FREE FROM SIN
Romans 6:15-23
We
like to think that we are in charge of our lives. There is a certain helplessness that we
experience when we think things have gotten beyond our power to control. We would rather think that we are
invincible. The English author, editor,
and poet, W.
Out of the night that covers me
Black as the pit from pole to pole
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud
Under the bludgeonings of
chance
My head is bloody but unbowed
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but a horror of the shade
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me, unafraid
It matters not how strait the gate
How charged with punishment the scroll
I am the master of my fate
I am the captain of my soul.
The
truth that we see when we view the world through a right perspective is that we
are not the captains of our souls. Prior
to our coming to Christ, we were enslaved to sin. It is only in salvation that we find a
freedom from sin.
For
sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
(Romans 6:14).
The
believer has been delivered from sin.
This is the basis for Christian victory.
|
Although the word “redemption” does not appear in
this chapter, this concept is at the heart of everything Paul says. We who were once enslaved by sin have been
purchased by God to serve a new master. |
Why
doesn’t sin have mastery over you? Not
because of the law. Not merely because
of duty. But because
of God’s wonderful gift.
This
brings us to a question.
If
we are not under the law but under grace, then why not continue in sin?
What
then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be! (Romans 5:15).
The
question here is very much like the one that was asked in verse 1.
|
6:1 |
6:2 |
6:15 |
6:16 |
|
Question: Are we to continue in sin that grace might
increase? |
Answer: No, because you have died to sin and now live to
Christ. |
Question: Shall we sin because we are not under law but under
grace? |
Answer: No, because you have been set free from sin to
serve righteousness. |
|
Christians are free from sin |
Christians are free from sinning |
||
EVERYONE
SERVES SOMEONE
Do
you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for
obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in
death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? (Romans 6:16).
Paul
presents an axiom. An axiom is a general
truth which is self-evident. The
question, “Do you not know?” introduces this axiom. This was a truth that Paul expected everyone
to already know.
Here
is the principle: Obedience results
in slavery. The concept of slavery
was commonly held and understood. It is
estimated that as much as 80% of the population of
A
slave is one who is owned by another. He
is in bondage. And because of that
bondage, he has no ability to exercise his free will. He might have free will, but having it and
using it are two entirely two different things.
A slave’s will is subservient to that of his master.
You
are a slave. Your slavery moves in
either one of two directions. Either you
are a slave to sin or else you are a slave to obedience.
|
When you present your body
to serve another... |
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|
You are slaves to |
Sin |
Resulting in |
Death |
|
Obedience |
Righteousness |
||
Some
years ago Bob Dylan came out with a song in which were lines that said, “You gotta serve somebody. You gotta
serve somebody. It may be the Devil or it may be the Lord, but you gotta serve somebody.”
He was right.
There
is no “in-between” state. You are always
a slave to something. You
cannot NOT be a slave. The only
question is whose slave you will be.
When
you spoke of being enslaved to a Jew, it held for him a special
significance. It is similar to speaking
of slavery to an Afro-American. The Jews
had once been an enslaved people.
They
had been HELPLESS in their slavery.
They had not been able to redeem themselves. It was totally the work of God on their
behalf that delivered them.
They
were under the reign of Pharaoh.
As such, they had to obey his commands.
Here
is the principle. God doesn’t redeem
people and let them stay in
•
“You go ahead and worship God on the Sabbath, but don’t be fanatical about it.”
• “Go
with God to worship and pray for a time, but don’t let it affect your
possessions. Leave them here in
• “Go
and worship God, but don’t impose your religion upon your children.”
In
each case, Moses refused to compromise.
And we should, too. That is not
to say that every sort of compromise is bad, but when it comes to compromise
over the issue of salvation versus slavery, there is no place for compromise.
YOU
CHANGED MASTERS
But
thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin,
you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were
committed, 18 and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of
righteousness. (Romans 6:17-18).
There
was a time when you were enslaved to sin.
The phrase “you were slaves of sin” is in the imperfect
tense. It describes continuing action in
the past. There were two ways in which
you formerly were a slave of sin:
1. Involuntarily a Slave to Sin.
You were born with an innate propensity to sin. You did not choose to be born this way. You were conceived in this sinful state,
inheriting this natural bent to sin from your forefather, Adam (Psalm
51:5). And this natural bent made it
natural for you to rebel against God.
2. Voluntarily a Slave to Sin.
The actual evil acts which you have performed of your
own volition combined to further enslave you to sin. Sin became a habit of life.
The
good news is that you did not stay there.
If you are a believer, then the time came when sin was surpassed by
obedience. This obedience began
internally. It stemmed “from the
heart.” God is in the process of
changing you from the inside out. That
is why legalism doesn’t work. Legalism
is the attempt to bring about change from the outside in. It is the attempt to achieve spirituality
through the keeping of rules.
Don’t
get me wrong. There is nothing wrong
with having rules. Some rules are
important. The issue is not whether I
should or should not obey certain rules, but rather whether that obedience
brings about a true conversion.
