Ephesians 4:8 comments; He led our captivity captive

8  Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.

Wherefore means, “for that reason or purpose,” which we simply think of as,” why.”

Psalm 68:18  Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the LORD God might dwell among them.

These gifts of faith, grace, and mercy, of eternal life with our Creator come not out of our following a certain moral path, although we are called to do so, not out of our doing good works, although we are called to do so, and not out of our church attendance or membership or performance of rituals, although we are called to unite regularly with other believers in the worship of God. They come from believing certain things.

Believing what God has said;

Romans 4:3  For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.

Believing what Christ said about Himself;

John 12:48  He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

Believing that Christ rose from the dead;

Romans 10:9  That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

Believing that Christ is the only way to God and to eternal life;

John 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Acts 4:12  Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

The greatest bondage that man and woman are under, besides sin, is death. Sin is the cause of biological death.  Even atheistic evolutionists understand that death is an aberration although they reject the why and the how. I refer you to a book written by William R. Clark, a professor of Immunology at UCLA, entitled, Sex and the Origins of Death. In that book he clearly states on page 54, “Death is not inextricably intertwined with the definition of life.”

Romans 5:12  Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:……….21  That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

Christ conquered death and Hell. He led our captivity captive.

Revelation 1:18  I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

Romans 6:23  For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.