Do you realize that you are a slave?
12Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. 14For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace. 15What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! 16Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?
Romans 6:12-16 (NIV)
Remember the previous section in Romans 6:12-14, where Paul emphasizes the importance of not just avoiding sin (the ‘don’ts’) but actively pursuing righteousness (the ‘dos’)? He now asks a question in Romans 6:15 that might seem similar to the one in Romans 6:1, both addressing the idea that grace could be seen as a license to sin. However, there’s a subtle difference. With verse 1, Paul’s response in Romans 6:1-14 focused on how our union with Christ in His death and resurrection gives us a new motivation for holy living, driven by gratitude and love, not fear of punishment.
But with Romans 6:15, Paul expands on Rom.6:12-14 idea by pointing out that we are always ‘do’ to serve something or someone. We are either slaves to sin, which ‘do’ to death, or slaves to obedience, which ‘do’ to righteousness. In fact, we’re never truly “free” in the sense of having no master at all.
Think about it this way: whatever we prioritize most in our lives becomes our master. If we’re constantly chasing after power, acceptance, or any other earthly desire, those things will control us. We might think we’re in charge of our own lives, but in reality, we’re being controlled by whatever we’ve made most important.
Paul makes it clear that there are only two possible masters: sin or God. If we’re not actively serving God, then by default, we’re slaves to sin. And being a slave to sin only leads to death. But when we choose to serve God and actively pursue obedience to Him, it leads to righteousness and abundant life.
So when someone asks, “If we’re saved by grace, does that mean we can just sin all we want?” Paul’s answer is a resounding “No!” Because sin isn’t something we can dabble in without consequence. Sin is a master that will enslave us and ultimately destroy us.
This doesn’t mean that we follow God’s law to earn our salvation. We’re saved by grace, not by our own obedience. But it does mean that actively pursuing obedience to God is essential if we want to live in the freedom and fullness of life that He intends for us.
In other words, a Christian doesn’t obey the Ten Commandments to be saved, but a Christian does obey the Ten Commandments to be truly free and experience the abundant life God has for them. If we don’t actively pursue obedience to God, we’ll inevitably become slaves to our own selfish desires and to sin’s destructive power.
So the question isn’t whether we’ll serve a master, but which master we’ll serve. Will we passively offer ourselves to sin, which leads to death? Or will we actively offer ourselves to God, which leads to righteousness and life? That’s the choice before us each and every day as we seek to live out our new identity in Christ.
Would you agree that there is no neutral ground, you either ‘do’ slavery to sin or ‘do’ slavery to God? How is this realization influence the action or inaction in your daily life?
[The ideas for this week’s materials on Romans 6:15-7:6 were drawn from Tim Keller’s book “Romans 1-7 for You“]
I do agree that there is no neutral ground- that we are either enslaved to sin or slaves to God. However, I would just expand on something our reading today seemed to touch on in regards to this. Our reading today points out, “If we’re not actively serving God, then by default, we’re slaves to sin. And being a slave to sin only leads to death. But when we choose to serve God and actively pursue obedience to Him, it leads to righteousness and abundant life.” I would place an emphasis on the word “choose” here. Though we are not truly free in the sense that we have no master, as slaves to God, we are only then truly free to “choose” to serve Him in active obedience. When we are slaves to sin, we lose that power of choice in progressive degrees. Therefore, “whom the Son sets free is free indeed!”
This realization influences the action or inaction in my daily life in that it helps me to truly enjoy the freedom I experience whenever I choose to serve God in an active pursuit of righteousness. The Christian life is not just another set of moral rules and regulations I have to grudgingly submit to, but really it is the only true path to freedom and abundant life!
I agree with Don posting today and I’ll add one more point to it which comes from our group discussion on Saturday and the sermon Pastor Jimmy gave on Sunday. I don’t “do” anything wrong most of the time but I do think that I often sins from “omission” in that I don’t always “do” what I should be doing. And when I am doing something, often I would get distracted and I would rather do something else rather than what God wants me to do – sins of omission? I would feel guilty about the sins and I would feel burden by the weight of that guilt – which as a brother pointed out – might mean that I don’t quite understand or have enough faith in Jesus sacrifice.
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5:1 – So did I just yoke myself to some other set of rules? I question my motivation here and think that I am wanting to do His works but I wonder if the motivation is partly out of guilt which means that my faith in His sacrifice is not so strong?! So I haven’t actually achieved the true path to “freedom and abundant” life? Something to ponder on for sure. Even as I approach closer to God and striving to live a life of servitude to Him I still see pot holes and traps that I can easily fall into. In the end it points to a need to strengthen my faith in the Lord!