In Christ, we are completely set free from the debt, guilt, and slavery of sin. The debt of our sin was far beyond our ability to repay. The guilt of our sin could never be worked off. Sin enslaves because, left to ourselves, we actually love sin. Only in Christ is the debt paid, the guilt set aside, and the slave released from sin’s bondage. Sin once was our master, but we’ve received a new Master who has set us free.


Another “yoke of slavery” exists from which Christ has freed us. That yoke is slavery to the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2). The Pharisees and teachers of the law lowered the standards of God’s holy law. They taught that salvation was a matter of keeping their man-made rules. Even today people are burdened under the weight of rules they feel they must keep. But for God’s people, God’s law becomes the foundation of our freedom. The Psalmist sings, “Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long” (Psalm 119:97). God’s law has become our comfort and friend, not our master.