Slaves of righteousness
Slaves of righteousness
Slaves of righteousness
What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.
For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:15-23)
Paul is keen to give Christians all more reason to obey God, by calling their attention to the fact that God has brought them into His service, calling them nothing less than "slaves of righteousness". It's a strange thing for Paul to say. For the Christian is no slave really but has been set free in Christ. But Paul uses this image "because of your human limitation" (Romans 6:19).
The imagery is useful because it highlights that we, like all slaves, are possessed, obligated, supplied, and kept by our Owner, by God who has us. But we must remember that this imagery of slavery isn't really true of us, nor of God as a slave owner. For what slave owner beckons us to come to Him to find rest, to take away our burden, to pay our ransom, and to give His life that we may be free indeed? Thanks be to God that we belong to Him, let us now offer our members as instruments of righteousness.
Bible Text: Romans 6:15-23 | Preacher: Ian Goodman | Series: Romans—The Greatest Letter Ever Written | What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.
For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:15-23)
Paul is keen to give Christians all more reason to obey God, by calling their attention to the fact that God has brought them into His service, calling them nothing less than “slaves of righteousness”. It’s a strange thing for Paul to say. For the Christian is no slave really but has been set free in Christ. But Paul uses this image “because of your human limitation” (Romans 6:19).
The imagery is useful because it highlights that we, like all slaves, are possessed, obligated, supplied, and kept by our Owner, by God who has us. But we must remember that this imagery of slavery isn’t really true of us, nor of God as a slave owner. For what slave owner beckons us to come to Him to find rest, to take away our burden, to pay our ransom, and to give His life that we may be free indeed? Thanks be to God that we belong to Him, let us now offer our members as instruments of righteousness.