Real
conversion starts with God. He brings
about a change of heart - a heart transplant.
Such a conversion results in a changed life.
YOU ARE CALLED TO SERVE
THE WAY YOU USED TO SERVE
I
am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as
you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting
in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness,
resulting in sanctification.
For
when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. (Romans
6:19-20).
Paul
speaks in human terms with a very human illustration. The illustration is of a body. It is a body which is enslaved to sin. It is a slave to impurity and to
lawlessness. When it commits such
impurity and such lawlessness, the result is still greater impurity and greater
lawlessness.
You
can never stand still. You are either
growing more and more like Christ or else you are growing more and more sinful.
|
Romans
6:19 |
|
|
You presented your members
as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness |
Present your members as
slaves to righteousness |
|
Resulting in further
lawlessness |
Resulting in sanctification |
|
Past Tense |
Present Tense |
|
Indicative Mood |
Imperative Mood |
Paul
turns from describing how you USED to be to dictating how you are NOW to
become. Just as there was in the past a
continuing progression toward sinfulness, now there is to be a continuing
progression toward sanctification.
What
is sanctification? It is the act of
being “set apart.” The words “sanctify”
and “saint” and “holy” all come from the same root word. They all describe that which has been set
apart for a special purpose. There are
three tenses to your sanctification:
1. You were set apart by God when you came to Christ in faith.
2. You are continuing to be set apart and Christ continues to
build up His character in your life.
3. You will one day be completely and totally set apart to God
at His Second Coming.
It
is the second tense which is in view in this passage. As you present yourself to God, you will find
that He continues to work out His holiness in your life. This is different than justification.
|
Justification |
Sanctification |
|
A
once-and-for-all event. |
A continuing
event. |
|
You are
declared by God to be righteous on the basis of Christ’s righteousness which
is credited to you. |
You are being
continually set apart to God’s righteousness in your life as the Holy Spirit
works within you. |
|
Deliverance
from the GUILT of sin. |
Deliverance
from the POWER of sin. |
|
An imputation
of righteousness. |
An impartation
of righteousness. |
|
Declarative. |
Efficient. |
|
Concern’s God’s
justice. |
Concerns your
character. |
|
Deals with your
standing. |
Deals with the
state of your being. |
|
Positional. |
Experiential. |
|
It is done FOR
you |
It is done IN
you |
Your
position and your condition cannot be compared - they can only be
contrasted. Both justification AND
sanctification are a work of God’s free grace.
Both are unearned and undeserved.
On
the basis of God’s having JUSTIFIED you, Paul now calls for you to live in a
righteous manner. He goes on to explain
that your salvation from sin has given you the freedom and the motivation to
live righteously, but it does not force you to do so. You have a choice. And that is why Paul exhorts you to
“present your members as slaves to righteousness.”
SERVING
DEATH OR SERVING LIFE
Therefore
what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now
ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death.
But
now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit,
resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. (Romans 6:21-22).
Paul’s
question is rhetorical. The answer is
obviously in the negative. Paul
continues to contrast the past life in sin with the present life in Christ.
|
Romans 6:21-22 |
|||
|
You were |
Slaves to sin |
Resulting
in |
Death |
|
Free of
righteousness |
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|
You have now been |
Freed from sin |
Sanctification
which leads to life |
|
|
Enslaved to God |
|||
Notice
the repetition of the word “benefit.”
There is a cost-benefit study which is given to us here. There was no benefit in being a slave to sin. There is great benefit in being enslaved to
God.
The
Greek word translated “benefit” is karpon. It is the
normal word for “fruit.” Here is the
principle. What you do bears fruit. If you sin, there will be a resulting fruit
of sin. If you follow the Lord, there
will be a resulting fruit of the Spirit.
WAGES
VERSUS GRACE
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is
eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23).
Paul
now summarizes the end result of the life of unbelief as opposed to the life of
belief. The world system
like to mix this up. It says that
there is no sin. It says that sin brings
no consequences.
Sin
produces a wage. A wage is something
that you earn. It is something for which
you work. People work at sin. And they earn and deserve the wages of that
sin.
In
contrast to the wages of sin is the free gift of God. Because it is a gift, you cannot earn it or
deserve it.
|
Sin |
Grace |
|
A wage which is earned |
A free gift which is given |
|
Work for |
No work can earn it |
|
Result: Death |
Result:
Eternal life. |
|
Deserved |
Undeserved |
|
Sin provides the wages |
God provides the gift |
|
Both are in the present tense |
|
The world system denies the
consequences of sin. On the other hand,
the world system teaches that eternal life comes through self-effort.
Eternal life is a GIFT. It cannot be bought, for the price is far
beyond the fortune of the richest man in the world. It cannot be earned, for we have all earned
death. It can only be accepted through
faith.
It is possible to be free,
yet still live like you are enslaved. It
is also possible to be enslaved and yet still think that you are free. Have you come to Christ in repentance,
seeking His free gift through faith alone?
There is an invitation here for you.
A gift is offered. It must be
accepted.
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