[ Back ]

False Implications of the Prison Cell Analogy

Jonathan Culley

24 Jul 98

All illustrations, analogies, and metaphors fall short of capturing the full scope and complexity of the reality they represent. Mathematicians call them models. Statisticians call them samples. Computer scientists call them simulations. Theologians call them parables. Artists call them portraits. By the very definition of the word representative, some details of the reality are missing. Sometimes, all we have available to examine is the representative of the reality. But, in examining the representative, we must be cautious not to limit the reality with the representative. People would think I was crazy if I said that the real Susan B. Anthony was two-dimensional and had silver skin.

There is a popular illustration used today to communicate the difference in status between the non-Christian and the Christian. It is based on Romans 6:17–18, "But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness."

Christians explain this illustration by saying something like this: The non-Christian is the prisoner who is trapped in the prison cell of sin. When he accepts Christ as his Savior, God unlocks and opens the prison cell door because his crimes have been pardoned, and God grants him true freedom from sin. Within this illustration, there is a tendency to view the life of sin as bleak, dreary, depressing, confined, and despicable, just as most people would view a real prison cell. Likewise, the outside of the prison cell is viewed as exciting, adventurous, invigorating, open, and desirable. I think these views were intended to be communicated by the illustration. However, many people extrapolate ideas and implications from the analogy that are unwarranted. When the Christian sins, these people would say that the analogy implies that it’s as if the Christian’s prison door was unlocked and opened, but he has temporarily revisited his old prison cell, partaking of his old gross, detestable, sinful ways.

Here is the confusion: If we relate our old sinful ways to the damp, dark, cold conditions of a prison cell, and our obedience and holiness to the free, open, delightful "world out there," then this inevitably begs the question, "As a Christian, why would I ever sin?" That is, "If sin is truly seen as detestable, then why would I choose that which is detestable?" The non-Christian doesn’t have the ability not to sin. But the Christian has the ability to sin, and the God-given ability not to sin. I propose that the reason the Christian still sins is that he sees sin as the "better choice" (i.e., most desirable) just before he decides to commit the sin. Otherwise, he would not choose to commit it. As Jonathan Edwards might put it, man’s decisions are driven by his desires at the very moment he decides. Therefore, the prison cell analogy breaks down when explaining why the Christian continues to sin. The reason he continues to sin is because at the very moment that he sins, he doesn’t view the sin as bringing him back into the prison cell. If he did, he would not go there.

Satan is the Master Deceiver. He makes the prison cell look like paradise. That’s why so many people are still enslaved in their own little prison cells: They are living in their self-defined "paradise." Christians still sin, not because they choose to crawl back into their undesirable, despicable prison cell, but because they choose to crawl back into their desirable, lovely prison cell. Satan (or even just Self) has convinced him that the prison cell is more lovely than the free, outside world that God freely provides him.

When we understand just how deceptive Satan is, we will be in a better position to become more and more holy through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. One of the ways we can understand Satan’s schemes is to avoid carrying the prison analogy too far by thinking that sin is always recognizable from a distance and is only found where we see a prison-like environment. Satan comes to us as the Angel of Light. He is attractive, and his goal is to present himself as the more desirable alternative to holy obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. We must be careful not to confine the reality into the bounds of the representative.

[ Back ]

To e-mail me, click here:  [email protected]
This page was last edited on 19 Dec 1999.