Readers of the early part of the Bible soon become acquainted with the idea of bondage or slavery. Who can readily forget that Israel, the children of Abraham, was enslaved in Egypt, rescued from that house of bondage by Moses and finally led to freedom in the Promised Land by Joshua? Regrettably from their point of view this freedom like their slavery was limited. It did not involve either freedom from sin, from the impermanence of the Promised Land itself (cf. Heb. 3,4) or from their enemies, as we shall see. Fortunately, the Bible has a good deal more to say about bondage and it is worth examining it.
Bondage in Egypt
First, bondage in Egypt arose out of necessity. (1* Cf. Ruth 1:1, though some have argued that Elimelech and Naomi sinned by going to Moab.) The land of Canaan was devastated by a famine. Fortunately for Jacob (Israel) and his children, the way to mitigate the effect of famine in the land of Egypt had been prepared for them providentially by God in his dealings with Joseph (Gen. 45:5-7; 50:20). However, it becomes crystal clear that later bondage in Assyria and Babylon was the consequence of sin and rebellion on the part of the elect nation. According to Isaiah Assyria is the rod of God’s anger (Isa.10:5). Nebuchadnezzar, heathen though he is, is described as the servant of God who rules the nations (Jer. 27:6) and enslaves Israel in a seventy-year exile. As God had warned David when he promised one of his sons an eternal kingdom, he would nonetheless punish his children’s sins (Ps. 89:30-37). In light of this it is less than surprising that sin figures prominently in the later sufferings of God’s elect nation. The warnings of Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 are amply realized and extend to the evil impact of Greece and especially Rome on the chosen race. So even when the Messiah appeared, Israel was still in bondage, and the words of Nehemiah were as relevant as ever: “Here we are, slaves to this day – slaves in the land that you gave to our ancestors to enjoy its fruit and its good gifts” (Neh. 9:36, NRSV). In these circumstances, it is not at all surprising that even John the Baptist had a somewhat uncertain understanding of the Messiah whose herald he was (Luke 7:20, cf. John 6:15).
Bondage to Sin and the Devil
Man, that is Adam and Eve, was created knowing neither the law nor good and evil (Gen. 2:17; 3:5,22). Since the apostle says that where there is no law there is neither good nor evil (Rom. 2:13; 4:15; 6:16; James 2:9-11; 1 John 3:7), we are compelled to conclude that our first parents though physically mature (adult) were (spiritually and morally) innocent like babies (cf. Dt. 1:39; 1 K. 3:7,9; Heb. 5:12-14, etc.). However, since like babies they must have undergone development till intelligent consciousness dawned, they unlike the rest of the animals became amenable to law or specifically (like babies again) to a commandment. The point of this commandment was to test their hearts (cf. Ex. 15:24; 20:20; Dt. 8:2,16) on the one hand and to promise them eternal life if they were obedient on the other (cf. Rom. 7:9f.). In the event, led astray by the devil and the lusts of the flesh (Gen. 3:1-7, cf. Rom. 1:24-32), they proved false as we their posterity all do in our turn. As a consequence, we are all ensnared by the devil, the god of this world (2 Tim. 2:26, cf. Rom. 16:18) and enslaved by sin (John 8:34; Eph. 2:1-3). The truth expressed by Isaiah that iniquities had made a separation between God and his people was all too evident (Isa. 59:2). Of course, there is plenty of evidence of the enslaving power of sin as such. Jesus himself pointed out that the one who sins is thereby enslaved by it (John 8:34, cf. Rom. 6:16; 2 Pet. 2:19). So eventually as a consequence of their sin including their rejection of Jesus their Messiah they were overwhelmed by the Romans, and the temple and the city by which they set so much store were left desolate (cf. e.g. Mt. 23).
Bondage to Law and hence to Sin
Of course, there is in the epistles much material relating to sin but it is important to recognize that there are other causes of bondage apart from sin as such. For both Paul and Peter (e.g. John 7:19; Acts 15:10, etc.) imply that the law to which the Jews were so committed was itself an instrument of bondage and not of grace and freedom. In Galatians 3:23 Paul says that those who were under law (i.e. both Jews and Gentiles) were held captive and imprisoned (ESV) by law which he says elsewhere is the power of sin (1 Cor.15:56). They were kept by it in a state of permanent minority like students at school (Gal. 4:1-4, KJV). So far from freeing its devotees from sin as many seemed to imagine, the law as such actually held them in bondage and virtually guaranteed that they were enslaved by sin as well (cf. 2 Cor. 3; Heb. 8). As the apostle shows, whereas like Adam and Eve they were sinless (alive) so long as they were without (the) law (Rom. 4:15), once it came it killed them (cf. Rom. 7:9f.). The problem was that though it promised life, they could not keep it. Justification by keeping the law was beyond their powers and the only way they could gain the righteousness which was the precondition of life (Gen. 2:17; Lev. 18:5) was by faith in the very Christ they rejected (cf. Gal. 2:16).
