Freed Slaves

"It's good to see you out of those chains, friend," said the "man in black" last night on Lost.  Richard, the immortal intermediary for Jacob (God), in his early tenure on the island made a pact with the devil that if he set him free from his chains, then he would in return, do anything that he is asked to do.  Richard agreed, and that is when the devil, this "man in black," sarcastically says the aforementioned phrase.

The idea behind the devil's statement is that believing in God is like being in bondage.  Only when you deny God, (or kill Him in Lost's instance), can you truly be set free.  Ironically, this is the exact opposite of what Scripture says.

Paul wrote in Galatians 5:1, "It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery."

Paul's message to the Galatians was that in Christ, we can be "[Delivered] from the curse that the law pronounces on the sinner who has been striving unsuccessfully to achieve his own righteousness" (MacArthur).  The word "yoke" refers to the apparatus used to control a domesticated animal.  In Paul's day, many Jews looked to the "yoke" of the law as a good thing.  Paul looked at it as a "yoke of slavery."  Today, and everyday after Christ's atoning sacrifice, this message rings true--utilizing the law for salvation is a life of slavery.

Many people look at Christianity as a life of bondage.  The things that make life "fun" are no longer considered "appropriate behavior" for a follower of Jesus Christ.  While becoming a Christian indeed requires a change of life, it by no means is a life of bondage, at least in this context.  Paul has indeed written that everyone is a slave of "sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness" (1 Cor. 6:16).  The only difference is that being a "slave of righteousness" means that you are free--free from the law and free from the results of the law (death).  Christ has set us free, and being a follower of His means that you free.  The chains are only approbated to those who deny Christ and decide that good works will be there way into heaven, which is an impossible task.