You BECAME Slaves of Righteousness
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Paul wanted his opponents in Rome to understand that it is impossible for those who are under grace to continue in habitual sin.
Friend, if you are positionally under grace it will be impossible for you continue in habitual sin. You will still struggle with sin as long as your person is corrupted by sin, but you will not relish SIN!
Why is it impossible for those who are under grace to continue in a lifestyle of sin?
Paul gives us several reasons why believers, who are now under grace, cannot continue in habitual sin.
Reason #1: Whatever power you habitually offer yourself to reveals your true master (v. 16)
Reason #1: Whatever power you habitually offer yourself to reveals your true master (v. 16)
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?
Reason #2: The message of the Gospel makes obedience inevitable (v. 17)
Reason #2: The message of the Gospel makes obedience inevitable (v. 17)
Repentant faith leads inevitably to obedience!
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,
Why is it impossible for those who are under grace to continue in a lifestyle of sin?
Reason #3: When you become a Christian you also become a slave of righteousness (vv. 18-23)
Reason #3: When you become a Christian you also become a slave of righteousness (vv. 18-23)
Romans 6:18 (ESV)
18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.
Having been set free- to cause someone to be freed from domination, free, set free (John 8:36- if the Son sets you FREE you shall be FREE indeed!)
Aor, pass, part, pl-
Aorist Tense: You were set free from sin. Not a process that happens over time. But a once and for all act that happened to you the moment of your salvation. The moment you put your faith in Christ for salvation you were, at that moment, free from sin.
Passive: You have been set free from sin. The setting free of sin was not something that you did yourself. Being set free from sin was something that was done to you, by someone outside of yourself. This is part of the wonder of our salvation. One of the God-intended miracles of becoming a Christian! The moment you put your faith in Jesus, you were made a new creation, you were made a new-man, you were born again. Part of what that means is that you were made free from sin.
What does it mean that you have become free from sin?
Certainly not that you are now sinless or perfect.
It does not mean that you no longer have a sin nature.
12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.
Different from our OLD MAN! Who is dead and gone forever.
6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.
It does not mean that you will no longer be tempted by sin.
When you were made free from sin, the power and the dominion and the rule of sin over you was broken. It was destroyed. Before salvation you were a slave of sin. But now, when you became united to Christ, and you participated in all of the benefits of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection, you died to sin, you were buried to sin, and you rose again to walk in newness of life.
In that sense, the power of sin that once was over you is now broken. You have been set free from sin through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 6:18 (ESV)
18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.
Have become slaves of righteousness- to be dominated by ⇔ be a slave to v. — to be or become entirely dominated by some influence or person.
Here is the contrasted idea. You have been set free from sin. But, you are not free to be out on your own. Your old master was sin, your new master is now righteousness.
Aorist tense: You have become- Not you are becoming. Not speaking of a process. This is not talking about progressive sanctification that is worked out in our lives over years and years. This is talking about an event. A change in position. At the moment of your salvation you were set free from sin, but you were also made a slave of righteousness.
Passive: You have become slaves of righteousness. Again the idea is the action of being made a slave of righteousness comes from outside of yourself. It is all an act of God by His glorious grace. God not only graciously set you free from sin, He also gracious made you a slave or righteousness!
What if the idea of slavery, even if it is slavery to righteousness, doesn’t sin quite right?
Romans 6:19 (ESV)
19 I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations.
I am using a human analogy because of the weakness of your flesh.
Because we still have the presence of sin remaining in our whole person, affecting every detail about us, including our spiritual understanding, Paul states that he is speaking about being slaves of righteousness in terms of a human analogy.
Why?
Paul used analogy in other that his readers may better understand what he was talking about. Paul wants to make the truths of the gospel as clear and plain as possible.
In making the truths of the gospel as clear and plain as possible Paul is safeguarding the truth.
15 What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!
NOT AL ALL! Here is the truth!
18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.
Paul is safeguarding the truths of the gospel so that it makes it extremely difficult for error to go un-debunked.
3. Paul, however, clarifies this analogy, that he is merely speaking in human terms to indicate that we should not press his illustration too far.
No illustration is perfect and if we press it too far we will end up in error.
So you once were slaves of sin, but now you are slaves of righteousness. But, there is a kind of slavery in the Christian life, but it is not identical to the old slavery to sin. The new form of slavery is not exactly like the other.
Paul is warning us, I just used the terms slaves to righteousness. Do not be mechanical in your interpretation and say that slavery is identical in every respect with the other slavery to sin, because THEY ARE NOT THE SAME!
1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins
2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—
3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
11 no one understands; no one seeks for God.
12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”
14 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died;
15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.
1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
The two slave relationships are not identical. There is a major difference. And Paul wants us to see that and think on that.
In what way are the slave relationships like each other then Paul?
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.
