Gal 3:22    But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.

         

In the first half of this verse is a truth that mankind does not like to acknowledge but which is truth nevertheless. It is that mankind left it itself (i.e. ignoring God) is a prisoner to sin and we cannot get free of it by ourselves. It is only when God speaks and God empowers by His Holy Spirit that we can ever have a hope of being free from sin. Until that happens each and every person without exception is locked into sin and cannot help themselves.

 

You never have to teach a child to be naughty; it knows how to be naughty instinctively. Being naughty for a child is being rebellious against its parents or seeking its way against other children, or even to positively do harm to other children. When we grow up we call it anti-social behaviour or when it is something the state legislates against, crime. But it's all the same, the expression of self and disregard for God's wishes – sin!

 

And that's what salvation is all about, setting people free from sin, by believing in Jesus and being led by His Holy Spirit, by faith. When we believe what the Bible tells us – that Jesus died to take our sin and our punishment - and we come to God in repentance, He forgives us and places His Spirit within us to empower us so that, as His children, we are enabled not to be self-centred and godless. Rejoice in that and live in that today!