Before we became Christians, we were in bondage to sin. I know it felt like "freedom" at times, but in truth, we were enslaved by our lusts and the desires of the flesh. We had no freedom.
Now that we have believed Christ, and have become new creatures in Him, those things that we were enslaved by should be dead to us. Instead, we should be alive to Christ and the desires that He has for our lives.
Romans 6~
[19]
I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh:
for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to
iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to
righteousness unto holiness.
[20] For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.
[21] What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.
[22] But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
- The fruit of our lives before Christ was death.
- The fruit of our lives after salvation are holiness and everlasting life.
We like that "everlasting life" part, but too often fail to practice the "holiness" aspect.
If you are continuing to practice the same sins that held you in bondage before your salvation, something is seriously wrong.
You
need to spend time in the Bible with the Lord to make sure of your
salvation; or you need to spend time in the Word to fortify yourself to
abstain from those sins. (Either way, time spent in God's Word is
profitable for us all.)
We will all face occasional temptations to return to the sins that used to hold us captive,
but with the living Word of God as our sword and the shield of our
faith, we can quench the fiery darts of the enemy and live a life of
freedom and holiness before God.
Obtaining Mercy 