There Is No ½ Bondage
4/21/17
Trying to serve two masters is a hard road to take, and one in truth points towards a single master. It is physically and spiritually impossible to adhere to two masters but this concept was important enough for us to be reminded throughout the entire Bible. Bondage is just that, bondage and if one is in bondage then one cannot be truly free. This means that one side serves and the other side binds, how come it is so difficult to figure this out? The only way we shall ever know true freedom is to be under God’s Ways and to willingly serve His Kingdom by living in His Word. God is calling us to drop the world and to return to His Ways so that we may still understand and know His will for our lives.
When I was a kid growing up in a few different places in this country, I often found myself being faced with an unusual shock when people would do certain rituals that I had no clue about. Some of these rituals were a bit strange to my thinking but many of them were acceptable and easily understood. When mentioned to my parents, I received a various degree of responses, but no matter what the response was to me they always had a good explanation as to why we either did or did not complete the same rituals as the others. In some cases when I told my friends that we did or did not partake in those ideas and practices I got some laughs against me and in others, not much was said and everything seemed to be ok. At that time, I had no idea that the world was after my heart and that through certain activities that people accepted contributed to such deviations against God, and while my little ears sang “Jesus Loves Me” and the concept that Jesus was different from the world, it was not until some years later that things began to make sense to me.
As I got older, I should have been a good little preacher’s kid and buried my heart into God’s Word and to learn more about what my father was teaching his congregation every time the doors opened at church, or while he and the family was eating dinner at a friend’s house, or just buying groceries for his family. But my heart was not willing enough to break away from what I believed was important and instead followed my wants and moved towards my friends and what they believed and wanted to do. Not knowing that I was not following through with the lessons I had learned when I was younger because the song “Jesus Loves Me” was still in my head but its truth and the reasons why it was the truth I chose not to pursue, which was exactly what the ruler of the world wanted me to do. We must keep in mind that Satan has only one job and that is to make sure that you and I are completely separated from God, period, end of story. And if we take a hard look at this pattern of our enemy, we are actually handing ourselves over to this separation voluntarily and proves that his job is running effectively in the courses of eternal positioning.
I remember doing some things that my parents did not approve of and when I was younger one of the more popular excuses to give was that “everyone is doing it”. Then they would immediately follow with “well if all of them were jumping off of a high bridge to their deaths would you do that as well?” Of course, my answer would be “no” but at that very moment and in my mind I did not see why my acceptance with my friends could not overrule the plans that we had made, just to have some fun. This was not just one isolated incident either for me and if we are truthful with the facts many of us would remember a similar situation from our past. I also must admit that in today’s society without God the answers to this parental question could be different and if so, really should not come as much of a surprise since this is the society we have chosen to accept. That is a hard statement but one that holds the truth since we have embraced a death society instead one of true eternal freedom.
At that time it was hard for me to comprehend why the fun things or the accepted things that my friends were doing could be considered dangerous or wrong. For the majority of my friends, their ways of thinking were almost identical with mine for most of us did not have too many worries about the bad side of the world. We had no idea that even though we did not wish to seek out danger that the world would provide us with all of it that we wanted if we were in the “right” place at the “right” time. It was this unknown curiosity that provokes many people into trying new materials in order to feel accepted into the community, group or even country and it through this same reasoning and tincture that our enemy lures us into accepting worldly standards. And it is through this process in which our enemy had already placed his foothold in the world, so much so that God had to define the true meaning of this world that would eventually lead to everyone having the opportunity to choose Him for eternal life. What I did not realize was that what I was living and portraying – even though it was fun at the time – was placing me into a state of bondage, even though I was claiming my freedom. See, freedom in God is totally different than freedom in the world and both kingdoms that are vying for your eternal position know this and shall do everything according to their legal grounds to accomplish this battle.
When one moves towards the world they are in a constant state of increasing bondage. This reinforces the reason that the entire Bible tries to encourage us to be separate from the world, for the two kingdoms that are vying for your eternity cannot mix in ANY form or shape. If you wish to place it into a percentage analogy then it goes something like this. If you are 20% of the world then you are 80% of the Kingdom of God. Now, this is a dangerous position to be in if you are even at 20% / 80% because that means that the world still has a hold of you and if you do not allow God to completely clean your heart from the world that percentage of 20% shall grow, not will grow, but shall grow. This is addressed when God says He cannot stand a lukewarm Church and since you are the Church, you can deduct the rest of the concept. But it is this example that God wants us to understand about bondage and freedom. The world and its leader has the same concept that God has for you but in a different direction, complete separation is the concept but it is what is to be separate from that matters to our eternity, see the world wants you to be separate from God and God wants you to be separate from the world. This means that our enemy wants you to be separate from the One being that can give you and still offers complete freedom from all evil. Freedom and bondage are complete opposites of each other, which means that in truth it is our responsibility to teach that God is the true freedom and Satan is the true slave master.
Galatians 5:1 hits this truth on the head when Paul writes the following: “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” This is a black and white verse that says so much about the definition of relationship versus religion and how these two states of being are directly related to God and to the world. From the first two words of this verse “Stand fast”, this verse is proclaiming that there is a side that we must take it also states that only one side can be taken for the Greek used here comes from the word “steko” which means “to stand, and more specifically to stand firm.” These two words alone in combination with the next few “therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free” gives us the definition that what He (God) offers is something completely different than what the world offers (slavery, bondage). This verse alone proves that there cannot be any fence sitters and that any concept of allowance of the world into our hearts is a lie! This verse also proves that any percentage of the world in our hearts and that it is acceptable to have such a percentage of the world existing in our hearts is a lie as well!
