Satan’s Strategy for Your Life #20: Captured

“God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.” 

—2 Timothy 2:25-26

There are myriads of stories of young girls being duped by men into sexual slavery. They are lured from their villages by men promising them jobs in a nearby city or country, and they are promised to make enough money to support their family back home. And once they are in the new country or city, their visas or passports are taken away and then they are violently forced into sexual slavery.

The Bible says that we are slaves to sin. We can’t help ourselves; we have to do what sin says. As Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin’”—John 8:34.

We are slaves to sin. We can’t stop sinning by ourselves. Our will can only get us so far. We must have the Spirit of God within us in order to keep us from sinning, and the Spirit of God only comes to those who have trusted in Christ for salvation. The unbeliever is defenseless against Satan’s schemes. Satan lures people into sin by perverting their natural desires and then offering them what their perverted desire longs for.

It is only through knowing Christ that we are freed from the power of sin. Jesus is the one who frees us. He is the one who can “grant repentance that leads to life.” But what about those who have been freed from sin by Christ, yet still continue to struggle? Paul knew that we would continually be in a battle with sin, which is why he wrote,  

“Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?”—Romans 6:16.

Though we have been freed from sin, we can still offer ourselves up as slaves to it. We must continually realize that we have been transformed, freed from sin! As Paul wrote,  

“But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life”—Romans 6:22.

May God enable us to walk in the freedom that has been purchased for us at the cross of Christ! May we only be slaves of righteousness, yielding to our Master Christ! And may our desires be in conformity to His so that our joy may abound in Him and His name may receive praise. Amen.