There is something that must be clearly understood in this matter: people can escape the slavery of the practice of sin—but in what sense?
A person who once had a vice can cease to be enslaved by it with the help of the holy spirit. A moment comes when they break free from it and are no longer its slave. This also applies to practices such as immorality: people who led a life of immoral conduct—promiscuous individuals who had sex with multiple partners of the opposite or same sex, with many others besides their spouse, sometimes with dozens of different people, compulsively—stop living that way; they escape it. While they are engaged in it, they believe escape is impossible—it is like a vice—and this is something understood only by those who have gone through similar experiences.
That is why we know that a person whom God helps can escape sin—escape the *practice* of sin, the vice, the habit—things from which those without God cannot escape.
Does this mean the person ceases to be a sinful human being? No, not at all.
Does the struggle end once someone breaks free from a vice? No, not at all.
Even though a person may have stopped practicing the things that once enslaved them, they might still feel an inclination toward those very things. Take, for example, someone who was a drug addict, a homosexual, or an alcoholic: they may still feel as though their body is craving the things they used to do. There may be times when they feel nothing, and times when they suffer a relapse. Have they ceased to receive God's help? Absolutely not. The very fact that they abandoned their habitual practice of sin shows that God is helping them and blessing their efforts. They may lose a battle, but they never give up, nor do they lose the war, because they are not alone; God Himself is fighting alongside them.
When will people be freed from the effects of our first parents' sin upon our fallen flesh—upon our very genes? It will happen during the millennium of Christ’s reign; He and the under-priests with Him will perform a work on behalf of humanity. While interceding with God for them, they will cleanse the earth and help all human beings of that era regain the health that was lost through our first parents. That is why, at that time, there will no longer be high cholesterol, high blood pressure, or the impulsive urge to do wrong. People will act based on their own decisions, not because their bodies drive them to do otherwise.
Once you grasp this, you will understand why no one is free from sin until that time arrives, and yet in what sense we are no longer slaves to sin. Until that day comes, Jesus’ sacrifice ensures that if we repent, our efforts are blessed, and we continue to receive forgiveness for the occasional relapses we experience as we struggle on—waiting for the time when we regain full control over our bodies.
If you are young, you know these things well. If you are older and have forgotten, recall what it was like in your youth... and stop thinking that simply because you feel fewer selfish desires now than you did when you were young, you have therefore been delivered from the corruption of the flesh. Do not let age blind you or lead you to believe you are more than a common mortal...
