You are probably familiar by now with that story of the young, rich ruler who came to Jesus expressing a desire for ‘eternal life’. (Matt. 19). Jesus was willing to offer it to him, as He is for all who turn and come to Him with all their heart. (John 5:39-40). But make no mistake about it, He will test your heart as He already knows what’s in it, just as He did with that young wealthy man. The problem with him was he was not prepared to ‘surrender all’, as we like to sing so passionately in our ‘worship’ services. So the young man turned and walked away and missed out on the abundant life Jesus came to offer. (Matt. 19:20-22; John 10:10).

You might conclude that while he ‘said with his lips’ that he wanted this eternal life, there was something else his heart wanted more.

The same could be said about many in the ‘church’ today. They ‘honor God with their lips’, but their hearts are elsewhere. (Mark 7 :6-8). They have a ‘form of godliness... but deny the power’. (2 Tim. 3:5). Have you ever stopped to consider what Paul was talking about there in his 2nd letter to Timothy? He described ‘perilous times in the last days’ (vs. 1-4) where people seemed to be continuing in sin, walking in the lusts of the flesh, yet had an outward ‘form’ of being godly, but were void of this ‘miraculous’ power that was available.

And what exactly is this supernatural ‘power’ available to us able to do? How about setting us free from sin, for starters? You do realize that the majority in the ‘church’ world today have a hard time believing what God’s word says about this, yes?

Romans 6 has much to say about this freedom to those who were actually ‘baptized in to Christ’s death’. Paul writes, saying that we ‘were’ (past tense) ‘slaves of sin’ (17)...but “having been set free from sin, we became slaves of righteousness’. (18). This falls right in line with what Jesus said in John 8:34: “Most assuredly, I say unto you – whoever commits sin is a slave to sin, and a slave does not abide in the house forever”. Did you see that? Anyone who commits sin is a ‘slave’. There is no * in my Bible next to that verse that adds ‘unless you accepted Christ and joined a church’.

Those who are actually ‘abiding in Jesus’ no longer continue to practice sin. (1 John 3:6)

“He who sins is of the devil”...so be not deceived. (1 John 3:7-9)

So here’s the $64,000 dollar question we need to address: “IF...we have truly be ‘set free’ from sin, then why...do so many continue to ...sin?

You can tell yourself all day long, and others, how ‘imperfect’ we all our and will always ‘fall short’. But Jesus said we would ‘know the truth and the truth would set us free’. (John 8:32-36). So if we truly are ‘free’, as Paul said we were in Romans 6, even asking : “How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” (2)...is it possible that maybe we continue to sin because that is what we ‘want’ to do? Isn’t that what Jesus told one church group in John 8:44?

Now...go take a look at Hebrews 10:26-31 and see if that doesn’t make you sit up and consider how serious this really begins to look.

Tomorrow, Lord willing, I will share with you where I believe so many were led astray by erroneous teachings and it just might clear up some confusion...and even lead to some folks walking in the freedom that was purchased for them...by Jesus when He died on the cross.