by Dennis Gladden, By Green Pastures, ©2026
(Apr. 5, 2026) — Christians celebrate today the resurrection of Christ.
For good reason.
Without His resurrection, we are trapped with no hope for a better life.
We are left with a life that is no life at all, like Legion among the tombs or Lazarus in his.
We will be what we are.
“If Christ is not risen, you are still in your sins!” said the Apostle Paul.1
Jesus sprang the trap we hate but can’t escape.
Reverse Paul’s words: “If Christ is risen, you are no longer in your sins!”
No longer in your sins!
Think of its significance.
No longer locked in hopelessness.
No longer sentenced to life as you’ve always known it.
You are free.
Free to live as God intended.
When Jesus walked through the tomb’s door that resurrection morning, He sprang the trap.
The trap we hate but can’t escape.
Paul described it in what has been called “Everyone’s Story.”
I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.2
I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.3
Stiff-arm the good, sidle up to the bad.
We all do that.
That’s the definition of sin.
That’s our prison.
Paul built the walls.
The Scripture has confined all under sin.4
God has committed them all to disobedience.5
Jesus bolted the lock.
You will die in your sins, for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.6
“You will die in your sins.”
He said it twice.
When Jesus repeats something, you know it’s certain.
Apart from Him, we keep on doing what we shouldn’t. And we will not do what we should.
We will sin and die in our sin.
End of story—if Christ is not risen.
But Jesus made something else certain.
The Promise.
Turn what Jesus said to the positive.
Believe that I am He, and you will not die in your sins.
To be sure we know it’s certain, He said it again.
Whoever hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and has passed from death into life.7
Believe, and live.
Here’s proof.
Paul believed, and it changed his life.
“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief,” he said.8
Paul had persecuted, even killed, followers of Jesus. When he encountered the risen Christ, Paul immediately began proclaiming the very message he had tried to quash.
He had experienced the power of the gospel.
The turnaround was complete.
“It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.”9
Paul lived out the power of these words of Jesus:
You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.10
I am the way, the truth, and the life.11
Put the two together.
Jesus is the truth, and the truth makes you free.
Free from what?
Jesus left no doubt, “Whoever commits sin is a slave of sin… Therefore, if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”12
This led Paul to testify, “Christ is risen, and I am no longer in my sins.”
The chief of sinners was free.
The promise is simple:
Know Jesus (know the Truth), believe Him, and the power that raised Him from the dead will be unleashed in you.13
So, of course, we celebrate today.
The Lord is risen!
Christ is risen, and you are no longer in your sins!
Believe, and go live out the truth.