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Are You Subject to Perpetual Bondage?
Sermon by Martin G. CollinsThe Days of Unleavened Bread serve as a memorial to God's law, symbolizing our strenuous efforts to rid our lives of sin, mirroring the physical act of deleavening. God expects us to continue striving to overcome sin, expending effort to keep it out of our lives as it emerges. Christ is not a minister of sin, and upon our repentance, His sacrifice blots out all our sins, freeing us from the penalty of eternal death and the responsibility of not remaining slaves to satan, the world, and sin. From a biblical perspective, every person is subject to slavery, either to sin or to God. Slavery and idolatry both entail complete subjection to a master's will. At the end time, satan will use the Beast power to control his Babylonish world, enslaving everyone physically within this tyrannical system. Nobody on earth is completely free from the bondage of this satanic Babylonian system in a physical sense. The significant shift is not from slavery to freedom, but from slavery to sin to slavery to God, from darkness to light, from falsehood to truth. Though our Lord and Master's yoke is easy and His burden light, a yoke still exists, and universal service on earth is assumed, with the critical issue being whether one's master is God or sin. All of creation suffers from the bondage of corruption, and unredeemed sinners are in bondage to sin and evil powers such as religious deities and various lusts. The world denies being controlled, yet they are slaves of satan without realizing it. Christ's death serves as the redemptive payment for deliverance from the slave market of sin, and His perfect life demonstrates that freedom is not autonomous perfection but a chosen relationship with God, requiring obedient rejection of sin's bondage. It is not enough to merely declare obedience to God; there must be a rejection of the control that the world, satan, and sin exert. Salvation is presented as spiritual freedom from slavery, involving a change of masters, expressed as freedom to serve Christ in the spirit with a view to total redemption in the new creation. Members of the church must resist compromising relationships with other masters and battle constantly to resist the world, satan, and sin's influence. Spiritual freedom only comes through Jesus Christ, and in the scope of eternity, slavery is a temporary condition.
The Need to Escape and Be Rescued
Feast of Tabernacles Sermon by Martin G. CollinsWe can experience escape and rescue by exercising reverence and godly fear. One of the most dangerous forms of enslavement consists of our own carnal lusts.
Sin and Overcoming, (Part 2): What Is Sin Like?
Sermon by Martin G. CollinsWhen a righteous man feels an inclination to sin, God will place stumblingblocks in his way to force moral choices, as well as a watchman to give understanding.
The Burden of Sin
Sermon by Charles WhitakerThe Scriptures prove that Christ alone bears our sins and takes them from us; we have no power to cast our burdens upon Christ, nor dump sins on the cross.
Corporate Sin
Sermon by Richard T. RitenbaughWe are obligated to purge our thoughts, deeds, and words, cleaning out individual and corporate sins and replacing them with sincerity, truth, and holiness.
The Law of Liberty
Sermonette by James BeaubelleProtestant theologians have created an artificial divide between mercy and law-keeping, asserting that 'the law of liberty' does away with God's Law.
Holy Days: Unleavened Bread
Bible Study by StaffThe Feast of Unleavened Bread immediately follows the Passover. In it we see how hard it is to overcome and rid our lives of sin.
Narrow Is the Way
Sermon by John W. RitenbaughParadoxically, becoming a slave of righteousness — maintaining the narrow way — leads to freedom, peace of mind, and ultimately, God's Kingdom.
John (Part Fifteen)
Sermon/Bible Study by John W. RitenbaughAs long as we are slaves of sin and following the dictates of our lusts, we have no free moral agency. God liberates us from sin so we are free to obey Him.
The Elements of Motivation (Part Four): Obligation
'Personal' from John W. RitenbaughUnderstanding our obligation to Christ leads to a deeply held loyalty to Him. Our redemption should make us strive to please Him in every facet of life.
Elements of Motivation (Part Four)
Sermon by John W. RitenbaughBecause we have been bought with an awesome price, we have no right to pervert our lives, but are obligated to look upon our bodies as vessels in His service.
Wilderness Wandering (Part One)
Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh (1932-2023)We are in various stages of our wilderness journey, not knowing where our journey will take us. The turns give us opportunities to strengthen our faith.
The Awesome Cost of Salvation
Sermon by John W. RitenbaughWe need to be sobered at the awesomeness of the cost to set us free from sin—what the Creator endured. We have been purchased, and are obliged to our Purchaser.
Do You Recognize This Man? (Part Three)
Sermon by Richard T. RitenbaughThough we were freed by God, we will fall into slavery again if we do not maintain our vigilance. Our forbears never learned to live as free men and women.
Uniqueness and Time
Sermon by John W. RitenbaughOur unique calling makes us a special possession of God. Sealed with a downpayment of God's Spirit, we have the obligation to glorify God by obedience.
Liberty vs. Independence
Sermon by Richard T. RitenbaughWe have been liberated from the degeneration of sin, the fear of death, corruption, and the elements of this world. If we live righteously, we remain free.
The Summertime Soldier and Sunshine Patriotism
Sermon by John W. RitenbaughWe must put our lives, treasure, and honor on the line, picking up our cross daily, declaring our independence from carnality, evil and bondage to sin.
This Body of Death
'Prophecy Watch' by Ted E. BowlingThe Romans would torture murderers by shackling them to their victims, a striking picture of a sinful individual's relationship with his iniquities.
The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part Twenty-Seven)
Sermon by John W. RitenbaughThe New Covenant, which writes God's law onto the heart, in no way does away with any aspect of the law. Works do not justify us, they sanctify us.