There are at least two
glaring implications from the immediate context and these words of our LORD:
-
The SON is the sole
liberator of the soul.
-
Men are
insidiously bound.
Further apparent from
the dialogue between these pietists and CHRIST, is that this
problem on our part is long standing:
"They answered him,
we
be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest THOU,
ye shall be made free? JESUS answered them,
verily, verily, I say unto you, whosoever committeth sin is the
servant of sin." If the
Scripture is to be believed, and that being extremely incumbent
upon us,
then every man is bound:
"For all have sinned
..." Negligence regarding
this, while presently under the 'rockets red glare' of Hell fire,
is not merely suicidal, it is eterna-cidal.
"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none
other NAME under heaven given among men, whereby we must be
saved." The quest to
emancipate sinners is multi-national in scope, but under the
direct command of only one Cross!
"Believe on the LORD JESUS
CHRIST, and thou shalt be saved ..."
In spite of the deep entanglement of sin's
chains, the key to unlock them, thus setting the sinner free, is
really very simple.
"GOD ... bringeth out
those which are bound with chains:"
JESUS boldly proclaims from HIS risen
throne: "I am HE
that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore,
Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death."
The facts of all of
this have never
been the issue, but rather the acceptance of said facts.
Tragically, the greater percentage of men, when presented with
the terms of their condition, willfully refuse to remove the
blindfold; choosing instead to perish, as proud soldiers of sin
and of Hell.
"But
if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom
the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which
believe not ..."