"My Chains Are Gone" - What Does This Look Like?

One of my very favorite Christian songs in Chris Tomlin’s version of “Amazing Grace.” To the original verses, Tomlin added an interlude with these lyrics:

My chains are gone, I've been set free
My God, my Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy reigns
Unending love
Amazing grace

The image of broken chains is one of the most common descriptions of the Christian life. But what does this really mean? What does it look like? Can I expect to immediately be freed from my addictions and other major problems?

I want to be very careful here. I fully believe that God can instantly transform someone and save them from a life of alcoholism, drug abuse, sexual addiction, and the like. This does happen. But not usually. More often, God starts someone on a lengthy road that leads to significant changes over time – often many years.

The following picture captures how the transformation process often unfolds. Imagine you are in a locked jail cell, unable to get out on your own. Jesus comes along with the key, unlocks the door, and invites you to leave. The moment the tumblers in the lock click, you have an option you didn’t have before. But you are still in the cell, and you will remain there until and unless you get off the cot, swing the door open, and walk out.

On rare occasions, Jesus will pull the cell door open himself, walk in and carry someone out. But in my experience, this is very much the exception. Instead, he expects us to do our part.

This dynamic reminds me of something I wrote in another blog post from 2021. In a dramatic scene from C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe one of the children (Peter) had to attack a ferocious wolf that was about to devour his sister Susan.

Peter did not feel very brave; indeed, he felt he was going to be sick. But that made no difference to what he had to do. He rushed straight up to the monster and aimed a slash of his sword at its side.

A nightmarish battle ensues.  But finally, Peter

found that the monster lay dead and he had drawn his sword out of it and was straightening his back and rubbing the sweat off his face and out of his eyes.

Mind you, Aslan, who represents Christ, was right there watching the whole thing. He could have instantly vaporized the wolf, but instead he wanted Peter to experience the growth and exhilaration that comes from facing and attacking a terrifying situation.

So the way I see it, when you enter into a relationship with Jesus, he really does break your chains – or to put it in other terms, unlocks the door on your cell. You’re no longer forced to wallow in whatever it is that traps you. But he wants you to step up and rely on him to help you grew to new heights you could only have imagined. Having the cell door unlocked is just the beginning of a life-long process that allows you to draw on the power of the Holy Spirit to develop your spiritual muscles and become increasingly transformed into the image of Jesus (2 Corinthians 3:18).