Watch the video here. You can download the slides for the video series from the download section of this web site.
[00:00:06.090] – Bill English
And welcome back. I’m Bill English, the publisher here at Bible and Business. I am teaching my way through my book a Christian Theology of Business Ownership an Introduction for Christian Entrepreneurs on what the Bible says about owning a business. Today I am in the third part of an eight-part series on becoming free from the bondage of sin, which is really chapter two in my book. Today we’re going to look at how freedom is available through the transforming power of the Holy Spirit.
[00:00:38.640] – Bill English
And we’re going to look at how that freedom can be ours. But before we get started today, what I’d like to do is just invite you to go over to Bibleandbusiness.com, visit the site, download the slides for this video series in PDF format if you’d like. You can also read articles and listen to podcasts, participate in our surveys, and also register for my online CEO owner group. It’s free of charge, happen every six weeks on a Saturday morning. I invite you to check that out.
[00:01:11.740] – Bill English
My overall theme for today involves some really good news. And it is this that when we enter into a covenant relationship with Jesus Christ, as I’ve talked about in past videos, he transforms us by giving us a new nature. Freedom from the bondage of sin is available to us so that we no longer need to live in bondage to persistent sin. We can be free of it. You can be free, and so can I.
[00:01:40.610] – Bill English
Let’s look at some passages from the Bible that talk about this. Isaiah 61, verse one. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. Isaiah said, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted, he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners. This is what Isaiah was anointed to do was to tell us that we can find freedom if we’re in bondage to sin.
[00:02:11.210] – Bill English
Let’s look at Colossians 1:13 and 14. For he has rescued us. And who is he, by the way? Here. It’s Jesus Christ.
[00:02:19.530] – Bill English
For Jesus Christ has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. When we are in bondage to sin, we’re going to need someone to rescue us, because when you’re in bondage, by definition you’re not able to free yourself. So to the extent that we live in freedom from sin and live in our covenant relationship with God, we are free to steward our businesses as God has intended. At the same time, we’ll be living more righteously, which will positively impact our business, especially in terms of our culture. And what I’m talking about in terms of culture is the culture within our business.
[00:03:07.500] – Bill English
Obviously, if we’re living in freedom will also positively affect the general culture in our society. But here I’m really speaking to business owners and so I’m talking about the culture in our business. We live righteously before God, and when we do, that positively impacts the culture within our business. Now, why does God set us free from the bondage of sin? Well, let’s take a look at this.
[00:03:33.000] – Bill English
There’s several reasons. First of all, he sets us free to belong to Him and to serve Him. Both of these purposes are found in Exodus 19, verses four through six. And here God is speaking to the children of Israel at Mount Sinai. You yourselves have seen what I did in Egypt and how I carried you on eagle’s wings and brought you to myself.
[00:03:55.470] – Bill English
Now, if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations, you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole Earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. So he sets us free from the bondage of sin to serve Him and really to belong to Him. He becomes our God. We become his people.
[00:04:22.030] – Bill English
There is this loving loyalty that God has for us as our God, and we demonstrate loving loyalty to Him in our covenant relationship with Him. It is about loyalty to God. We don’t choose another god. We don’t choose Baal. We don’t choose any other gods.
[00:04:42.700] – Bill English
We only choose the God of the Bible. He is our God, and we are his people. We belong to Him, and we illustrate our loving loyalty to Him by serving Him. Another reason that God sets us free from the bondage of sin is so that we can praise Him. Let’s look at Isaiah, chapter 43, verses 20 and 21.
[00:05:04.320] – Bill English
This is God talking here. For I give water in the wilderness. God says rivers in the desert to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself, that they might declare my praise. There is something about declaring God’s praise, both in the physical realm and in the spiritual realm that has a very positive effect. We defeat the enemy, the spiritual enemy, through praise.
[00:05:34.050] – Bill English
And we connect our hearts to God’s hearts through praise. What does Psalm 100 say? Enter his gates with thanksgiving, come into his courts with praise. Praise is something that we should be doing personally on a regular basis, not just corporately at church. He also sets us free for us to be holy.
[00:05:56.740] – Bill English
In other words, to be set apart for Him. This is Moses talking. In Deuteronomy, chapter 28, verses nine and ten, the Lord will establish you as a people holy to Himself. By the way, there we see again he is our God. We are his people.
[00:06:13.460] – Bill English
As he has warned you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in his ways, all of the peoples on the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord. When he is our God and we are his people, our identities become changed and our identities become aligned with being people of God. And that’s what Moses means here when he says that you are called by the name of God. We become identified with God. True disciples of Jesus Christ are not ashamed to be identified with Jesus Christ and the name of God.
