And be sure, my friends, that
whosoever indulges, even in little matters, in hard judgments, and
suspicions, and hasty sneers, and loud railing, against men who
differ from him in religion, or politics, or in anything else, is
deadening his own sense of right and wrong, and sowing the seeds of
that same state of mind, which, as the Lord told the Pharisees, is
utterly the worst into which any human being can fall.
XL--THE SPIRIT OF BONDAGE
For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye
have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry Abba, Father.--
ROMANS viii. 15.
Some of you here may not understand this text at all. Some of you,
perhaps, may misunderstand it; for it is not an easy one. Let us,
then, begin, by finding out the meaning of each word in it; and, let
us first see what is the meaning of the spirit of bondage unto fear.
Bondage means slavery; and the spirit of bondage means the spirit
which makes men look up to God as slaves do to their taskmaster.
Now, a slave obeys his master from fear only; not from love or
gratitude. He knows that his master is stronger than he is, and he
dreads being beaten and punished by him; and therefore, he obeys him
only by compulsion, not of his own good will.
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