In John 8:34, Jesus said that everyone who *sins is a slave to *sin. *Sin is like his master. God had to punish all *sin. The punishment for *sin is death (Romans 6:23). But God has not punished people, because he is very kind to them. Instead, God punished Jesus. God planned that Jesus would have to die (Acts 2:23). Jesus never *sinned but he was willing to obey God’s plan. Jesus ‘gave himself for us’. This means that he died instead of us. He freed us from everything that is evil (1 Peter 1:18-19). The word ‘freed’ describes how a person bought a slave from a bad master. The slave was free from his old master. The slave then obeyed his new, good master. When Jesus died, he ‘paid’ for us with his blood (his life).

When we trust Jesus, Jesus frees us from every bad and evil thing. Jesus forgives our *sins and makes us ‘clean’. Jesus is now our new master and we belong to him. So we should have a strong desire to please him. Then we will behave in the right way. Paul describes more about this in Romans 6:16-22.

Three tasks

v15 Teach all these things. Encourage people and correct them with all authority. Make sure that everyone respects you.

Continues after advertising
Continues after advertising