Page 20 - The Gate and the Way

Christ came to set men free from their bondage to sin. In the last chapter we looked
at the parable contained in the nation of Israel being brought forth from a life of slavery and
harsh servitude in Egypt. This stands as a type and shadow of the bondage all men
experience. All who are born of the first Adam enter this world as slaves to sin. Like
Pharaoh, sin rules with an iron hand over the lives of mankind and refuses to let them go.
Unless God had sent a Savior, all men would remain in bondage to sin today. Christ came
to set the captives free.
In his epistle to Rome, the apostle Paul describes this bondage of the natural man to
sin.

Romans 7:14-25
For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For
what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to
do, but I am doing the very thing I hate... So now, no longer am I the one doing it,
but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my
flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good
that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am
doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which
dwells in me. I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants
to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a
different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind
and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man
that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God! He
has, through Yahshua Christ our Lord!

The salvation Christ has provided for men is primarily focused on delivering mankind
from the sin’s rule over their lives. Prior to the appearing of Christ, no man had ever been
able to break free from the shackles of sin. King David was described by Yahweh as “a man
after My own heart,” but he sinned grievously, committing both adultery and murder. What
a powerful hold this tyrant sin has over the lives of men! The spirit is willing, but the flesh
is weak.
When Yahweh sent Moses to lead His people out from bondage in Egypt, Moses
repeatedly entreated Pharaoh to let the people of God go. Pharaoh adamantly refused. Even
when Yahweh struck Egypt with many plagues, Pharaoh remained intractable. He would
not permit God’s chosen people to depart from his rule. So too do we see sin refusing to
release mankind from its steel grip. No amount of entreaty will persuade sin to free men
born under this bondage.
It was only after the blood of the Passover lamb was placed on the doors of the homes
of Yahweh’s people that they were released. There is a profound message to be understood
in this. Yahweh had told Adam that if he transgressed against His will by eating of the fruit
forbidden to him, he would surely die. The Scriptures tell us that “the wages of sin is death”
(Romans 6:23), and “the soul that sins must die” (Ezekiel 18:4). This is an inescapable law.
Pharaoh stands as a symbol of the power of sin over the lives of men. Men have
entered into bondage because they have sold themselves to sin. Our forefather Adam sealed
the fate of all of his descendants when he sinned in the Garden of Eden. We were all “in
Adam” when he sinned, and consequently we were all made sinners, and all became subject
to death.