“But the Scriptures
have declared that we are all prisoners of sin” (22)-NLT
The KJV rendition of this scripture does a grave injustice to the casual reader for it reads “But the scripture hath concluded all under sin.” So what is the difference between the NLT (New Living Translation) of our text and the KJV? Maybe I am alone in this but when I have (in the past) read these words in the KJV I understood that they were speaking of mankind. While this is true, the reality that the “whole world” is a prisoner of sin never came upon me with real force until I read it as such.
Imagine it! The planet we live on is one great prison! Have you ever thought of it this way? We look into the immensity of the sky and see no bars. We listen carefully and cannot hear a key turning in the lock which keeps us imprisoned. We are free to come and go as we please and are not herded from our cell to the exercise yard. But look again! The very fact that everyone is held down on the earth by the force of gravity, and have to breathe its air and drink its water means we live as its prisoner. Gravity is our chain, time is our lock and food and water keep us dependent on the prison system in which we live.
Most prisoners scoff at these statements claiming that they are free spirits. No one or thing controls them. They are free! Those who boast of being free spirits are in fact prisoners.
“What are they free from? They are 'free' from keeping their marriage vows, 'free' from being sober, 'free' from self-control, 'free' to take drugs, 'free' to lie and steal. That is the confinement within which you must live your narrow little life. You want to be free of God, and you are. You want to have nothing to do with the Bible, and you have it. You will not pray, and you do not. You refuse to love the Lord Jesus Christ, and you don't. You will not go to a gospel church and you never do. You are so restricted to that unreal world where the prisoners do not acknowledge their Creator, his Son Jesus Christ nor his Word, the Bible.”
Geoffrey
Thomas, pastor of Alfred Place Baptist Church in Aberystwyth, Wales.
To the unenlightened eye the world in which we live is not a prison. Some governments have created a prison within the prison so that their citizens are treated as prisoners, but to those of us in the so-called “free world” we live with few restrictions (although that is very debatable). This world (prison) we call home has its own warden. Satan is even called the “prince of the power of the air”. Yes, he too is a prisoner! Cast out of heaven to earth by God when he sought to make himself equal with God. This warden has the support and unquestionable support and obedience of myriads of prison guards whose craft keep their prisoners believing they are free.
What does the Bible say makes and keeps us prisoners? “Prisoners of sin”! Look carefully around you and you will see the effects of sin. The beautiful trees and flowers in which we take great pleasure are dying. Graceful and majestic creatures feed on each other. Animal corpses litter our highways as man enjoys his ‘freedom’. Death and dying is all around us, the direct result of sin. And, unless we live to see the return of our Lord, we too will join the myriads that have died. Everything in this prison is subject to death.
Is there no hope of escape? “The soul that sins will die” screams the scriptures. This prison practices the death penalty. Ah, but listen also to the words of scripture, “He that believes in Him shall not die, but have eternal life.”
When God freed Paul and Silas from prison their chains fell off and the door to the prison opened, all by the power of God. Physical death for the Believer is true freedom, freedom from the restrictions of this prison, the world. Accepting Jesus Christ as your Savior frees you from spiritual death! Praise be to God.