If I Were A Slave: A Tribute To My Redeemer and Ancestors (5)

For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—  because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.  Romans 6:6-7


I want sinless perfection, on earth, right now.  I have been shunned for this desire, but I want it none the less.  Why is this?  Because sin is slavery.  How much slavery should I allow in my life?


If I were on a plantation, shouldn't my every waking our be devoted to liberation?  How much oppression is allowed in one's life?  Should an addict accept occasional addiction?  Is this even possible?






Jesus said, "those who sin are slaves of sin."  Sin slavery would be our word for addiction.  What do we encourage drug addicts to do?  Renounce drugs.  Quit drugs.  Right now.  A total stop.






Martin Luther King Jr. dealt with mindsets in his day where people wanted him to "be patient."  After all, things aren't going to change over night.  Give the racist white people "time" to "adjust" to desegregation. 






Time to adjust?  Time to get used to the idea of not lynching a black man for looking at a white woman?  Time to adjust to inequality? To adjust to the idea that black people are actually human beings?  Time to consider whether these individuals are really Americans with the right to vote?  How much time will this take? That's just the issue.  The minds of men and women are not subject to an objective time law.






The time is now to end slavery of sin.
All sin.
Every sin.






Because when we sin, every act of sin is an act of slavery, according to Jesus.  This means every time we sin, we choose that sin as our master, and we renounce Jesus as our Master for that moment of sin.




We need to ponder this.




What if the time comes where renouncing the name of Jesus will be a literal matter of life and death, like it was for the early church, and like it is for Christians in part of the world where accepting Jesus means certain death and persecution?  If we are so used to sinning, and the slavery of sin, that renouncing or master is a normal part of Christian life, what will happen when the stakes are raised? 




If we accept sin as normal to Christian life, then we accept what Jesus says about sin, "that when we sin we are slaves of sin."  This means we accept as normal Christian life to reject our true master and to accept sin as a master. We renounce his name. And one day, when the issue is death, we may do what we've been doing every day.


click here for part 6