The Unchained Word
A guest post by Chad Ramsey.
In his second letter to Timothy, Paul wrote:
“Remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, was raised from the dead according to my gospel, for which I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even to the point of chains; but the word of God is not chained” (2 Timothy 2:8, 9).
Although many truths are found in Paul’s statement, there is a notable distinction drawn between the messenger and the message. Because of persecution, Paul was chained, but the word of God remained free.
So what can we learn from this?
We must follow the message and not the messenger.
Some people are more concerned with the person who is preaching than with the message preached. Paul, however, shunned this idea.
Writing to the Corinthians, he declared:
“And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God” (1 Corinthians 2:4, 5).
If we follow a man, we may eventually be disappointed. If we follow God, we can be confident. The psalmist rightly penned:
“It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man” (Psalm 118:8).
We must realize that obedience to the message will yield spiritual freedom.
Ironically, Paul lost his freedom for preaching a message of freedom. But the freedom he proclaimed is spiritual rather than physical. The gospel message is designed to set man free from the bondage of sin.
As Romans 6:17-18 states:
“But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.”
We are freed by the message that cannot be chained.
Obey it today!
Chad Ramsey preaches for the Gloster Street Church of Christ in Tupelo, Mississippi. You can access their Bible classes and Chad’s sermons on Gloster Street’s YouTube page.
Chad was - and still is - “my preacher” from when I spent my high school and early college years at Gloster Street. I’m thankful to be able to share some of his writings with you.
