A Slave To Sin Is A Slave To Self

Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin. A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever. So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free. [John 8.34-36] 

Idols ultimately enslave their worshipers. In some cases, immediately, and in others, eventually, but we can be sure of this: idols enslave those who trust in them.

Every action of man starts with a heart decision. Such was the case in the Garden of Eden. The action of eating the forbidden fruit was only the outward expression of a sinful disobedient decision made at the heart level. At its very basest, that decision was idolatry: trusting a voice other than God's.

The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the LORD God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” [Genesis 3.1]

It only took a little convincing for Satan to enslave Adam and Eve (and therefore all mankind) to the Law of Sin and Death.

For the record, every sin is idolatry. Trusting in (obeying) any voice (including our own) other than God's is idolatry. For example, pride, greed and lust are all symptoms of idolatry to "self." In fact, most all idolatry (if not all) can be traced to "self." Any trust in "self" is idolatry against God.

With the paragraph above established, Jesus could just as easily have said that everyone who sins is a slave to "self" because a slave to sin is indeed a slave to self.

Stay with me...

There is a specific reason Jesus made the following demand:

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. [Matthew 16.24 (also, Mark 8.34 & Luke 9.23)]

Our own way is idolatry. Man's way is idolatry. The world's way is idolatry. Anything but God's way is idolatry - it places "self" above God thereby enslaving everyone who disobeys God to themselves.

As has been repeatedly pointed out elsewhere by this author, debt, insurance, medicine and technology all fit the Bible's description of idols. But even so, they are merely outward expressions of a heart decision to not trust God and instead to trust "self" (man, the world...). Of course, in our minds, it 'softens the blow' for us to say "God provides" the idols we trust, but the dampening of that blow is completely refuted in the Second Commandment (as if God anticipated such):

You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me. But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands. [Exodus 20.4-6]

Because our hearts are so hard, it must be understood here that Jesus was VERY CLEAR about our pursuit of "self" interests - even our most basic of needs:

“That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith? “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today. [Matthew 6.25-34] 

How many reading this right now are enslaved to "the systems" of debt, insurance, medicine and technology? How many reading this right now are enslaved to themselves in a quagmire of doubt struggling to believe that God, unaided in any way by man's systems, can and will provide? 

Father, we are all victims of our own selves. We have enslaved ourselves when we looked at Your Word, in its clear declaration, and gave credence instead to Satan's question in our hearts, "Has God really said..." and then began to take idolatrous measures to do for ourselves what You said You alone would do. Every scripture included in this article contains the Truth - Jesus - to set us free. May we read Your Word with all propriety and believe as we are instructed, "dying" to ourselves so that Christ might live through us. So be it.