Freedom is one of humanity’s most prized treasures. Yet every human being is born in captivity to sin. Jesus said anyone who commits sin is a slave to it (John 8:34). The only way to be set free is if the Lord releases you. Salvation that Jesus provides is permanent liberation.
Commentary from the In Touch devotional by Charles Stanley, February 3, 2023.
The word captive conjures up some very specific imagery. Usually, it includes a person wearing shackles or someone being thrown into a dark prison. But the truth is, we’re all captives to one thing or another. It could be something obvious like drugs or pornography, both of which do great harm and keep us from glorifying God with our bodies (1 Corinthians 6:18-20). However, there are thousands of things, many of them seemingly harmless, that keep us from the true freedom Jesus provides. (See Luke 4:18.) Perhaps you are captive to praise and suffer whenever you feel overlooked. Or it might be that you crave success and spend too much time striving for wealth or power. Yes, even good things like hard work and relationships can keep us in bondage if we’re not careful. But thankfully, Jesus came to set the captives free – all of us. Think about places in your life where you aren’t truly free. This will require some time spent in prayer and meditation-you can also use a journal if it helps. Figure out where you are being restrained, and ask God to help you shake off those bonds.
Commentary from the In Touch devotional by Charles Stanley, July 3, 2022.
And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. Ephesians 2:1-3
The only remaining repository where sin finds the believer vulnerable-the mortal body. The brain and its thinking processes are part of the body and thus tempt our souls with its sinful lusts (1 Corinthians 15:53; 1 Peter 2:9-11).
Commentary from the MacArthur study Bible, notes for Romans 6:12.
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