The Word of God is not Fettered

(2 Timothy 2:8-10 – The Word of God is not Fettered

There are many places and peoples in the world today who speak about freedom. They say they are free and they are living under various freedoms. But they do not realise that in many ways they are enslaved.

Even the great democracies of the western world are not truly free. Despite the rhetoric and the words they speak, they have not found true freedom. Their words do not free people, they bind them up.

But the word of God is not fettered. The word of God does not bind people up. Instead it truly frees them, and this is the thrust of this scripture today.

The Gospel is not fettered

First, let us look at the words under review today.

8 Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descended from David, as preached in my gospel, 9 the gospel for which I am suffering and wearing fetters like a criminal. But the word of God is not fettered. 10 Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain salvation in Christ Jesus with its eternal glory. (2 Timothy 2:8-10)

Paul was in fetters and chains, imprisoned like a common criminal for the sake of the Gospel. As he preached the word of God he was persecuted and opposed by the religious leaders of the day.

But in spite of these things, in spite of the attempts to shut Paul down, his words were truly unfettered as he preached the Gospel. Today we still have the power of those same words to help us understand the will and the ways of God.

And why could they not shut him up? Why were all attempts at closing down the word of God doomed to failure?

Because the word of God is not fettered.

2,000 Years later…

Look at the words the disciples wrote that became the New Testament. They spoke and spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Good News, to all corners of the planet. There is no one today who has not heard of Jesus Christ or heard the very basics of faith: that Jesus died to set you free from sin and give you eternal life.

Almost every person on earth has heard at least that much. Or if not they have still heard the name of Jesus and if they asked questions, will find out more.

In contrast to this we see that society at large has chosen to reject Jesus. They have decided to reject the words of God thinking they know better.

Worse still, in much of western society they want to stamp out Christianity and remove all religious mentions of Christ from public life. And this is not new as we saw exactly the same attempts to stop Christianity from the very beginning.

But all attempts in the past have failed, and they will continue to fail as time goes on. They fail because the word of God is not fettered. The word of God cannot be tied down, chained, or closed up. God has ensured that regardless of who or how the opposers try, nothing will stop His word from accomplishing His work.

The word of God will continue to spread and achieve the work to which it is aimed. It will bring man to the place where he is acceptable to God by setting him free from sin. And at some point in every person’s life they will be required to make a choice to either listen to and follow the unfettered word of God, or to reject it.

The word of God is not fettered – It is freedom

The world seeks freedom in every aspect of their life. They want to be free from regulation, free from prejudice and bias, free to live their best lives, and so on. But they are stymied at every turn because the very mechanisms they turn to impose bondages.

Think about it, whenever something bad happens in the world they people want their governments to fix it. But the mechanisms of government are to make laws, which by nature are prohibitive. The laws that governments put in place may attempt to free people, but they usually have the opposite effect because laws by nature are binding.

But God in His wisdom chose to set us free from our past sins by washing us clean through the death and resurrection of Jesus, and at the same time He set us free from the law.

All of the laws of the Old Covenant have been taken away for those who come to Christ in accordance with the will and ways of God. All who receive Christ and believe with faith are cleansed of their sins, and set free from the law.

And there is more because in Christ Jesus we can receive the Holy Spirit who will help us to gain the victory over the passions of our flesh so that we are no longer in slavery to those also. Instead we are set free from those passions to live in obedience to God rather than being swayed by emotions, lusts, and desires.

So, not only is it true that the word of God is not fettered, this same word removes the fetters of our life that prevent us walking in righteousness. Through Christ Jesus God has taken away the fetters that bind man to sin and sin to man. He has released those chains by His word or truth so that we can live with Him.

Remember that the word of God is not fettered and that whenever someone or something tries to bind or enslave you, recognise that this should not be so and seek the truth. The word of God is freedom and where His word truly dwells, there is freedom.

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