Paul paints a picture of imprisonment. The bars of the cell are sin, keeping us confined. The Scripture put us in the prison, because it pointed out our sinful condition. So we sit imprisoned by sin, and the law can not help us, because the law put us in the prison. Sin is personified as a jailor, keeping sinners under its control so that they cannot break free. Some protest and say, “I’m not a prisoner to sin.” There is a simple way to prove it: stop sinning. But if you can’t stop sinning, or ever have a record of sin, then you are imprisoned by the law of God.
Only faith can break us out of our confinement to sin. The Law of Moses can show us clearly our problem and God’s standard, but it cannot give us the freedom that only Jesus can give. The freedom is given to those who believe. The bars of our sin are strong; we can’t saw through them ourselves. There is no chance of a jailbreak. Instead, an offer is made by the warden Himself to simply open the door and walk out – but you have to acknowledge you are confined, that you deserve to be in the cell, and ask Him to free you. When the prosecutor accuses the warden of not being just, the warden simply points out that the freed prisoner’s sentence was completely fulfilled – by Himself!
A warden that takes the punishment. What a concept! This is a powerful analogy for Jesus. In all the prison movies or mystery book series I have read, never does the warden take the punishment of those jailed. Today we see that Jesus did exactly that. As a spiriutal practice spend some time in prayer with God thinking about this analogy. Are there any other analogies God has laid on your heart? Or maybe, this morning scripture inspired you to share the jailor analogy with someone else. In either case, YOU ARE FREE! Live like it and share the gospel that gave you that freedom!