Incarcerated Freedom – ransom & hostages

Hutchins State Prison (Texas Department of Criminal Justice Facility) 

November 9th, 2015
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It was a cold and blustery November morning for this particular ‘Weekend of Champions.’ The day had started off soggy and it had been raining all night.

Our team members were gathered outside of the prison’s front gates, as we waited for the normal security procedures to commence. Eventually, we were shuffled through the ‘Sally Port’ – a wide double gate which can only be opened one side at a time, as to prevent any escape attempts.

In my rush to get out of the cold and wet weather, I hadn’t noticed a very ominous sign posted on one side of the ‘Sally Port,’ facing the prison.

It read:

NO HOSTAGES SHALL EXIT THROUGH THIS GATE

As a team member pointed this out to me, I began to think of the ramifications of what that sign truly meant. And as my mind wandered, I began to contemplate the spiritual significance of ‘hostages’ - and what it would take, if I were taken hostage, to pass through those gates alive.

A Hostile Takeover

In John 8:34 Jesus tells the Pharisees that everyone who makes a practice of sin is a ‘slave’ (or hostage) to sin. The Apostle Paul elaborates on this idea further, stating in Ephesians, Chapter 2, that all of humanity, apart from the saving power of Jesus Christ, are ‘dead’ in their trespasses and sins: 

“following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all live, in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and [are] by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”

           "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" - Romans 3:23

The Apostle John tells us in 1 John 5:19, that “the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.”

And finally, 2 Timothy 2:26 tells us that everyone who is estranged from God is “captured” by the ‘Enemy’ to do his will.

This is when I began to see this sign differently – through spiritual lenses of the Gospel, and I realized that it wasn’t necessarily the prisoners I needed to worry about taking hostages, but rather, the prisoners themselves were the ones being held hostage – and none of them were going to exit through that 'gate' without the saving power of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Fortunately, the Bible tells us that Jesus came to ‘seek and to save what was lost’ (Luke 19:10) – and that is why I was there.

Whom the Son sets free is free indeed

The Gospel of John, Chapter 8, pins this incredible response of Jesus as it pertains to the slavery of sin.

³¹ So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you abide in My Word, you are truly My disciples, ³² and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”³³ They answered Him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that You say, ‘You will become free’?”

³⁴ Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. ³⁵ The slave does not remain in the house forever; the Son remains forever. ³⁶ So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

The incredible news of the Gospel is that God doesn’t leave us to our devices – to wallow in the mess we’ve created for ourselves, from which there is no escape. On the contrary, Jesus came to set captives free!

As Jesus testifies in the Luke 4:18-19:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
    because He Has anointed Me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives
    and recovering of sight to the blind,
    to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
    to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”

However, as the Bible reminds us, freedom is never truly free!

Redemption is a costly word

The word ‘redemption’ has many different meanings and connotations throughout the Scriptures, none of which are possible without the heavy price the Lord paid to free us from our slavery to sin.

You see, Jesus paid a ransom for you and for me, and it cost Him His life on the cross!

The New Testament original Greek word ‘Apolutrosis’ means “the full payment of a slave’s freedom” – the word is found in Ephesians 1:7 – as it is used for the word redemption:

⁷ In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace.

We see here that the ‘full payment’ for the believer in Christ, to be set free from sin, was paid in full by the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

for You were slain, and by Your blood You ransomed people for God
    from every tribe, and language, and people, and nation. – Revelation 5:9

The Bible reminds us of the heavy price the Lord paid to free us, stating:

“for you were bought with a price.” – 1 Corinthians 6:20                   

The only way for an individual to receive this ransom is to put his or her faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross for sinners.

 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 6:23

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. – Romans 10:9

Now, it was our job to proclaim this 'good news' to the prisoners! – For as many as would receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God (John 1:12) 

– And many that day were ransomed by the ‘ransom’ of Jesus Christ on the Cross for prisoners. 

– And many, because of the finished work of Christ, shall exit through that gate in freedom, whether here on earth, or in the life to come.