PROCLAIM LIBERTY

“Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (John 8:34-36).

Emancipate is defined as, “to free from restraint, control, or power of another especially: to free from bondage”. The greatest emancipation event took place almost 2,000 years ago when Christ went to the cross for you, me, and the world (1 John 2:1-2; John 1:29; Heb. 9:26). When one responds to the Gospel and is buried with Christ into death via baptism, the old man is crucified destroying the body of sin and thus the enslavement (Rom. 6:1-7). Sadly, slavery to sin is still very prevalent in society but this is nothing new (cf. Gal. 1:4; 1 John 5:19; Matt. 7:13, 22-23).

We should always have in our minds the high cost of slavery to sin but also the great value of the riches of Christ (Rom. 6:21-23; Rom. 11:33; Eph. 1:7). This should be a great motivation to exhort others to come to Christ in loving obedience to be free from the shackles of sin. Such is possible and must be preached (John 8:31-32; Rom. 1:14-17). Let us be those that proclaim liberty throughout the land through the Gospel (Lev. 25:10; Luke 4:14-21)!

Trent Thrasher