Bondage to the Devil
The Bible tells us that the god of this world is the devil (2 Cor. 4:4, cf. 1 John 5:19). Later in this very chapter he goes on to indicate to the Jews that though they are the physical offspring of Abraham, their real father is the devil whose will they are all too ready to do (8:44). This inevitably led to their dying in their sins (John 8:24). But as Jesus insisted the devil as well as being an inveterate liar was also a murderer. According to the author of Hebrews taking his cue from the Genesis story, it was the devil who had the power of death (Heb. 2:14). This led inevitably to the universal fear of death which held mankind in permanent bondage. The Greeks were always afraid, said Gilbert Murray, and it was the fear of death that held all people in bondage.
Bondage to the Flesh
Early in the piece the Bible makes it clear that since all mankind are created from dust, they are in fact bound by their flesh (cf. Ps. 78:39; 103:14). As early as Genesis 6:3 it is made plain that the days of man’s flesh are limited to 120 years, though later this is scaled down to three score years and ten or perhaps four score. Not only does death come to all that breathes in the flood where the backcloth is sin but Elihu indicates that the life of all flesh by its very nature depends on God. If he withdraws his Spirit, then death inevitably ensues (Job 34:14f.; James 2:26). In light of this we rightly conclude that to live eternally man whose flesh is weak (cf. Rom. 7:14) must either keep the law which promises life (Gen. 2:17; Lev. 18:5, etc.) or live by faith (John 3:16, etc.).
The Bondage of Death and Corruption
Since man as a creature derives from a creation that is inherently temporal (2 Cor. 4:18), destructible and corruptible (Ps. 102:25-27, etc.), he is trapped by nature (cf. Luke 21:34). Escape is therefore paramount. However, since like Adam he proves incapable of keeping the law so as to gain (eternal) life, he is shut up to faith in Christ precisely as God always intended (cf. Eph. 1:4f.; 2 Tim. 1:9; Tit. 1:2). Apart from Christ who is his life-line, he is foredoomed to failure (Rom. 3:19f.). It should be noted here that even Jesus, the Man, himself escaped, first, by gaining life at his baptism indicating the universal need for regeneration by keeping the law (Lev. 18:5, cf. John 3:3-7) and, second, by being transformed at his ascension (cf. 1 Cor. 15:50-53). In this way he became our pioneer into heaven itself (Heb. 12:2) where he is seated at God’s right hand (Rev. 3:21).
The Bondage of Youth
But there was another matter of supreme importance which the churches under the influence of Augustinian tradition even in the twenty-first century seem to miss. Sin is not the only problem. (2* See further my Not Only But Also.) Paul points out in Galatians 4:1-3 that before being held captive by the law of Moses, which did not really come into effect until a Jewish boy reached the age of 13 or his bar mitzvah when he became a son of the commandment, a child was no different from a slave. Even though he was potentially the owner of the estate, as a minor he was enslaved under guardians, managers and the elementary principles of the world (Gal. 4:3) until the date set by his father. Even the Lord Jesus, recapitulating the experience of his forefathers, endured bondage in Egypt irrespective of sin (Mt. 2:15). In other words, like his fathers especially Abraham he was heathen before he was truly Jewish. Needless to say, as Luke 2:51 indicates, he remained submissive to his parents so long as he remained under the law (cf. Ex. 20:12). (It is worth noting that despite recognizing that his first allegiance was to his heavenly Father, as truly man in accordance with the law he submitted to the dictates of the law as his Father required, Luke 2:49).
So what Paul is in fact teaching the Gentile Galatians in 4:1-7 is that we all begin our conscious life as heathen under the covenant with Noah (cf. Acts 14:16f.), then, if we are Jews, we continue it under the law of Moses. Finally, when through faith in Christ we receive the Spirit of Christ we are called to live as adopted sons, and as such we are heirs of the estate (4:7, cf. Rom. 8:17). To express the issue yet more appositely, as sons and heirs we are free (Gal. 4:31, cf. Rom. 8:21) belonging to the Jerusalem that is above on the one hand (Gal. 4:26, cf. Phil. 3:20) and destined to share the glory of God on the other (Rom. 8:21, cf. v.30).
