To obtain true freedom is to be delivered from sin (vv. 11b, 32, 36). Anyone who is free does not sin; rather, he is released from sin and transcends sin. However, who has the ability to transcend sin and to stay outside of sin? Who is not under the bondage of sin? Sin not only rules over a man while he is living but eventually sends him into death. The Bible says that “the wages of sin is death” and that “the soul who sins...shall die” (Rom. 6:23, Ezek 18:4). Our experience testifies also that those who sin a great deal usually have a short life.
In a negative sense, a person who desires to have a short life and who leads a life of dissipation will eventually see the fulfillment of his desire. Man’s road to suicide is sin, and whoever lives in sin will end up in death. Actually, to sin is to commit a slow suicide. A person who plays mah-jongg every day and returns home late every night will find it difficult to adequately care for his responsibilities. In addition, he may become tempestuous, have an attitude of reproach and hatred toward others, be at odds with his family, and have an unloving attitude toward his children. Such a person will have no happiness in human relations or peace in his human life. In addition, a person who habitually plays mah-jongg is susceptible to getting angry and causing trouble. Thus, it will be difficult for him to avoid illness over time. Playing mah-jongg consumes a person’s physical and mental strength and is only one example of a sin that can lead to sickness. There are many other sinful things that lead to sickness and eventually to death. Sin rules over man and delivers man into the realm of death.
Everyone who has sinned knows the misery of sin and desires to be delivered from sin. However, deliverance from sin is not in human hands. Many who have attempted to free themselves from sin have failed. Although it is easy to be contaminated by sin, it is difficult to rid oneself of sin. Trying to rid oneself of sin is as difficult as an addict trying to give up his harmful habit. Anyone who develops a bad habit will find it difficult to get rid of such a habit.
A believer once testified of his suffering from his inability to refrain from sin. Prior to his salvation, he loved to dance. He would dance from sunset until two or three o’clock in the morning. However, each time he went dancing, he developed back pains from dancing, and whenever he arrived at home, he would not care to undress but would simply fall asleep on his bed. He often regretted his going out to dance and often determined not to dance again. Whenever morning came, he would decide not to dance that day so that he would not cause himself trouble again. Until noon his resolution not to dance would remain firm. However, by the afternoon the inner voice that told him not to dance was not as loud as in the morning, and by sunset, when the neon lights on the streets were on, he would begin to dance inwardly and would inevitably walk to the entrance of a dance hall and go in to dance. This brother’s testimony describes man’s pitiful condition of helplessness in sin.
People sometimes ask whether a person can still watch movies after believing in Jesus. Preachers often find this question difficult to answer. If they answer yes, it will readily become a matter of dispute, because people might misunderstand the answer. Although many movies are proper, the improper movies greatly outnumber the proper ones, and many people prefer the improper movies to the proper ones. Hence, it is difficult to answer this question.
However, if a preacher replies that one cannot watch movies after believing in the Lord Jesus, some people would decide not to believe in the Lord Jesus because they still want to watch movies. This situation is similar to that of a child who is playing with a sharp knife. His mother may realize that it is dangerous for her child to play in this way, but she may not know how to seize the knife from her child. A clever mother would simply throw a few pieces of chocolate on the floor. When her child sees the chocolate, he will be attracted and will spontaneously drop the knife and pick up the chocolate with both his hands. Once the child picks up the chocolate, he would have no desire for the knife.
Our answer to the question concerning watching movies is to apply the story of the clever mother. If a person is full of Christ within, he will spontaneously drop the “knife” of watching movies. A person loves to watch movies because he is empty and does not have the Lord within him. Because he is empty, he feels bored and needs to entertain himself. Hence, he goes to the movies to make himself happy. However, when a person has the Lord as his true satisfaction, and the Lord becomes his happiness and fills every need within him, he will testify that he no longer needs the “knives.”
In the past, our answer to this question touched a lady and caused her to receive the Lord. After she was saved, she became joyful and testified in a meeting, saying, “Thank the Lord, I no longer need movies, because I have Christ within.” People who do not have the Lord are empty inside and have no satisfaction. Since they have no real hope or genuine happiness, they can only live in sin and seek the pleasures of sin. This is a basic cause of man’s sinning.