When is a Slave Free?
Romans 6:15-23
15 What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16 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? 17 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, 18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. 19 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.
20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 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. 22 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. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Brief Commentary:
6:15: In 6:14, Paul claimed that we “are not under law but under grace.” But, if this is true, then grace will lead to sinful behavior because the law restrained our behavior (commandments, punishments). Paul’s answers to this concern follows 6:1: “By no means!” Paul will further explain that our sinful ways don’t increase under grace because we are now slaves of righteousness (Romans 6:16-23).
6:16: Whereas Paul used the analogy of baptism to teach about our spiritual union with Christ (6:1-14), in this passage he draws from the world of slavery to illustrate his key points. Perhaps up to one-third of the population in Rome were slaves. In fact, Hughes states that “it is very likely that more than one-half of the Roman church either were or had been enslaved.” (124)
Stott also notes that some people entered into “voluntary slavery” due to poverty. He explains how this relates to Romans 6:15-23. “Paul’s point is that those who thus offered themselves invariably had their offer accepted. They could not expect to give themselves to a slave-master and simultaneously retain their freedom.” (183)
Paul makes two points about slavery. First, every person is a slave. Either we are slaves to of “sin” or we are slaves of “obedience.” There is no middle ground. There is no half-way or in-between status or spiritual condition. In short, we are either “in Adam” or “in Christ.” (5:12-21)
Second, our choice of slavery leads to two different futures. If we are slaves of sin, then our future will include (spiritual) death. On the other hand, if we are slaves of obedience, then our future will include righteousness (cf. justification: Romans 3:21-31). The former leads to God’s wrath while the latter leads to God’s blessings (cf. Romans 5:1-11).
6:17-18: Formerly “slaves of sin,” Christ-followers “have become obedient from the heart” (6:17: the heart refers to “a person’s center for both physical and emotional-intellectual-moral activities”- Baker’s Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology; online). Apparently, there existed a “standard of teaching” that new Christians committed themselves to study, learn, and practice. Most likely, this teaching included both theology and ethics.
This is something that we should consider today. We may call it discipleship. To what extent do churches today have a discipleship or spiritual maturity process to help Christians become spiritually mature. Is there a “standard of teaching” that we want everyone to know, experience, and practice? What are the obstacles to creating such a process for the body of Christ?
But not only have Christians been “obedient,” but we have also “been set free from sin” and “have become slaves of righteousness.” (6:18) Recall the marvelous truth of Romans 3:24: we “are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” Having been purchased with the blood of Jesus, we have been liberated from the slavery of sin (redeemed) to worship and serve a new master (Jesus, righteousness).
6:19: The title of this study is in the form of a question: “When is a Slave Free?” So, here’s the answer: The (spiritual) irony is that a slave can only be truly free when he/she become a slave of obedience, righteousness, and Christ (leading to sanctification). In contrast, those who believe that they are truly free are (in reality) slaves of sin leading to “impurity,” “lawlessness” and “more lawlessness.”
Perhaps this is also a good time to explain the four different ways human nature relates to sin (able to sin, able to not sin, not able not to sin, not able to sin). We will illustrate these truths in light of Adam/Eve, humanity (post Fall), Jesus, redeemed Christians (living), and glorified Christians.
Jesus was not born with a sinful nature and he was not able to sin (he was/is God). Redeemed Christians, in contrast to those who are slaves to sin, have been set free from the slavery of sin and therefore, able to not sin (and able to sin). Finally, glorified Christians (in the future we receive perfect and imperishable bodies) will not have a sinful nature and not able to sin.
6:20-22: Returning to the metaphor of slavery, Paul teaches that as “slaves of sin [we] were free in regard to righteousness” (6:20) because slaves only obey their master (our former master was sin). This slavery to sin only produced an (ashamed) life leading to (spiritual) death (6:21).
“But now” (those two amazing words!) redeemed Christians “have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God” (6:22) leading to “sanctification” and “eternal life.” In short, Christians now have a new master (Jesus, righteousness) to obey and follow.
6:23: This verse is a fitting conclusion to this passage. Paul compares the wages of sin with the free gift and death with eternal life. Hughes summarizes: “The old slavemaster (sin) pays wages—death. Death works now in the lives those under his pay….The new slavemaster does not pay wages. What he gives cannot be earned. All is of grace.” (128)
Romans 6:23 also sheds light on the “two ways” of Romans 2:6-11 and 5:12-21. The first way is found “in Adam” and the second way “in Christ.” Again, there is no middle ground. We either follow Adam or Christ. The first way of Adam is slavery to sin leading to death and judgment. The second way of Christ is slavery to obedience leading to righteousness and eternal life.
Reflection
1. What kind of question is Paul answering in 6:15?
2. Sanctification refers to the process of living holy lives. Why do you think Paul used the metaphor of a slave to explain our sanctification?
3. We are either slaves of sin or slaves of righteousness (6:16). For the past several weeks, have you been experiencing a slavery to any particular sin? How do you deal with it?
4. How would you answer a friend who asks, “How do I become a slave to righteousness?”
5. What is the importance of 6:17 in the process of discipleship?
6. Read 6:20-23. How does Paul compare being slaves of sin with slaves of God?