People who are prisoners of war are not paid for their labor once set free. They sweat and toil and starve and work at the whim of the enemy. There is no way for war captives to earn their freedom.

This is an apt picture for our state without grace. Without faith that a Savior will free us, we are merely stuck in our labor camp of life. No matter how well we behave or how hard we work to be good, the prison warden is not going to let us off on good behavior.

Not only does Jesus come and set us free from our prison, he adopts us as children of God with an inheritance. We go from prisoner to princess or prince. That is way better than trying to earn our way out of sin. And all we do is believe.