by Mitchell Skelton

On September 22, 1862, Abraham Lincoln signed and presented the Emancipation Proclamation. This great document would change the course of American history and lead us headlong into civil war. The signing of the Emancipation Proclamation meant the legal status of thousands of slaves in this country would be changing. Slavery wasn’t officially done away within this country until the ratification of the thirteenth amendment to the Constitution in December 1865. What Lincoln had done was let it be known that freedom was available and attainable.

In Romans 6:15–23 the apostle Paul proclaims the great emancipation of the Christian from slavery to sin. Yet this emancipation is quite different from the one Lincoln proclaimed. The Emancipation of 1862 was universal and those set free by it were forever free. The emancipation Paul speaks of however is conditional and those set free from sin are freed only to become slaves again.

Slaves to Sin

All men outside of Christ are slaves to sin. “Therefore just as sin entered the world through one man and death through sin and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned” (Rom. 5:12). The question you are forced to confront is, “To whom do you pledge your allegiance?” God or Satan? Not many people would openly admit to serving Satan, but when you delay in committing your life to Christ then you are pledging to stay in your sin and thus be a slave to sin. “Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey, whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?” (Rom. 6:16). Pledging to serve the devil does not require taking up a pitch fork and dancing around a sacrificed goat, all it takes is refusing to allow Christ into your life.

In a curious twist on slavery, slaves to sin are the only slaves who get paid for their effort. Sin pays wages. “For the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23).

Freed from Sin

In ancient times slaves could work their way out of bondage or be granted freedom by their master. This “manumission” of a slave was usually signified with much grandeur. The ancient ceremony of manumission was an elaborate ceremony in which the slave’s chains were actually cut off by a blacksmith using an anvil and chisel. It was at this point in the ceremony that the slave’s legal status was changed from slave to free. The Greek expression for being “set free from sin” is a term that refers to this manumission of a slave./1 The point where one is set free from sin is just as defined as this example.

Wholehearted Obedience

The point at which one is set free from sin is when one displays wholehearted obedience to the gospel. “But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted” (Rom. 6:17). Salvation starts with the heart (Rom. 10:9–10) and culminates with obedience to “that form of teaching.” It is then that one is freed from sin. Yet, then we “become slaves to righteousness” (Rom. 6:18). Instead of being slaves to sin earning wages of death, the Christian is a slave to righteousness where, though the blessings are plentiful, they cannot be earned. The blessing is a gift of God, “eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23).

How remarkable it is that being released from the bondage of sin actually means that we are freed to be a slave! This new master we serve pays no wage as did our former master yet this is the very lure that attracts one to make the change. We don’t want to receive what we deserve as a result of our works. Our new master’s gift is so much more than we deserve, yet it shows his love for those who wholeheartedly obey his will.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world through him” (John 3:16–17).

/1 J.B. Coffman; Commentary on Romans

by A. A. Neale

I assume that Simon was sincere when he became a Christian. When Philip preached Christ, performed miracles, and expelled unclean spirits, the Great Sorcerer of Samaria knew this was for real. One greater than he was had arrived.

"But there was a certain man called Simon, who previously practiced sorcery in the city and astonished the people of Samaria, claiming that he was someone great, to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, 'This man is the great power of God.' And they heeded him because he had astonished them with his sorceries for a long time" (Acts 8:9-11, NKJV).

Simon saw his followers abandon him. He, too, was baptized and "continued with Philip," which leaves us to believe he stuck to Philip. Perhaps he could appreciate better than the multitude what was being done.

But when he saw that Peter and John had the ability to impart miraculous gifts to others (v. 17), he couldn't contain himself. His old aspirations to greatness resurfaced, and he offered them some of his gains from sorcery for that power.

What is the attraction to sorcery and witchcraft? Twice our text affirms that Simon astonished the Samaritans with his sorcery. He used it to claim he was great, and as a result, he must have made a good deal of money (v. 18).

Fame, power, and money have always been prime motivators. As in Simon's case, sorcery is one tool to those ends. Magic made him important, powerful, and wealthy.

If he had not been repentant, Simon might have become one of the first false miracle workers as he swapped sorcery for miracles. But we trust, by his reaction to Peter's rebuke, that he learned to quell his ambition, reject sorcery completely, and humble himself before God.

All those who would, in some form, employ sorcery, witchcraft, and magic must do like Simon.

by J. Randal Matheny

Who could resist the wiggling nose of Samantha Stevens as she solved problem after problem in "Bewitched"?

Who didn't have fun as a kid dressed up in a costume going door to door collecting delectables?

What's the problem with letting the kids read Harry Potter?

Why the criticism of video games that spice up their offerings with touches of magic?

Magic and witchcraft are all the rage these days. The challenging question is how the Christian deals with its appearance in the arts, literature, holidays, and culture.

What does the Bible have to say about witchcraft?

First, there is no such thing as good witchcraft or white magic.

When people converted to Christ in Ephesus, they burned their magic books. "And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver" (Acts 19:19, ESV). The practice of magic was so evil, it was considered necessary to publicly confess it and publicly destroy its tools. If Judas had been there, he might have complained that the books might have been sold and the money given to the poor. But this fortune was worth only burning.

In the Old Testament, those who practiced witchcraft, sorcery, and necromancy were to be stoned (Lev. 19:31; 20:6, 27; Deut. 18:9-14). These were "abominable practices" before the Lord.

