It is impossible for a man to
be free if he does not understand what it is that has him bound.
Many men have spent years in prison and having been released
ultimately wound up right back in prison. While they were in prison, they
were convinced that those walls were what had them bound, and
if they could get out of the bondage of that cell, then they
could really be free. Yet soon they demonstrate that
it is not the walls of the prison that form the bounds of their
habitation, but rather the very habits and behavior which got
them incarcerated in the first place. Liberty is a state which
is desired by all men. Yet multitudes of those who inhabit
the earth will never enjoy true liberty because they cannot identify
what it is that has them bound. And even when they do, they have
no power to cast off their captor or enter into freedom. Every
schoolboy and girl who has studied American history has been taught
that prior to the signing of the Declaration of Independence,
Patrick Henry is purported to have said, I know not what course
others may take, But as for me, give me liberty or give me death. Many have striven with other
men over the years in a quest to be free from various kinds
of tyranny imposed by those who have power, but not one of them
have in this fashion ever gained one day of true liberty. It is
sheer folly for those who claim to be preachers of the gospel.
to counsel men that they can enjoy freedom by taking up arms
and engaging in carnal warfare with other men. Such freedom
is fleeting at best, and given the course of time and the natural
bid of men, all carnal governments are destined to fall, and the
liberty so desperately sought and paid for by the blood of
patriots overturned in time, and those who thought themselves
to be free find themselves bound at the last. Paul writes to the
Romans about a glorious liberty which is enjoyed by those who
are called the children of God. It is interesting that most men
would express a belief that all mankind are the children of God. Yet Paul here speaks of a group
of people who are set apart from the rank and file of mankind
and identified particularly by this description. Many consider
that sin is the captor of the creature. The reality is that
the captor is this corruptible body. The Lord Jesus Christ was
made in the likeness of sinful flesh, being born of a woman
and taking on the same form as all other creatures with one
exception. He was completely incorruptible,
born of virgin birth so that he was tempted in all points
as we are, yet was never inclined towards sin, nor did he ever
entertain any thought of deceit or guile. Though sin is indeed
our stumbling block, our corruptible and corrupted bodies continually
embrace sin. The same One who subjected the
creature under vanity is He who also ordained the glorious liberty
of the children of God. He did not do this upon a whim,
but rather to magnify the glory of His grace. He did not subject
the creature under bondage as an end in itself, but rather
that He might also give them hope. This hope is not in itself
the glorious liberty of the children of God, but it is the precursor
or pledge of it which is given to those sons when they are granted
faith to believe the gospel of the glory of the blessed God. Thus the scripture speaks of
this hope as the salvation of those privileged sons, for we
are saved by hope. Thus we find that those who are
granted this precious hope are yet in a corruptible state, and
thereby groan and travail within themselves as they await a complete
deliverance from that which holds them captive. The glorious liberty
of which Paul says the sons of God wait for is a change of this
body in which they dwell presently into an incorruptible one, such
as is occupied by their Lord Jesus Christ. The day is coming
when we shall be changed. and corruption shall put on incorruption,
and the true freedom of the sons of God shall be made manifest. We do with patience wait for
it, saying, Even so come, Lord Jesus.