternative” lifestyles, gossips, slanders, drunkards, etc., create their own prisons. As Paul wrote in Romans 1:32, “Although they know God’s just sentence—that those who practice such things deserve to die—they not only do them, but even applaud others who practice them.”
We read the following in John’s Gospel account, “As Jesus spoke these things, many believed in Him. So He said to the Jews who had believed Him, ‘If you continue in My word, you are truly My disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’” The religious leaders responded, “We are Abraham’s descendants. We have never been slaves to anyone. How can You say we will be set free?” King Jesus responded, “Truly, truly, I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin… You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out his desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, refusing to uphold the truth, because there is no truth in him.” The religious leaders responded, “We are not illegitimate children. Our only Father is God Himself.” So Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on My own, but He sent Me.”
King Jesus, the eternal Son of God, in no uncertain terms, revealed we are all children of wrath by default. Ironically, we verify that very judgment by rejecting it. God made that declaration out of love, not spite. Through His incarnation, King Jesus came to proclaim the Gospel: “The Spirit of the Lord is on Me because He has anointed Me to preach Good News to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed…” His sacrificial death on the Cross wasn’t forced upon Him by the Romans or the Jewish leaders. Instead, Scripture reveals that God, in His omniscience, knew precisely how the story would unfold before it began (Rev 13:8). God knew that humanity would reject Him as their Creator and King. Jesus, God the Son, knew He would be murdered and supernaturally turned our contemptuous hate crime into the perfect, gracious, and exclusive sacrifice for our sins.
Satan, the Devil, the “father of lies,” wants us to believe that true freedom is discovered in a life without limits or boundaries. Giving in to his lies invariably limits our freedoms and unavoidably compounds the weight of our guilt and shame. Succumbing to his deceptions only serves to pull us deeper and deeper into the darkest recesses of our sin-prison. Contrastingly, King Jesus has demonstrated His inexplicable, extravagant, and unstoppable love through the glorious revelation of His creation, incarnation, baptism, crucifixion, and resurrection. While the Devil spews only lies, we can have absolute faith in Christ Jesus who said, “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
Alcoholics are slaves to booze. Nymphomaniacs are slaves to sex. The covetous are slaves to greed. The glutton, anorexic, and bulimic are slaves to food. The insecure are slaves to their insecurities. Liars are slaves to their lies. The bitter, angry, fearful, and worried are slaves to their circumstances. We’re all slaves to something, or, more accurately, to someone.
The 80s & 90s pop icon George Michael wrote and recorded a hit song titled Freedom. In the lyrics, Michael talks about how the dream of becoming a star devoured his soul. He articulates how the allure of fame is ultimately hollow and he desperately desired to experience true freedom. Therefore, in the lyrics, he decides to “take these lies and make them true somehow.” Despite having achieved and acquired virtually everything the world and its ruler (Satan) promises will make us truly free and happy, in the end, George Michael died a lonely, insecure, and reclusive drug addict. All the freedom he strived for apart from God became his very real and nightmarish prison.
We’re all slaves to something. For many, they are unwitting slaves to Satan through their appetites and insecurities. As the Apostle Paul stated in Romans 6:16, “Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to submit to? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living.” Moses' successor Joshua declared approximately three thousand years ago, “...if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve… But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
Which will you choose?
Blessings and love,
Kevin M. Kelley
Check out a free preview of my children’s book >HERE<
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