Loose Him and Let Him Go!
Uncle Bud Robinson noticed something in The Story of Lazarus that most of us probably missed. Lazarus came out of that tomb still wrapped in his grave clothes. Still bound hand and foot. Still with the napkin over his face.
He was alive. But he was not yet free.
The Second Command
Uncle Bud points out that Jesus gives two commands in this passage. The first was "Take away the stone" - and that led to the new birth. The second command comes now, directed again to the people standing around: "Loose him, and let him go." (John 11:44 KJV) or as the new translations say, “take off the grave clothes, and let him go.” (John 11:44 NIV11)
Uncle Bud writes on page 81-82: "We see in these two commands the two works of grace. The first was to take away the stone; that had to be done before Christ could call Lazarus out of the tomb. After the stone was removed we hear Christ say, Lazarus, come forth, and behold we see a living man before us, and to our surprise he is still bound, hand and foot, and the napkin is still over his mouth. Now we hear Christ say to the church, Loose him, and let him go."
Two commands from Jesus. The first brings life. The second brings freedom.
Alive but Bound
Not everyone agrees with this, but for those of us in the Wesleyan-holiness family of churches, the second work of grace is central to our understanding of the gospel message. The new birth is a perfect, genuine work of God - nobody is questioning that - but the newly converted believer still carries the cords of the sinful nature. Cords of anger. Cords of pride. Cords of jealousy, worldliness, and the fear of people.
What we need is not just Jesus saying ‘come out of the grave’, but once we’re out, we need to hear Him saying ‘take off the grave clothes’!
I don’t want to live a Christian life where I am still tied down by my grave clothes! I want to be free from those ties, that gag over my mouth! I want to be more than alive – I want to be free!
Loose Him and Let Him Go
This is the life that God intends for every believer - every cord broken, every string gone, walking and leaping and praising God in full freedom. Uncle Bud writes on page 85: "There is in the bosom of every man a longing to be perfectly free, and no man is a free man who has the carnal mind in his heart, for the carnal mind is in fact the cords that bind men."
Friend, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you have been called out of the tomb. But have you been loosed? Is your sinful nature still clinging to you like grave clothes? There is more freedom available than most believers ever claim.
Ask Jesus today to do the second work of grace - to loose you, and let you go.
Lazarus walked out of the tomb alive - but still wrapped in grave clothes. Is there more freedom available to you than you've ever claimed?