John 11:44

            “And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”  This isn’t just a story about another miracle Jesus did, it’s instruction on helping ourselves and others step away from sin. It seems the problem is not totally believing we were saved and set free.  The dead come to Christ in graveclothes and their faces seem to be the only thing uncovered, but they’re still in their sin and can’t be free. Notice it says “Loose him, and let him go”. Loose in this passage means to put off. We can lead people to Christ and take off the cloth wrapped around their face by showing them their sinful life, but if we don’t help them put off their graveclothes, they will continue to trip and fall in their sin.  We need to understand, and help others understand, when Jesus rose from the grave, sin lost its grip on us, Satan lost his authority and death lost its power over us, we have been set free.  Chances are, we loosened the graveclothes but haven’t put them off and stepped out of them. We are told in John 8:36 “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed”. When you, and those you know accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior. The graveclothes are our past lives and “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17), so “put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts” (Romans 13:14) “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ (Galatians 3:27). The Son made you free, you have put on Christ, so live free from sin and enjoy an abundant life.