True Freedom From Sin
Categories: Church of Christ Bulletin ArticlesA little over two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, General Gordon Granger and 2,000 federal troops rode into Galveston, Texas on June 19, 1865 and read General Order Number 3:
“The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free.”
Because Texas had been under Confederate control, the slaves did not know of their freedom from slavery. For the first time, slaves in Texas finally learned that they were free. Some were shocked and many others celebrated the momentous event. June 19 soon became known as “Juneteenth.”
Nearly twenty-five years after the Christian’s “Emancipation Proclamation” through the Lord’s sacrifice on the cross, Paul wrote to the Christians at Rome. Some of them still did not understand what it meant to be free from sin’s bondage. They thought they could go on sinning because they were under grace (Romans 6:1 – NKJV; Romans 6:15), so Paul reminded them of their status in Jesus by appealing to a familiar fact: Whatever we submit to becomes our master (John 8:34; Romans 6:16). When we commit sin, we immediately become a slave to sin.
Our only other option is to become a slave of righteousness (Romans 6:18). Salvation actually means a change of bondage (i.e., “bond-servant” – Colossians 1:7 NASB; Colossians 4:7 NASB) . We once served sin, but are now committed to living a righteous life because of the true freedom that Jesus provides (Romans 6:15-23).