Liberty On Labor Day

Neal Pollard

In 1838, September 3 was also on a Monday.  It was many years before the first Monday of September was designated as the "Labor Day" holiday, but on that day a monumental effort occurred.  On September 3, 1838, Frederick Douglass escaped slavery disguised as a sailor.  Later, he would write a book about his life in slavery (www.historynet.com).

Douglass had to work for his freedom, to rely on his cunning and ability.  He left the fields of Maryland's Eastern Shore at the age of 18 to caulk ships, earning a wage for his master.  He borrowed a friend and fellow passenger's "sailor's protection" papers, which, if it had been examined closely, would have described a man much darker than himself.  To his favor, the conductor, who had been harsh and impatient with the other black passengers in the car, spoke pleasantly to him and the paper Douglass showed looked extremely official.  He spent all of September 3, 1838, hoping and praying that "slave catchers" in Maryland or Delaware would not snare him, but he survived the day and ultimately arrived in New York City.  He had to continue running, as slave-catchers resided there, too. Not long after, having arrived in New Bedford, Massachusetts, he hired himself out at the wharves. En route to search out this work, he asked if he could help put up a large pile of coal in front of a preacher's house.  The lady of the house gave him two silver half-dollars for the work, the first money he earned as a free man (www.eyewitnesstohistory.com).

You and I, outside of Christ, are described as "slaves of sin" (Rom. 6:6,16-18,20).  Yet, we could not obtain our freedom through our cunning, wit, or abilities.  Instead, we were totally dependent upon God's grace to emancipate us.  That does not mean that we were saved without obedience (Rom. 6:17), but it does mean that all the works and acts of obedience would be useless without God's amazing grace (Rom. 6:14-15).  We need freedom as desperately as any slave who has ever lived, but the only way to get it is through Christ (Rom. 6:8-11).  This includes baptism (Rom. 6:3-4).  

Thank God for giving us our freedom, which nothing and no one can revoke.  It was His labor, at Calvary, that brings us from sin to safety.

A Free Man Still in Prison

 

In 1999, Daniel Larsen was convicted of a crime in California and put in prison.  Ten years later, new witnesses came forward, stacking the evidence in Larsen’s favor.  As a result, a federal magistrate ruled that Larsen had been denied rights to a fair trial and ordered his immediate release.  Unfortunately, because of some complicated rules and technical jargon, the state of California has kept Larsen in prison for the past two years.  Even though Daniel had a shaky past and is to blame for some of his troubles, he should still be a free man according to the evidence.  However, he is continuing to live his life behind bars.

It would be quite sad to know that we could and should be free, but still find ourselves imprisoned.  Yes, this would be terrible, but this situation happens much more often then we might think.  It even happens to people you know!

Romans 6 discusses this very point, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?  May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?  Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?  Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life… Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts… For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness…But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life” (1-4, 12, 20, 22).

The idea behind Romans 6 is simply that those of us who have been freed from sin through baptism should not continue to live life imprisoned by sin!  The problem is, spiritually free Christians choose to continue living behind the prison bars of sin.

It’s sad that Daniel Larsen is forced to stay in prison when he should be free, but it is much more depressing when free people, Christians, choose to live life enslaved to sin.  Have we been freed from sin through baptism (Romans 6:3-4; Acts 2:38; 1 Peter 3:21)?  If so, let’s never take our freedom for granted and continue to live a life free from sin.