The Promise of Christmas is not only a promise to save us from the judgment of our sin but also a promise for us to overcome our sinful habits. We will never quite understand the extent of this promise until we first understand the seriousness of our problem.

"I am convinced that the first step towards attaining a higher standard of holiness is to realize more fully the amazing sinfulness of sin." - J.C. Ryle

 1. The Promise is Explosive

The very nature of the gospel defines that we are sinners. Should we deny that fact, we utterly deceive ourselves. 

Think about the word “save”. Jesus came “to save His people from their sins.”  SAVE is a radical word. You do not save someone who just needs a little help. You save someone who is unable to do anything to save himself. A person who is lost at sea needs saving. A person who has stopped breathing needs saving.

 This means that prior to Jesus’ saving them, His people were helplessly, hopelessly lost in their sins. They were alienated from God, under His righteous judgment, and unable to free themselves from this condition. A Saviour is one who has the power to rescue people who could not rescue themselves. Jesus has the God-given power to save His people from their sins.

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God revealed from faith for faith: as it is written, “The righteous just shall live by faith” (Romans 1:16-17).

• 2. The Promise is Expensive

The Bible tells us in Romans 5:10, that Jesus came to us while we were His enemies. He came to us while we were in the chains of the Devil and the grip of this world. He came and set us free — free from slavery to sin, free from the chains of the Evil One, free from the grip of this world and the bondage of our fleshly lust and desires.

The Bible says that we have been ransomed not with perishable things but with the precious blood of Christ. Someone has said that salvation is free. Yes, it is free in that it does not cost silver, gold, dirhams or dollars. But that does not mean that it doesn’t cost anything. In fact, it cost Christ everything. Salvation is free to you and me because Jesus paid the price.

• 3. The Promise is Enabling.

Before Christ, we were already slaves to sin. Our hearts, our souls, our bodies were captive to sin. We had no choice but to sin. Yet unlike the slave girl, we loved our captivity and reveled in it. We lived in the foolishness of our minds and bliss of our ignorance. We relished every foolish, ignorant moment. We loved the world and we hated God (Rom. 8:7). We loved the passions of our flesh and deemed God unnecessary and His Word irrelevant for daring to challenge our lives. We were lovers of self rather than lovers of God (1 Tim. 3:2–4). We were on the broad road to hell and happy to be there.

 It was into this situation that the Lord came to save us from our sin! God ransomed us with the precious blood of Christ. And like the young slave girl, we should desire nothing more than to live for and live with the One who has redeemed us.

The apostle Peter writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit  reminds us that our priceless redemption should provide the motivation for our loving, joyful, holy obedience to Christ.