Bondage
Michael Horton has captured the essence of bondage, “our will can choose only that in which our nature delights.”[1] Unfortunately, we can only choose sin because we are in chains, incarcerated by sin. Our natures are corrupted to the point that we delight in sin and drink iniquity like water. Man cannot free himself. The horrible thing is that he doesn’t want to be free; man loves his captor.
The children of Israel illustrate this perfectly. They were freed from captivity and delivered by the mighty hand of God. The enemies of Israel were crushed and drowned by the Red Sea. After only a few days they grumbled against Moses and God thinking that death was imminent in the hot and water-less desert. They desired to go back to Egypt. These ingrates would rather be salves to a cruel dictator than free men living under the loving and gracious rule of God. Bondage. Humanity is in bondage to sin. Sin causes us to “despise this [God’s] word and truth in oppression and perverseness” (Is. 30:12).
Sin captivates and enslaves. Humankind are slaves to sin (Jn. 8:34; Rom. 6:16-18; 7:6; 6:6-7; 2 Pet. 2:19). Sin is a brutish taskmaster. It is unescapable. Freedom comes only by Christ (Jn. 6:44; 8:34-36; Rom. 8:1-2; Gal. 4:3-7).
Perceived Autonomy
Another trait of sin is that man thinks he is sel-f governing. This autonomy is apparent in how many live their lives. They act as if they are completely free to live how they would and make whatever decisions based on their moral code or ethical creed. “They proclaim their sin like Sodom” (Is. 3:9). These “call evil good and good evil” (Is. 5:20). Human beings attempt to become their own authority thus rejecting God’s sovereign rule. Jeremiah Burroughs wrote, “sin resists God in His authority, in His sovereignty, and in His dominion over the creature. The language of sin is, “God shall not reign!” It is the setting of the will of a base, wretched creature against the will of their infinite, eternal, glorious God.”[2]
Examples abound in Scripture of people living as if they were autonomous. You can look no further than Jonah and what he thought was his right to disobey God, Satan in the early chapters of Job, the retelling of Joseph being sold into slavery by his brothers and the revelation that it was God who was at work in and through their evil and perceived autonomous actions, Pharaoh doing what his evil heart intended while we are told that God raised him up in order to bring him down, and the cruel and sinful actions of evil men putting Jesus to death (Acts 2:23). All these thought that they had freedom to do as they will. This freedom is bondage and they can only act out of their forsaken and depraved hearts. See also Psalm 76:10, Isaiah 10:5-19, Acts 17:28, Genesis 20:6, Numbers 23:8-20, John 12:37-40, Philippians 2:12-13, Proverbs 16:9, Daniel 4:30-37.
Lawlessness/unrighteousness
These characteristics of sin build on each other. Because man is depraved and prideful, they naturally love themselves, are self-righteous, flatter themselves, in bondage to sin, think themselves autonomous, and therefore are lawless. They are lawless when it comes to God’s statutes. They have laws, they are self-imposed and do not stem from God’s holy nature. So, they are treasonous and unrighteous filth.
God’s laws reflect his glory and perfection. Mankind, because of sin, is not perfect or glorious. It is not natural then, for us to love and desire to obey the laws of God. It is against our natural inclinations to do this. We rebel and forsake God’s will for our own. “The way of truth is blasphemed” (2 Pet. 2:2). We constantly return to our own vomit! Unholy wretches, we deserve whatever the good Lord dispenses. Let the reader ponder 1 John 3:4-10, Titus 3:3, 2:14, 1 Timothy 1:9-10, 2 Peter 2:8-10, 1 John 5:17, Romans 1:18, 29, 1 Corinthians 6:9, and Romans 2:2-5.
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