In this world many people are prisoners of sin. It controls their emotions, actions, and thoughts. It is a very self-serving master and promises all those under its control the sting of death. However, it doesn’t have to be this way because Christ will set you free, if you trust in His finished work on the cross.
—1 Corinthians 15:56 NKJV “The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.”
Law of Sin and Death
All humans are subject to the law of sin and death. Sin condemns us and controls us. Without Christ in our lives, we are servants to sin. Being servants to sin, we are doomed to face the ultimate consequences of sin — Death.
If we go to the grave without trusting in Christ for our salvation, we face eternal condemnation. Our wages for sin are both physical death and spiritual death. It sounds harsh but this is what we deserve and have earned by our pride and rebelling against the love of God.
—Romans 6:23 NKJV “For the wages of sin is death . . .
Law Pronounces us Guilty
We are left with no excuse for the law has exposed our corruption. The law highlights our sin and leaves us with no defense. As much as we try to present ourselves as worthy to God, we utterly fail to meet His standard of Holiness. The law has found us unworthy and has pronounced us guilty.
—Romans 3:19–20 NKJV “Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”
—Romans 5:12 NKJV “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—”
Who will Set us Free?
This is certainly a bleak outlook. Do we have any hope of breaking our bondage to sin? If we attempt by our own actions to break the chains of sin, the power of the law shines a light on our shortcomings.
The law demands perfection. Anything short of that condemns us to death and we just do not have the strength to overcome the power of sin. Are we doomed to live in the shadow of sin forever?
—Romans 7:24–25 NKJV “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!”
Christ will Set you Free!
Though we are powerless to free ourselves from the chains of sin, God in a tremendous act of love has provided a way to set us free from the reign of sin.
The Lord Jesus Christ in our behalf conquered sin for us. By conquering sin, He has provided victory for us. He has satisfied the requirements of the law and redeemed us from the curse of the law.
—1 Corinthians 15:57 NKJV “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
By trusting in Christ for our salvation we are trading a lie of our self-worthiness for the truth of Christ. For it is by the grace of God that Christ will set you free from the curse of sin.
It is this truth that has the power to change a hopelessly lost sinners into a saint. By trusting in Christ, believers are made members of God’s family. We are separated from sin and separated unto the Lord. We are given this lofty position by the grace of God and what He accomplished through Christ on the cross.
—Galatians 3:13 NKJV “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”),”
By Jesus Christs’ life, death, and resurrection, sin lost its power to all who have placed their faith in Christ. Believers have been declared righteous as Christ paid for our sins on the cross. All those who believe in Christ have won their freedom from the sting of death. Christ has set them free.
—Romans 8:2 NKJV “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.”
Free from the Power of Sin
Would you like to be free from the tyranny of sin and the sting of death? By accepting Christ as your savior God is offering you eternal life. Once you do, God will apply the substitutionary death of Christ to your account declaring you righteous through Christ’s merits.
By the blood of cross, the believer is redeemed. With this offer of salvation not only are all your sins forgiven but you are also freed from the guilt and power of sin. From the cross, Christ will set you free, paving the way for the believer to enjoy the riches of God’s grace.
—Ephesians 1:7 NKJV “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace”
—Ephesians 1:13–14 NKJV “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.”