"Ave Christus, morituri te salutamus!"
So who or what are you a slave to?
"Jesus answered them, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever',..." (John 8:34, 35a/NKJV))
I hope to re-post this once a month so anyone reading will understand my blog title and my purposes for creating this blog. So why hopefully Onesimus? Why such an odd name for a blogspot? For an explanation please see my first post - GET OUT OF THE SHACKLES! - WHY HOPEFULLY ONESIMUS? In that post I said Onesimus' situation is interesting and has a great deal of moral and ethical implications. I also said, "I can definitely identify with Onesimus...after all we are all slaves to something or someone...it's simply a matter of who or what." Those implications, the beauty of their parallels to Christianity, and why I can identify with Onesimus will be discussed in later posts. However, before I do any of these please allow me to explain the main purpose of this blog and particularly these posts, i.e. the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The bad news first - (In the Shackles of Sin)
Again I ask; who or what are you a slave to?
"Jesus answered them, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever',..." (John 8:34, 35a/NKJV))
You are not alone, the truth is we all have sinned and consequently will not get to be with God,
"...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,..." (Romans 3:23/NASB)
We are all are weighed down by those things which seperate us from God, continually bring spiritual death in our lives, and inevitably destine us to hell;
"For the wages of sin is death,..." (Romans 6:23/NASB)
Now the good news - (Get Out of the Shackles It's Time to G.O.)
God freely provided a way for us to be with Him;
"...but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23/NASB)
God loves us so much He sent His son Jesus to pay the price;
"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8/NASB)
God provided Someone who can and will set you free. All you have to do is turn to Him, acknowledge your need and ask Him to forgive you;
"...if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;..." (Romans 10:9/NASB)
Once we have turned to Christ, confessed our sins, and need for forgiveness to Him we have peace with God;
"Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,..." (Romans 5:1/NASB)
Once we have done so we have the ability (through Christ) to overcome sin in our lives
"For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace." (Romans 6:14/NASB)
Once we make the choice to follow Christ we are heirs with Him;
"Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God." (Galatians 4:7/NASB)
So, again I ask; who or what are you a slave to? I (and millions of others) know Someone who can set you free. If you truly want to be set free then all you have to do is turn to Him (Jesus).
"Jesus answered them, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever',..." (John 8:34, 35a/NKJV))
I hope to re-post this once a month so anyone reading will understand my blog title and my purposes for creating this blog. So why hopefully Onesimus? Why such an odd name for a blogspot? For an explanation please see my first post - GET OUT OF THE SHACKLES! - WHY HOPEFULLY ONESIMUS? In that post I said Onesimus' situation is interesting and has a great deal of moral and ethical implications. I also said, "I can definitely identify with Onesimus...after all we are all slaves to something or someone...it's simply a matter of who or what." Those implications, the beauty of their parallels to Christianity, and why I can identify with Onesimus will be discussed in later posts. However, before I do any of these please allow me to explain the main purpose of this blog and particularly these posts, i.e. the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The bad news first - (In the Shackles of Sin)
Again I ask; who or what are you a slave to?
"Jesus answered them, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever',..." (John 8:34, 35a/NKJV))
You are not alone, the truth is we all have sinned and consequently will not get to be with God,
"...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,..." (Romans 3:23/NASB)
We are all are weighed down by those things which seperate us from God, continually bring spiritual death in our lives, and inevitably destine us to hell;
"For the wages of sin is death,..." (Romans 6:23/NASB)
Now the good news - (Get Out of the Shackles It's Time to G.O.)
God freely provided a way for us to be with Him;
"...but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23/NASB)
God loves us so much He sent His son Jesus to pay the price;
"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8/NASB)
God provided Someone who can and will set you free. All you have to do is turn to Him, acknowledge your need and ask Him to forgive you;
"...if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;..." (Romans 10:9/NASB)
Once we have turned to Christ, confessed our sins, and need for forgiveness to Him we have peace with God;
"Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,..." (Romans 5:1/NASB)
Once we have done so we have the ability (through Christ) to overcome sin in our lives
"For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace." (Romans 6:14/NASB)
Once we make the choice to follow Christ we are heirs with Him;
"Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God." (Galatians 4:7/NASB)
So, again I ask; who or what are you a slave to? I (and millions of others) know Someone who can set you free. If you truly want to be set free then all you have to do is turn to Him (Jesus).
"Simul iustus et peccator"*
*Martin Luther
*Martin Luther
image source;
Get Out of the Shackles - wallpaper
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