Slaves of corruption

While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage. - 2 Peter 2v19

Just like in Peter’s day we live in a day where the world offers great promises of liberty. They look at us like we are crazy because we don’t choose their lifestyle. They see our choices as a matter of what we can’t do. They claim that we are slaves to our religion.

Peter had a different perspective here. Those without Christ, especially the false teachers he is referring to here, are the ones in bondage. They are slaves of corruption. I think of drug addicts who are seemingly totally carefree and life wild licentious lives. Many of them know deep down, but their habits are killing them.

There is an Irish film called ‘Adam and Paul.’ It tells the story of a day in lives of two Irish drug addicts who wake up in Dublin harbour where someone has glued one of them to a mattress. I don’t know if the director intended it, but this start is symbolic of the story of their entrapment to their drug habit. The whole day is spent trying to find drugs. They lie, steal, and cheat to get their fix. No one is safe from their efforts to ‘score.’ At the same time they are being pursued by others with the same problem. It is a dark and ugly story. Nothing matters to them but satisfying their master. They finally get their drugs toward the end. The closing scene shows their utter depravity. The next morning both of them are back in Dublin harbour. One of them has died during the night, and the response of the other is to take the drugs out of his pocket and walk away.

While this might be an extreme example, it does show the reality of being trapped in sin. Corruption is a terrible master. It cares nothing for its servants. There is no real and lasting liberty.

Be careful that we do not believe the lies of the cruel master who cares nothing for us. Only in Christ can we find lasting freedom from that bondage.