Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States.

He led the United States through the American Civil War, defeated the Confederacy and abolished slavery.

The story is told about Lincoln attending a slave market before the war.

There he noticed a young, beautiful African-American woman being auctioned off to the highest offer.  He bid on her and won.

Then turning to the woman he said, ‘You’re free’.  

‘Yeah? What does that mean?’ she asked.  

Lincoln: ‘It  means that you’re free.’  

‘Does it mean I can say whatever I want to say?’  

‘Yes,’ replied Lincoln, smiling, ‘it means you can say whatever you want to say.’  

‘Does it mean,’ she asked incredulously, ‘that I can be whatever I want to be?’  

‘Yes, you can be whatever you want to be.’  

‘Does it mean,’  the young woman said hesitantly, ‘that I can go wherever I want to go?’  

‘Yes, it means you are free and you can go wherever you want to go.’

‘Then,’ said the woman with tears welling up in her eyes, ‘I think I’ll go with you.’

We are all born slaves; slaves You to sin. We were sinners to begin with, and we are sinners by practice. Our sin makes us guilty before God. And guilt brings God’s punishment.

We need somebody to buy our freedom from sin, guilt and punishment.

Jesus paid it all.

Jesus’ death on the cross sets free all who trust him.

1. They are free from sin’s power.

“For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace” (Romans 6:14).

2. They are free from sin’s guilt.

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:2).

3. And they are free from the punishment of death that their sins deserve.

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he die yet shall he live” (John 11:25).

And, like the slave girl, they can with gratitude follow the one who paid the price.

Jesus said, “Come, follow me” (Mark 1:17).

“…if the Son [Jesus] sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36).

Amen