Bondage to Sin, Death and the Devil
In 1 Corinthians 15:56 Paul tells us that the law is the power of sin that leads to death (1 Cor. 15:56). In light of this assertion and others such as Romans 6:23 and Hebrews 2:14f., it is easy to assume that all death is the wages of sin and the work of the devil. But can this view be upheld? Can it be shown that sin is always in evidence? To answer this question we need to go back to Genesis 1-3 to Adam and Eve and the plan of salvation which has been so profoundly misunderstood by the churches which are still governed by the thinking of Augustine of Hippo. He saw things differently and, obsessed with sin, assumed that all bondage including death stemmed from sin. There is good reason, however, for believing that the Bible presents us with another scenario.
The Augustinian Worldview
According to Augustine and those who have accepted his views since, God brought into being a perfect creation which was intended to be subject to the dominion of a perfect, holy, righteous and even immortal Adam and Eve. However, despite their high moral standing first Eve, then Adam ‘fell’ into sin and dragged the whole creation down with them (Gen. 3). Thus because of human sin the earth lies permanently under the sentence of God’s curse. This, it is claimed, is the explanation of the death and corruption which we see and experience even today. Furthermore, this state of affairs is made worse by continuing murder, violence, rape and plunder perpetrated by man who as the offspring of Adam and Eve is born a sinner. It is yet further claimed that even animals are killed for food against the express intention of the God who created them. But can this scenario be justified? Since there is so much evidence suggesting something different, we must look at the issue a little more closely. But let us begin at the beginning.
Our First Parents
First, in the second chapter of the Bible, since Adam and Eve, while initially ignorant of the commandment and good and evil, are threatened with death if they eat of the fruit of the forbidden tree, the inference we are forced to draw is that they are naturally mortal but promised (eternal) life if they keep the commandment (Gen. 2:16f.). This is borne out by what Paul says in Romans 7:9-10 where he maintains that the commandment he as a son of Adam first received as a child presumably through his parents, when the (parental) commandment (cf. Prov. 1:8; 4:1-9; 6:20, etc.) first dawned on his developing mind and promised him life. What does he mean? Clearly, if he was already ‘alive’ as Adam originally had been, the life promised was eternal life which he obviously did not have. So the conclusion we are compelled to draw from this is that our first parents and all their children who were born in their image (cf. Gen. 5:1-3) were created naturally mortal and corruptible. If this is so, they were in dire need of a way of escape and this was only possible by keeping the commandment(s) as the frequently repeated teaching of Leviticus 18:5 constantly affirms.
The Bondage of Creation
If this is true and humankind is prone to death by nature, then sheer logic leads us inexorably to acknowledge the fact that the source of their nature, that is the earth from which they are taken (Gen. 2:7; Ps. 78:39; 103:14, etc.), is also naturally corruptible and destructible. This we might have been inferred from the fact that in contrast with the eternal Creator creation had a beginning and an end. This view is supported, first, by Genesis 1:1, and, second, by the threat of cataclysmic destruction by the flood and recognition that the covenant with Noah only endures to the end of the world (Gen. 8:22, cf. Isa. 54:9f.).
Now if these inferences are true we must expect them to be supported by other teaching expressly dealing with them in the rest of the Bible. Hebrews 1:10-12 which involves quotations from the OT certainly suggests that creation is naturally corruptible or subject to decay by divine decree. The expression “the work of your hands” (usually cheiropoietos) is always used pejoratively in Scripture in contrast with “not made by hand” (acheiropoietos) as Hebrews 9:11,24, for example, indicate. Now if man stems from a corruptible earth, it surely follows as night follows day that he also is naturally subject to decay or ageing. He too is manufactured or “made by hand’ (cf. Isa. 45:11f.). In other words, sin does not figure: in principle it is entirely irrelevant to the issue.
Romans 8:18-25
The same conclusion must be drawn from Romans 8:18-25 where Paul differentiates between the present age and that which is to come (v.18, cf. Luke 20:34-36; 2 Cor. 4:17f.). Contrary to much traditional teaching in which Genesis 3:15-19 is gratuitously and arbitrarily inferred, the bondage to decay of both creation and its creature has nothing whatsoever to do with sin. And the idea that the creation (as opposed to the creature) is going to be set free from its bondage to decay and enjoy the freedom of the children of God is as false as it is absurd. (3* For more detail, see my Romans 8:18-25.)