If we are not free, then we are in bondage. This nation was created so that men and women can worship God in the same manner in which He designed us to live, in complete freedom through His truth. “therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ made us free” is very specific because the Greek words that are used here are very specific. The word “liberty” comes from “eleutheria” which means freedom and this word is specific in context. Next, comes a specific person who is the subject of this freedom and the Greek word for Christ is “Christos” which means Anointed One. The verb “made us free” is the Greek verb “eleutheroo” which means to make free or exempt from liability. Free from what and why would Christ do such a thing is the question one should be asking here? If there is no reason for Paul to have made this statement then Christ’s life was cut short and what Paul was saying about bondage not true. When slavery was prominent in many lands one would never find a ½ of a slave, a person could not be both free and slave. This portion of Galatians 5:1 proclaims this truth and gives sole credit to Christ for accomplishing this freedom.
It is evident that slavery still rules in today’s society but it is more on a spiritual side than physical. Oh yes, there are still countless of slaves that people physically own today and that physically rule over but more importantly, spiritual slavery is running rampant and even being promoted. Most societies have lost the fact that this world can only offer slavery, it has also forgotten who runs this world and what his role is in our lives as well. From the beginning of God’s Word until the very last word God proclaims that the world is not your friend and if you succumb to its grasp you shall become a slave. God also provides a great escape plan that is ours for the choosing and all we have to do is accept Him and His Ways in order for us to receive His plan. He has given us the plan to read and to study on a daily basis, and the greatest part of this plan is that when we study His Word we will automatically get to know Him better at the same time.
God’s plan for us is to be separated from the world and to live under His protection under the blood that His Son shed for us. Adam and Eve understood this separation directly but gave it up because of disobedience. Israel gave this separation up to live as the others in the world did, the Jewish religious leaders gave it up due to their pride within the secular law, and you and I have given it up so that we may increase our lusts of self-pleasure, all in the name of worldly compromise. This inclusion with the world has infiltrated the Church as well and she is now profession a different God and a different Jesus than what the Bible talks about. What is more intriguing to me is that the Bible mentions in many passages that there will be false teachings and false witnesses that run around the world and yet we still fall for such lies when the Word of God says that they are coming and are here. This proves that even the Church does not know the Word of God, its own source of Light.
The last portion of Galatians 5:1 also gives us the consequences if we do not adhere to this truth about Christ when it states: “and be not entangled with the yoke of bondage.” It is this portion of Scripture that reveals what occurs if someone returns to the ways of bondage, which means one can return to this lifestyle. The word entangled that is used means to hold up in or to ensnare which is another way of saying being trapped into a certain belief. It is this word alone that sets the stage for what we can become entrapped with again and that is bondage or slavery. God in no way possible offers any kind of slavery to the people who choose His Ways but true freedom from the one who can offer only bondage and suffering. It is imperative that we understand that Satan controls this world and that he has no desire to make you happy and free but can only offer bondage and complete and eternal separation from God, a condition that is more hideous than our minds can imagine.
This type of bondage is described in the Greek as a yoke of slavery which means a person is bound by that setting, a slave to be auctioned off when their master tires of her or him and will not give one extra thought of what it means for their lives. People who are in yokes are bound to that master for as long as they are in that yoke. There can be nothing good from this type of living and if one falls for this lie physically and for some reason holds it dear to them then they shall endure this bondage and slavery for eternity. Church, why are you promoting this type of lie? How have we become so entangled with our own gratuity that we have allowed the enemy, even invited him in, into our lives with open arms? Physical slavery is bad enough why are we now promoting eternal slavery? God and His Ways are the ONLY way that we shall ever be free from this bondage, not through the world. Open your eyes people and figure out that what you are proclaiming is a lie and will influence others to walk into this same slavery just as many of the tribes did when they volunteered their relatives into physical slavery centuries ago.
There is no partial of ½ slavery that one can exist in it has to be all or nothing. The trap that Satan will tell you is that it is ok to do just one little bad thing or to sneak in a sin every once-in-a-while but even then you will be ok with God. It takes a heart of repentance to withstand (stand fast) the wiles of the devil and one that knows God’s Word well enough to recognize when attacks are coming and when the truth is being told or not told. It is the job of Satan to convince us that it is ok to live separated from God for nothing will occur to us because He is a good God. One shall not spend half their time in Heaven and the other in Hell; it is a permanent placement on either shore.
Adam and Eve must have believed this lie for if they did not then why was there any idea that they could get away with things and nothing occur? Disobedience and deception kill! If any church denomination preaches or teaches that the world is good for their lives, that disobedience shall kill and all they are doing is promoting slavery and leading others into eternal slavery. Church, turn your hearts back to God and get your eyes off of your comfort and begin to witness once again for God. Eternal slavery is real and it comes to thousands each day. Repent Church and prepare the way for the Kingdom of Freedom and stop serving the slavery kingdom.
DLB
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