[00:06:53.660] – Bill English
He also sets us free to receive his blessings. Let’s look at Exodus, chapter three, verse eight. I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of the land to a good and broad land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites, the Amarozites, the parasites, the Hivites and the Jebusites. What did God do? One of the big metaphors of becoming free from the bondage of sin is God taking the children of Israel out of Egyptian bondage and bringing them into the land of Canaan, where that was really their promised land.
[00:07:35.700] – Bill English
But becoming free from the bondage of sin is very similar to the Israelites becoming free from the bondage of slavery. Sin is slavery. Bondage to sin is slavery. And I know that’s a charged word in today’s culture, but it really is. It is a spiritual slavery to sin, and God can set us free.
[00:07:59.740] – Bill English
And he talks about this in Exodus, chapter three, verse eight.
[00:08:05.960] – Bill English
So to summarize what we’ve learned so far, it is this freedom from the bondage of sin means that we are free to be faithful to Him within our covenantal relationship. We’re free to draw close to God and to learn his heart. We’re free to love God because our affections are no longer divided between God and the pleasures of this world. Now, the Bible is clear that anyone can be set free from the bondage of sin. Anyone.
[00:08:34.090] – Bill English
Let’s look at how the Bible addresses this. In Luke, chapter four, verses 18 and 19, Christ said this the Spirit of the Lord is on me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, and to set the oppressed free to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. This isn’t just a political statement to be set free from oppression to proclaim good news to the poor. These are statements also that are spiritual in nature.
[00:09:10.330] – Bill English
Christ has come to set us free from the bondage of sin. Let’s look at John, verse eight, verses 31 through 36. To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, if you hold to my teaching, you really are my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. They answered him, hey, we’re Abraham’s descendants, and we’ve never been slaves of anyone.
[00:09:37.060] – Bill English
How can you say that we shall be set free? Jesus replied, very truly, I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now, a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a song belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. Here, Christ is very clearly saying to anyone that they can be free from the bondage of sin.
[00:10:06.260] – Bill English
Let’s look at Galatians, chapter five, verse one. It is for freedom that Christ set us free. Let’s consider colossians one, verses 21 through 22. Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior, but now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you wholly in his sight without blemish and free from accusation. Again, anyone can become free from the bondage of sin.
[00:10:36.430] – Bill English
The Bible does not discriminate against anyone from becoming free from the bondage of sin. And that’s why I write this. In this slide, any Christian person can find real freedom from the bondage of sin through the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. Don’t get caught up on the word Christian there. Any person who becomes free from the bondage of sin through the Holy Spirit is going to become a Christian.
[00:11:01.780] – Bill English
You’ll have to become a Christ follower, a disciple of Jesus Christ, in order to become free from the bondage of sin. But once you do, you can become free if you choose to.
[00:11:15.710] – Bill English
So let’s look at a Biblical illustration of becoming free from the bondage of sin. Fortunately, Paul left this to us in Ephesians chapter four, verses 28. And here’s the verse anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work doing something useful with their own hands that they may have something to share with those in need. In this verse, we find a person going from being in bondage to sin to being completely free from sin. Let’s take a look at this in more detail.
[00:11:49.910] – Bill English
First of all, anyone who has been stealing, right? The stealing started at some point in the past, but it is continuing into the present. This person is stealing repeatedly, and he can’t stop. Actually, he may not want to. He may enjoy the rush.
[00:12:06.490] – Bill English
It may be how he feeds his family. He just may enjoy stealing because he likes the challenge of it and the thrill of almost getting caught. But he’s still in bondage, so I’m going to put him on this continuum at a negative 50. He is in bondage to sin. Now, let’s say the man stopped stealing, right?
[00:12:30.520] – Bill English
He must steal no longer. That’s the phrase in the verse that we just read in Ephesians 428. So we stopped stealing, but he isn’t free. Not stealing is also not freedom. And we need to get this kind of more generally baked into our lives.
[00:12:47.200] – Bill English
Just because we stop sinning doesn’t mean that we are free. We don’t become more righteous when we become less bad, okay? Instead, we become more righteous when we start to behave in ways that are opposite of the bad behavior or the sinful behavior. So I’m going to say at this point this man has stopped stealing, but he’s probably still tormented with the urges to steal. So he really hasn’t been transformed yet from the inside.
[00:13:21.340] – Bill English
So let’s put him at a negative 20. The verse goes on to say, but must work. Now this guy is starting to earn a wage through honest work, right? He’s not really free yet, but he’s getting there. His urges to steal are probably going away.