Romans 6:23, etc.
So it is important at this point to re-examine Romans 6:23 on the basis of which many have taught that sin is the universal cause of death and that it did not exist until Adam sinned. (4* On this see my Death Before Genesis 3, A Double Helping.) It should be noticed first that sin is defined as transgression of the law (commandment) as James 2:9-11 and 1 John 3:4, for example, indicate. Furthermore, it is a work which earns the wages of death. The problem is that animals do not know the law apart from which there is no transgression (Rom. 4:15), yet they nonetheless die like the Israelites who fed on manna (John 6:49). Like the creation itself (Heb. 1:11) they are naturally, that is, by creation prone to ageing and hence to death (cf. 2 Cor. 4:16; Heb. 8:13). So far as man is concerned sin becomes a problem because it prevents the realization of the promise of eternal life which is suspended on obedience or keeping the law (Gen. 2:17; Lev. 18:5, etc.). Since in the event all who receive the law cannot keep it, all die (cf. Rom. 5:12). Does this mean then that death cannot be overcome? Not at all! Jesus alone of all human beings that ever lived kept the law while he was in the flesh (Rom. 8:3, cf. Heb. 2:14f.) and gained (eternal) life. This is made evident by his baptism when, having pleased his Father while under the law, he received the Spirit (Mt. 3:13-17, cf. Gal. 3:2,5) which remained on him (John 1:32f.). (5* What ‘remains’ is of fundamental importance in Scripture. See e.g. 2 Cor. 3:11; Heb. 1:11; 12:27. While the earth and the flesh which derives from it, 2 Cor. 5:1, are destroyed, the spiritual remains forever.) This means that Jesus alone was perfectly qualified to atone for man’s sin and to serve as man’s Saviour as God always intended (Acts 4:12). Before God no ordinary man (flesh) will boast (1 Cor. 1:29) except in the Lord (1 Cor. 1:31).
Conclusion
I conclude then that all visible material things (Rom. 1:20) are by nature, that is, apart from sin, in bondage to decay (Heb. 1:11) and destruction (Heb. 1:12;12:27). They are naturally impermanent (2 Cor. 4:18) and ultimately futile. That is the way they were created, but ‘in hope’ (Rom. 8:20,24f., cf. 1 Pet. 1:3f.). Even the sinless Jesus who overcame death but remained flesh (Luke 24:39, cf. John 20:17) still had to be changed in order to ascend into heaven (1 Cor. 15:51-55). His incarnation had to be reversed if he was to inherit the eternal blessings of David (Acts 13:34) and to regain the glory he had with the Father before the world began (John 17:5,24). For just as he alone as flesh gained life (was necessarily born again) by keeping the law (Lev. 18:5), so as flesh he had to be changed because flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 15:50, cf. John 8:35 and Gal. 4:30). Not surprisingly, both immortality and incorruption, which were natural necessities that man at his creation did not possess, were uniquely accomplished and brought to light in him who did not personally sin (2 Tim. 1:10). And this ensured that the rest of his brethren could share these divine attributes (1 Cor. 15:53, cf. Heb. 2:11-13). In plain language, our acquisition of the generic nature (the incorruption and immortality) and moral holiness of God is accomplished in Christ. This was the intention from the start for those made potentially in the divine image.
Summary
To sum up, our bondage to creation, to creaturely (fleshly) corruption, to law, to sin and hence to death necessitates that we embrace Christ as a new husband. Once we have him we can begin new and permanent life in the Spirit (Rom. 7:6). In this way we become new creatures (2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15)* and when finally transformed fitted for heaven and the presence of God.
* To translate these verses (and Romans 8:21) as ‘creation’ may be formally correct but it is nonetheless highly misleading. It is people that are saved, regenerated, adopted, etc., not creation which being naturally transient was destined for destruction from the start (Gen.1:1; Isa. 51:6; 54:10; Zeph. 1:18; 3:8; Mt. 24:29, 35; 28:20; Luke 17:29f.; Rom. 8:20; Heb. 1:10-12; 6:7f.; 8:13; 12:26-29; 2 Pet. 2:6; 3:5-12, etc.).
Note the contrast between John 3:16 (world=people) and 1 John 2:15-17 (world=creation) and see my The Transience of Creation; The Destruction of the Material Creation. Note also the natural necessities of John 3:7 and 1 Corinthians 15:53 underlined in my Two ‘Natural’ Necessities.