Articles
"Unbind Him"
Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead by calling to him, “Lazarus, come forth” (John 11:43). “The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him, and let him go’” (v. 44).
This was likely not intended, but these verses make a good summary of salvation.
We are bound by sin. Sin is often committed in the name of freedom, but it truly has a binding, enslaving effect. Simon the Sorcerer was “in the bondage of iniquity” (Acts 8:23), and Paul described himself as “sold in bondage to sin” (Romans 7:14). Jesus said, “Truly, truly I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin” (John 8:34).
Death accompanies sin’s bondage. “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23a).
We are saved when we answer Jesus’ call to “come forth” and follow Him, thereby becoming His disciples (Matthew 28:18-20). In baptism we are “raised up with Him” (Colossians 2:12) and “made . . . alive together with Him” (v. 13). Our new life is one in which we are no longer bound by sin. “But thanks be to God that though you were the slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness” (Romans 6:17-18).
Instead of wearing the old grave clothes of sin, we are clothed with Christ (Galatians 3:27).
Are you dead in sin or alive in Christ?
