Out of the Dark and Into the Light

The TV mystery begins, and it’s dark. Dark city street, dark house, dark alley. You think, “Uh-oh, here comes trouble.” Don’t people know bad stuff happens when it’s dark? Especially if they’re alone? 

Apparently while attending perpetrator school, criminals learn the best way not to get caught doing something wrong is to do it in the dark. When no one can see – at least not very well.

I remember as a kid watching the old horror and thriller movies – when they were still in black-and-white. (Those were days before blood, gore and evil got so explicit, depicted in dying color.) Whenever a scene turned dark, you knew something bad was about to happen. Darkness and danger were Siamese twins.

But we don’t have to be a hardened criminals – or movie monsters – to be enticed by the secrecy of the dark. Particularly when doing things we know we shouldn’t be doing. In the light of day, we know how to act like angels. You can almost see our little halos. But in the dark, when no one can see what we’re up to, the insidious human affliction called sin shifts into high gear.

We harbor secrets, sometimes feeling guilty about them. But because no one else knows, they hold us captive. “You call yourself a Christian? What would people think of you if they found out? You hypocrite!”

The Bible calls this being “slaves to sin.” As Romans 6:16 expresses it, “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.”

I’ll never forget receiving a phone call from an old friend years ago. He and I had met almost weekly for more than a year, working through a Bible study aimed at developing disciples for Christ. Then, because of his work schedule, we stopped meeting.

While we were meeting, it had seemed he was growing spiritually, eagerly discussing the Scriptures and even memorizing some verses. The night he called, however, my friend was wrestling with some deep, dark issues. Answering the phone I instantly could tell he was very upset. “Bob,” he said, with voice trembling, “I need a friend.” That’s all he said, over and over: “I need a friend.” 

I tried to encourage him to explain what was troubling him, but the best I could do was arrange a time and place when we could meet. As we sat down at a restaurant a couple of days later, my friend proceeded to open up about his secrets. He confessed a pattern of sinful behavior I had known nothing about during the months we met. He’d never confided this to anyone. After years of living a double life, the guilt and shame had become more than he could bear.

What I heard surprised me, but didn’t shock me. After years of discipling and mentoring other men, I’d learned you’re likely to hear anything and everything. I also understood the truth of 1 Corinthians 10:12-13, “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! No temptation has seized you except what is common to man….” There’s no sin that any of us is incapable of doing, in thought, word or deed, apart from the saving power of Jesus Christ.

So I didn’t judge him or condemn. What I did was commend him for finally bringing his sins to light. James 5:16 tells us, “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.” This is not like confessing to a pastor or priest, seeking absolution. It’s shining the light of God’s grace and mercy into one’s dark, secret world – because once revealed, besetting sins can lose their power.

Another passage from the same book gives a vivid illustration of the power of confession and repentance: “Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up” (James 4:8-10).

This is what my friend had done, finally becoming honest with himself and submitting to the accountability of God – and a brother in Christ. For the first time, he was able to experience the truth of 1 Peter 2:9, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

Free at Last – Truly Free!

Twice recently I’ve heard radio commentators talk about the initial effects of the Emancipation Proclamation, signed by Abraham Lincoln on Jan. 1, 1863, to abolish slavery and set free more than three million men, women and children. Both speakers observed that ironically, even though the executive order legally emancipated those enslaved, many didn’t take immediate advantage of their freedom.

Two primary reasons for the delay were 1) news of the proclamation traveled slowly in those days, and 2) some slaves either could not believe their good fortune or were so accustomed to living in enslavement, they at first opted to remain as they had been for many years.

The latter circumstance – failure to act on their new freedom – reminded me of a dilemma many of us confront as followers of Jesus Christ. We receive Jesus as Savior, understanding our sins past, present and future are forgiven, yet seem unable to rid ourselves of the bondage of sinful behavior we’ve practiced for so long.

In Jesus Christ, to use the words of
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we are
"free at last"!

If you question the comparison of human servitude to being controlled by sin, consider Galatians 5:1, which asserts, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”

Some of us remember the humorous excuse Flip Wilson’s character, “Geraldine,” often offered: “The devil made me do it!” We find ourselves making the same justification, without attempting to be funny. If we believe the Scriptures, however, we find the devil might suggest – but can’t make us do anything. Nearly the entire sixth chapter of Romans addresses this spiritual reality:

“For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin” (Romans 6:6).

“In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires” (Romans 6:11-12).

“For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace” (Romans 6:14).

This wonderful chapter goes on to make an even more explicit correlation:

“Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves to the one you obey – whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness…. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness” (Romans 6:16-18).

“When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness…. But now that you have been set free from sin and have becomes slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:22-23).

I’ve wrestled with anger and anxiety for much of my life. I didn’t always understand that in Christ I’m free from those and other sins. We all have our “besetting sins” – mine might not be yours, and yours might not be mine – but the promise of the Scriptures is that through the life of Jesus Christ in us, we no longer need to be dominated or controlled by them, no matter what they are.

Like the slaves unaware they had been freed, or those for whom slavery had become so familiar they couldn’t comprehend a life of freedom, we too can continue yielding to the ever-present influence of sin. But we don’t have to; one of the wonders of being reconciled to God through Christ is a new freedom –being made free to become all God intends for us to be.

We’re familiar with the famous words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in his speech, “I Have a Dream”: “Free at last, free at last, thank God almighty, we are free at last!” What a wonderful goal for all people.

Through Jesus, when confronted with temptation and enduring sinful habits, we no longer must submit to them. Regardless of the color of our skin, gender, age or social standing, we too can truly and wholeheartedly declare that – from sin – we are, “Free at last, free at last, thank God almighty, we are free at last!”