In God's kingdom today, witchcraft is still abominable and damnable. One cannot affirm that the type of witchcraft condemned in the Bible was the evil kind, for all kinds, for whatever purposes, are condemned.

That means there are no good witches, no white magic, nothing positive in sorcery.

Second, the Holy Scriptures condemn all magic and witchcraft unreservedly, because magic attempts to manipulate circumstances and people and put supernatural forces at man's disposal. Man seeks to use lesser forces than God to fulfill his own will, not the divine purpose. Sorcery purports to determine events, not God.

The famous case of King Saul consulting the witch of Endor is a case in point. Saul "took things into his own hands"/1 and tried to work around the word of God to find a way out of his predicament.

For that reason, sorcery is a work of the flesh that will keep one from inheriting the kingdom of God (Gal. 5:19-21).

"But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death" (Rev. 21:8).

Third, the Bible prohibits even the "naming" of sinful behavior among the saints.

Paul commanded, "But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness no foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. ... For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret" (Eph. 5:3-4, 12).

The NIV appropriately translates "named" as "there must not even be a hint." The NEB says these things "must not be so much as mentioned" among Christians. Making light of serious sins is not for the follower of Jesus.

What religious people invite their children to pretend at sexual immorality? What church sponsors a festival for impurity and covetousness? So why is sorcery different, that we will make light of magic and use witchcraft as a source of entertainment? The inconsistency here seems obvious.

Practices that might have been considered innocent enough 30 or 40 years ago have acquired sinister meanings today. Wiccan is a growing religion. The Harry Potter books have caught the crest of a wave and incited children's interest in the occult. All the while parents smile over the indoctrination of their children into the wiles of the devil.

The great temptation is to rid yourself of problems with the wiggle of the nose or the wave of a wand. Even in our fantasies.

God wants real people facing life realistically. Playing around with magic flies in the face of true Christian faith.

1/John Willis, First and Second Samuel, Living Word Commentary (Sweet, 1982), p. 261.

by Emmett Smith

"Hurry up and wait." That old cliché is undoubtedly familiar to anyone who served in the armed forces. Although I didn’t serve I’ve heard that phrase all my life and it has been validated by many who did serve. Waiting seems to be something most of us have a problem with. We resent having to wait to see our physician, having to wait to renew our driver’s license, etc. Our time is valuable! How dare he or she or they make us wait!

However, if we think about it a bit, "our" time is really the Lord’s time. It is He who has determined not only when and how long we shall live, but also the boundaries and "allotted periods" of the nations themselves (Acts 17:26). No one, individual or nation, exists on any time but the Lord’s. We need to remember those facts when we get impatient. Does the apparent progress of the abortionists and fornication advocates and various other groups and individuals who oppose righteousness get you down? Remind yourself that He is in control.

Isaiah told Judah and Israel that, "the Lord waits to be gracious to you" and, "blessed are all those who wait for him" (Isaiah 30:18). It must have been difficult for the righteous remnant to wait for the Lord’s good time. But undoubtedly those who did were blessed, and more importantly they were blessings to others as they patiently carried out the Lord’s will. To those who had obviously given up waiting on the Lord Isaiah cried,

Peter assures us that, "the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation" (2 Peter 3:15), and warns of the scoffers who will deliberately overlook the fact of God’s control and will try to entrap others as they ask, "where is the promise of his coming?" (2 Peter 3:4). They’ll remind you that He hasn’t returned as He promised. They’ll try to shipwreck your faith. But Peter has also reminded us that just as the Lord rescued Lot from Sodom and Gomorra, He, "knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment" (2 Peter 2:9).

It’s worth the wait!

by Michael E. Brooks

“And you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately” (Luke 10:36).

Waiting for the master to come may have a variety of applications. Sometimes it is his final coming that we anticipate and prepare for. At other times it is a more temporal visitation, that of his help, his comfort, or the opportunities for service that he provides.

Edmund Cagle and I were in the Bangladesh village of Dooley a few years ago, preparing to preach. A decent crowd had gathered and we were ready to rise and begin the lessons when someone came, whispered something to one of the audience and suddenly all of the villagers got up and rushed away. Edmund and I looked at each other in puzzlement, wondering how we had offended them, until the Bangla preacher who was guiding us said, “a snake charmer has come and they have all gone to watch him play with his snakes.”

We walked to a nearby row of houses to find all the village gathered to watch the charmer entrance several cobras for some time. Just as he was reaching the climax of his performance a woman ran out of one of the houses with a child in her arms, crying out in panic. Just as quickly as the villagers had deserted our meeting, they abandoned the snakes to rush to the aid of the distraught mother. We joined them and inquired as to her needs. The child was sick with fever and we gave medicine, calmed the mother’s fears and restored order. Meanwhile the snake charmer shrugged, packed his boxes and left the village.

After a few minutes we went back to our original site, the audience soon joined us, and we enjoyed an afternoon of Bible study, resulting in several baptisms. Is there a spiritual lesson in that experience? I am not sure, but I know that we did not panic or give up on the situation. We allowed the villagers time to determine what was of real value, and eventually had a profitable day.

Circumstances often challenge us. Difficult situations can discourage good works. Competition from others creates doubt or even fear. We often feel that our efforts are futile, that success is not possible. Yet sometimes difficult circumstances provide opportunity. At other times, one must simply be patient and wait for the Master’s time to come.

“And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart” (Galatians 6:9).