Free at Last | Romans 6:6-14 | J. Allen Mashburn

Imagine a man who was born into slavery. He is raised as a slave, trained as a slave. All he knows is slavery. Now, imagine that one day this slave is sold at the slave auction. He is bought by a kind man who immediately hands to the slave papers that declare him to be a free man. Imagine that slave rejoicing in his freedom. He runs through the crowd waving those papers in the air and he shouts, "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God I am free at last!" The man who brought him to the auction to sell him sees all this and starts to leave, and immediately the former slave falls in behind him. The former owner looks around and says, "Man, you're free! You don't have to work for me any longer!" The slave answers and says, "I know the paper says that I am free, but all I know is how to do is to be a slave. I am going to follow you and continue to work for you." The former owner gladly accepts the offer, but the freed slave has done a foolish thing.

We hear a story like that and say, "That would never happen! Why, a slave who was freed would never return to slavery!" I want you to know that it happens all the time! You see, the Lord Jesus promised freedom to all those who would follow Him, John 8:32; 36. However, there are many who have received Jesus as their Savior, who still live in the bondage of their sins. Like the slave in the story, they hold in their hands their emancipation papers, but in their lives, they still live like they are slaves.

For those who still feel like they are trapped in their sins, this passage offers help this evening. For Christians to be free from the power of sin, they need to understand a few fundamental truths. Notice the word "knowing" on verse 6. This is a word that means "to know by personal experience." To be free, there are some things that we need to know for sure!