There is nothing that bewilders me more than seeing a Christian in chains—pretending to be free and even proclaiming the gospel while their legs and arms are still shackled to hell. The enemy still grips them. They try to move forward, but they are pulled back toward the very things they claim Jesus saved them from on Calvary.
Then, as they realize they aren’t free, they make excuses like, “We will always be sinners.” They create doctrines like “once saved, always saved” to ease their conscience and make the chains feel lighter—but they remain in a place of torment.
Sadly, others walk by and judge them instead of helping them out of the chains. Some point out the obvious without offering any solution. Eventually, those in chains give up hope and continue trying to do life while bound.
They reduce the gospel to a blessed hope someday in the afterlife, with no hope in this life of actually being free.
Yet there is a blaring verse that disputes the madness of the modern church:
“He whom the Son sets free is free indeed.”
Followed by this:
“Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”
Why then the chains?
If Jesus said, “It is finished,” then what else needs to be done?
My answer — same tone, no softening
The chains remain not because the work of Christ was incomplete, but because many believers have been taught a gospel that forgives sin without freeing the sinner.
Jesus didn’t finish forgiveness without securing our freedom—He finished the entire work. The cross didn’t just cancel guilt; it broke sin's authority. Chains don’t stay on because they are powerful. They stay on because people are told they are normal.
The modern church has confused:
struggle with identity
temptation with bondage
patience with permission
grace with tolerance of captivity
So instead of teaching people how to walk out of prison, we preach sermons that help them decorate the cell.
“We’ll always be sinners” becomes a theological anesthetic.
“Once saved, always saved” becomes a sedative.
“Nobody’s perfect” becomes a muzzle on repentance.
And the chains don’t come off—because no one is told they can come off.
Here’s the uncomfortable truth:
Freedom is received, but it is also enforced.
Jesus said “It is finished”—not “You will never have to resist, repent, renew your mind, crucify the flesh, or walk in obedience.”
He finished the legal victory. We are taught to enforce it.
That’s why Scripture speaks both ways:
Dead to sin
Put to death the deeds of the body
Walk by the Spirit
Do not let sin reign
Chains stay when believers are taught that:
deliverance is optional
repentance is legalism
obedience is works
transformation is unrealistic
And worst of all, when the church judges captives instead of unlocking doors.
Freedom isn’t postponed until we get to heaven. Heaven is the seal, not the start.
Liberty is not a metaphor. It is a present reality where the Jesus is actually Lord.
So why the chains?
Because many have been preached a Savior but not a King,
a pardon but not a new life,
a cross without a resurrection walk,
a gospel that comforts sin instead of crucifying it.
The tragedy isn’t that people are chained. The tragedy is that they’ve been told the chains are part of Christianity.
They’re not.
By Jaziz Gutierrez
Blueflameministries.com