[00:13:37.990] – Bill English
They’re probably lessening, and he may be even taking pride in some of his work. So I’m going to put our friend now at zero. He’s not free, but he’s not in as much bondage as he used to be. And the verse goes on to say, doing something useful with their own hands. Our friend, the same hands that one stole from others, is now contributing to others through honest work.
[00:14:04.450] – Bill English
He’s not fully free yet, but he’s getting close. Okay? So I’m going to put him in a positive 20. He’s replaced sinful behavior with righteous behavior, but we’re not done that. They may have something to share with those in need.
[00:14:20.440] – Bill English
That’s how Ephesians 428 ends. That they may share that they may have something to share with those in need. Our friend really now has found freedom. He is now generous instead of selfish. He is giving instead of stealing.
[00:14:35.910] – Bill English
He is doing the opposite of what he was doing. He is now free. He has been transformed. I put him in a positive 50. He’s at the other end of the continuum.
[00:14:47.890] – Bill English
We will know we have found true freedom from the bondage of sin when our urges to do the opposite righteous act are so much stronger than any urge to sin that we routinely engage in the righteous act. And we’re not really concerned about doing a sinful act. And that’s really what this is about. Becoming free from the bondage of sin is about belonging to God and being able to serve Him and praise Him. And the temptations to sin really just don’t have a hold on us anymore.
[00:15:25.540] – Bill English
Here are some examples. And these are just random examples I put down on a chart. You can find this in my book. But these are some examples of sinful acts and righteous acts, things that we might be in bondage to in ways and how the acts would look if we were not in bondage to those things. So maybe we’re in bondage to anger or to murder or to wrath or to physical, verbal and sexual abuse, right?
[00:15:51.810] – Bill English
The righteous behavior would be being merciful, being a peacemaker, being patient, for example, not becoming angry, overlooking an offense, those kinds of things. Maybe we’re in bondage to making an idol, to worship, whether that’s money or sports or even ourselves. And instead the Freedom Act is celebrating the presence of God. Maybe we’re distorting justice for vulnerable people. We’re taking advantage of those who really don’t have the power to stand up for themselves.
[00:16:25.390] – Bill English
Or maybe we’re not delivering justice when we’re able to do so. And there the righteous act. The one that is free from the bondage of sin is maintaining justice and doing what is right and protecting the rights of the vulnerable and the poor. Maybe we’re misleading vulnerable individuals. Maybe we mislead our customers about really what our products or our services do and we’re in bondage to that.
[00:16:50.430] – Bill English
Well, you know what the Freedom Act is having regard for the week and being fully honest with your customers about what your products and services can and cannot do. So if you download these slides@bibleandbusiness.com or you go pick up the book, you can read through the rest of this chart here and read the scriptural passages and begin to ask God, am I really in bondage to any of these sins? And if so, what do you think of Bill’s thinking here about righteous behavior? Do I need to become free from this bondage of sin? And what would that look like?
[00:17:28.690] – Bill English
That’s a really valid exercise for you and I to go through. Under the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, we can live radically different lives because we are supernaturally transformed into radically different people. And as we’re transformed, we increasingly become salt and light in this lost and broken world. So the lessons that we’ve learned so far in this series is this in the first episode we learned that our personal dysfunction will become imprinted onto our businesses and will tend to see this dysfunction or the outplaying of this dysfunction as a business problem to solve rather than a personal problem that we should address personally. In the last episode we saw that when we’re in bondage to sin, sin owns us.
[00:18:21.280] – Bill English
We can’t get away from it and we can’t stop. But today we have learned that God can give us freedom from the bondage of sin if we’ll allow him to transform us. Now at this point you’re probably asking, well, how do we do that? I’m going to be covering that in coming episodes. But before we get to kind of the practical pieces of how we can really become free from the bondage of sin, we’re going to look at how the fear of the Lord, a healthy fear of the Lord, is essential to becoming free from the bondage of sin.
[00:18:55.990] – Bill English
I want to thank you for joining me today. I’m Bill English, the publisher here at Bible and Business. I really do hope that if you are in bondage to sin, that you stick with this series and that you hopefully find complete freedom from the bondage that you are in today. All of us have had it at one time or another. I’ve been in bondage, you’ve been in bondage.
[00:19:21.030] – Bill English
Everybody has been in bondage to sin at one time or another. Freedom is available through Jesus Christ and it is available for you. And I just ask that you stay with this series and hopefully you’ve become free yourself. If you’re kind of chomping at the bit and want to get at this content a little more quickly, go out and pick up a copy of my book at Amazon or any other retailer. It’s called a Christian theology.
[00:19:48.030] – Bill English
Business ownership. I want to thank you for joining me today. I hope you go out and make it a great day. Take care.