Free From Sin's Bondage
Luther studied the thoughts and practices of Medieval Christians concerning the doctrines of salvation to which they held. He looked into the matter of how to be released from post-baptismal sin which included (1) contrition of heart, (2) confession, (3) penance and (4) absolution. Luther saw the foregoing as the Aristotlean Theory of Virtue type salvation as it parallels to physical effort, works, exercises, etc. Enlighten by the Holy Spirit, Luther declares the doctrines of justification and substitution. Christ had borne sin of all men upon his body and made satisfaction for them by His blood. God had made Him sin who knew no sin, who was not guilty of those sins but have borne those sins.
Luther’s thoughts were that in order for Christ to do this, Himself, including the overcoming of the devil, sin and death, He had to be God. Impressed upon Luther also was that Christ had overcome both the wrath of God and the Law of God both of which are the means of executing God’s will. The Law exposes and the Gospel liberates. The devil sin and death are monstrous tyrants in opposition to God. Christ had overcome all of these things. Appropriate here are the words Christus Victor meaning a view of Scripture that sees the death of Christ on the Cross primarily as the supreme victory over the powers of death and hell, part of the cosmic conflict that has raged since Adam’s fall.
Man was not the first being to have encountered conflict in the moral realm. Somewhere between the creation of angels and when the “earth became waste and empty”, an untold number of angels confronted the issues of good and evil. As free moral agents, these angels chose sin.....that of self-assertion against their Creator. It is difficult to understand how an unfallen and highly enlightened creature can darkness while standing in the immediate presence of God. The fall was led by the rebellion of one angel - Lucifer (Satan). God created all angels holy and “were given the autonomy of angels, which assigned them the freedom to remain in, or depart from, that holy estate in to which they were inducted by creation” (Chafer, 29).
Each of these angels who sinned did so under the same influence as Lucifer. Given that angels are direct creations of God, they fell individually. As they were in direct and constant communication with God and their direction was that of holiness, their existence was the will of their Creator. Given this existence, “self-assertion against God was the only direction in which such beings could sin” (Chafer, 30). It becomes readily apparent that self-centeredness is in contrast to the law of existence.
Satan, who bears the title of the prince of the power of the air (Eph. 2:2), is the authority over all fallen angels (Rev. 12:7-9; Matt. 25:41). There are beings who are designated as principalities and powers. Although these titles do not necessarily imply that they are evil, it seems however, that the context in which the majority of passages reference these beings, it appears that they are evil. The Greek word for principalities conveys the fact of their dignity, and the word for powers conveys the fact of their authority (Chafer, 109). In concert with Satan, these dignities are exercising their power in conflict with earthly saints. Paul tells his readers that “we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Eph. 6:12). Since Satan’s fall, both he and his hosts have been in rebellion against the authority and will of God.
The power of Satan and his fallen angels is limited. They are but finite creatures who can do nothing outside the permissive will of God. Satan could do nothing against Job (and this was his complaint) until divinely permitted to do so. Satan and his angels are in possession of great knowledge, but they are not omniscient; they have vast power, when permitted to employ it, but they are not omnipotent; they cover the world by their delegated responsibility, they are not omnipresent. They can suggest evil, but cannot coerce the will of another creature. They many spread snares and devices to ruin the children of God, but they cannot compel any other being to comply with their designs. They have power over nature when permitted to use it, but they can create nothing, nor can they employ God’s creation other than as He decrees. They never defeated God. In truth, God uses Satan as an instrument to chasten and correct the erring saints (Luke 22:31-32; I Cor. 5:5; I Tim. 1:20). The knowledge of these limitations cannot but be a comfort to those Christians who take seriously their conflict with the powers of darkness (Chafer).
There are issues belonging to higher realms, and things beyond the boundaries of time that were involved in the combat between Christ and Satan that took place at Calvary. When Jesus was approaching His death, he said: “Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out” (John 12:31). The Apostle Paul tells of this victory over principalities and powers at the Cross by stating: “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; and having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it” (the cross—Col.2:14-15).
Beginning on that day at Calvary, the law which was administered by angels (Gal. 3:19; Heb. 2:2), is no longer the rule of life as Christ spoiled the principalities and powers. As prophesied in Isaiah 61:1, Christ opened the door of the prison to them that are bound. The release of Satan’s prisoners is secured by Christ’s death as the only barrier that remains between God and man is the lack of faith in the Savior. Satan’s prisoners now have hope—“Whosoever will may come.”
An accomplishment in Christ’s death is that He died for our sins (Gal. 1:4; Rom. 4:25; I Cor. 15:3; II Cor. 5:14,21; Matt. 26:28; I Pet. 2:24; Eph. 1:7; I John 2:2). The doctrines inherent of this section are regeneration, redemption and justification. These three doctrines are declarations into all that enters that of the finished work of Christ. These doctrines are of great value to men, but are restrictive in the sense that they are applicable only to those who believe.
