Perhaps no one since the apostle Paul has written more graphically about the experience of spiritual bondage than the great theologian Augustine (AD 354–430). Although blessed with extraordinary intelligence, in his younger years he had wallowed in deep depravity.

Looking back, Augustine gave this account of his struggle: “I was bound by the iron chain of my own will. I was rather an unwilling sufferer than a willing actor. And yet it was through me that habit had become an armed enemy against me, because I had willingly come to be what I unwillingly found myself to be.”

Many of us have gone through a similar struggle. We wanted deliverance from sin yet found ourselves unable to shake off the chains of habit. Then, as we turned in faith to Jesus, we were liberated and could repeat the words of Charles Wesley’s hymn: “Long my imprisoned spirit lay fast bound in sin and nature’s night. Thine eye diffused a quickening ray, I woke—the dungeon flamed with light! My chains fell off, my heart was free; I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.”

Jesus alone can break the shackles of sin in your life. Receive Him as your Savior, and “the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32).  — Vernon C. Grounds