Regeneration is the supernatural act whereby God gives new life to those who are dead in sin - spiritual rebirth. The language of regeneration includes (1) Birth (John 1:13; I John 2:29; 3:9; John 3:7; I Pet. 1:23); (2) New Birth (I Pet. 1:3,23); (3) Creation (Eph. 2:10; II Cor. 5:17; Eph. 4:24); and, (4) Rebirth (Titus 3:5). Regeneration is the change that is wrought by God alone. Keyser says that “since God is a Trinity, and the Father and the Son have so prominent a share in man’s redemption, it would be only rational to infer that the Holy Spirit would also have some part in this beneficent work..........Since man’s spirit is the center of his ethical being, the very life of his life, and since salvation is preeminently and ethical transaction, it stands to reason that he must be spiritually awakened and enlighten in order to receive the apprehend the things of Christ and accept Him by faith. Right there is the juncture where the work of the Holy Spirit is need—to create the new life” (Kyeser, 130-40).
Regeneration is important as it marks the line of cleavage between eternal life and eternal death. It’s importance is seen in the strategic relation sustained to the family of God: “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name (John 1:12). The importance of regeneration is also seen in its strategic relation sustained to the kingdom of God: “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.........Except a man be born of water and of Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:3-5).
The positive aspects of regeneration begins with a spiritual generation. Bancroft writes, “Regeneration is represented as a divine begetting or procreation. Birth is always the condition of life, whether in the physical or spiritual realm. There is no life without birth” (Bancroft, 258). A second aspect is that of a spiritual quickening or resurrection: “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ (by grace ye are saved) (Eph.2:1,5). Thirdly, there is a spiritual translation: “Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear son” (Col. 1:13—cf. John 5:24 ASV; I John 3:14).
Redemption is “an act of God by which He Himself pays as a ransom the price of human sin which the outraged holiness and government of God requires” (Chafer, 88). It is here that we can see a word picture or image of prisoners of war. To get the captives back, they were ransomed by payment - emancipation freedom at a price. Divine redemption’s price is that of the Blood. Jesus said that He had come to give His life a ransom for many (Matt. 20:28; Mark 10:45), and the work of Christ is spoken of as a redemption (Luke 1:68; 2:38; Heb. 9:12).
The Greek word for ransom is “lutron.” Thiessen states that “the verb lutroomia occurs in Luke 24:21; Tit. 2:14; I Pet. 1:18. The compound, apolutrosis, occurs ten times (Luke 21:28; Rom. 3:24; 8:23; I Cor. 1:30; Eph. 1:7, 14; 4:30; Col. 1:14; Heb. 9:15; 11:35)” (Thiessen, 328). Deissmann says, “When anybody heard the Greek word lutron, ‘ransom’ in the first century, it was natural for him to think of the purchase money for manumitting slaves. Three documents from Oxyrhynchus relating to manumissions in the years 86, 100 and 91 or 107 A.D. make use of the word.” (Deissmann, 327).
This ransom is paid to God; not Satan as Satan has no legal claims against the sinner. Origen (A.D. 185-254), a theologian from Alexandria and later Caesarea, held the view called “The ransom to Satan Theory.” According to Origen and some of his followers, the ransom Christ paid to redeem us was paid to Satan, in whose kingdom all people were by virtue of sin. Problematic to this theory, is the fact it is void of any Scriptural support. In essence, this view completely neglects the demands of God’s justice with respect to sin. Grudem writes of this theory that “It views Satan as having much more power than he actually does, namely, power to demand whatever he wants from God, rather than as one who has been cast down from heaven and has no right to demand anything of God” (Grudem, 256). As such, therefore, Satan does not need to be paid before the sinner can be set free. The debt that requires cancelling is that due to God’s attribute of justice.
As for deliverance from bondage to sin, Paul writes, “So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.............For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace” (Rom. 6:11,14). Only Christ could pay the price of redemption has He met the requirement of the Kinsman-Redeemer.
Works Cited.
Bancroft, Emery. Elemental Theology. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1977.
Chafer, Lewis S. Systematic Theology, Vol. II. Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1993.
Grudem, Wayne. Bible Doctrine. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1999.
Deissmann, Adolf. Light from the Ancient East. New York: G.H. Doran Co., 1927.
Kyeser, L.S. The Rational Test. Lutheran Pub. Society, 1908.
Thiessen, Henry C. Lectures in Systematic Theology. Grand Rapids: Wm. Eerdmans, 1977.