Idea 1: for just as you once offered your members as slaves to impurity and lawlessness leading to more lawlessness
IN PARALLEL WITH
Idea 2: In this same way now you must offer your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification/holiness
The similarity is in the way we offer or present our members to our master. Just like you used to present or offer yourself to impurity and lawlessness that lead to more lawlessness—in the say way offer or present yourself as slaves to righteousness.
IMPERATIVE: present your members as slaves to righteousness!
Why does Paul issue a command? Didn’t he just tell us that we already are slaves of righteousness? Didn’t that happen to us? Didn’t God gracious make us slaves of righteousness through Jesus? Why then does Paul need to command us to present our members as slaves of righteousness?
It goes back to what Paul has already explained as the reality for the Christian.
KNOWING, CONSIDERING, PRESENTING- that is the reality Paul wants us to remember.
KNOW
Romans 6:6 (ESV)
6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.
This is an OBJECTIVE TRUTH for every believer. We know this to be true. But, knowing is not enough.
Remember the three elements of trust or faith we have been talking about lately?
Notitia- faith is, first of all, a kind of knowledge
Notitia- faith is, first of all, a kind of knowledge
CONSIDER
Romans 6:11 (ESV)
11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
We must consider it to be true of ourselves.
Assensus- genuine faith acknowledges (assents) that what God says is true.
Assensus- genuine faith acknowledges (assents) that what God says is true.
PRESENT
Romans 6:13 (ESV)
13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.
Fiducia- the final component in saving faith is a personal persuasion that acts.
Fiducia- the final component in saving faith is a personal persuasion that acts.
This is what Paul is getting at.
Romans 6:19 (ESV)
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.
Know that you have been set free from sin, and that you have become slaves of righteousness.
Consider this to be true of yourself. Grasp onto it. See this gospel truth as personally applicable. You, believer are no longer a slave to sin, you are now a slave to righteousness!
Refutation: BUT, Pastor Jon you don’t know how strong and how hard the temptation to sin really is. It seems impossible to resist. That is what many Christians tell themselves about their sin. They are not exercising faith in God’s Word.
Do not elevate how you feel about sin above what God’s Word says is really true. You have already been freed from the tyranny and the power and the dominion of sin. You might know it, but have you really reckoned with it? Have you genuinely acknowledged that what God’s Word says is true of you personally?
And once you reckon it to be true of you, you must move on and take one final step in faith. You must ACT.
No longer present yourself as a slave to sin, instead present yourself as a slave to righteousness.
Illustration: Slave camps side by side with each other separated by a road. You have been moved from the slave camp of Satan to God’s camp. But you can still sometimes hear the voice of your former master barking commands from the other side of the road and you are tempted to jump. Know the truth- you are on the other side of the road. Reckon the truth- you have a new master. Present- ACT on your faith, offer your services to your new master and ignore the shouts of your old.
WHY should we want to obey the commands of our new master?
Romans 6:19 (ESV)
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.
Because the commands of our new master lead to sanctification and holiness.
20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.
Statement of fact or position:
Old Position: You were slaves of sin (past tense), and you were free (past tense). There was a sense in which you used to be free, although you were never truly free because you were still a slave. But, as a slave of sin you were free in regard to righteousness. An unsaved person has nothing whatsoever to do with righteousness.
6 We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
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.
And were did this position get you? What fruit were you getting? As slaves of sin you used to only plant the seeds of impurity and lawlessness. And what kind of fruit grows from the seeds of impurity and lawlessness?
Shame and the end DEATH! Physical and Eternal death!
We have so much to be thankful for! Praise God that we are no longer slaves of sin because all we had to look forward to was shame and 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.
There is a freedom that we have as Christians. So many people erroneously think that when they become a Christian they are free to do whatever they want!
15 What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!
There is freedom in Christ! There is freedom in being a Christian. It is not freedom to sin, but freedom FROM SIN!
NOW THAT YOU HAVE BEEN SET FREE FROM SIN! and have become slaves of God (new position). Now what?
The fruit you get leads to sanctification. When you enter into a new position in Christ, when you become a new man, a new creation, you have a new master—righteousness. And when you begin to sow the seeds of righteousness what kind of fruit is produced? Sanctification / Holiness. And what is the end result of that fruit? ETERNAL LIFE!
Why is it impossible for a Christian to continue in a lifestyle of sin? Because Christians have been set free FROM sin to righteousness. And the seeds of righteousness always produce the fruit of sanctification and holiness.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Wages / compensation of sin is death!
Free gift (carisma - grace) of God is eternal life!
How?
In Christ Jesus our Lord. United to Christ Jesus our Lord! It is only by means of our salvation, of entering into a new position that all of this is possible. What a hope we have to look forward to! Sanctification and eternal life! Praise God!
Friend
Do you know Christ? Are you still a slave to sin? Put your faith in Christ and become united to Him. Be set free FROM sin today!
Believer, what part of exercising faith in God’s Word do you need to put into practice today regarding your sin.
KNOW, RECKON, PRESENT?
Exercise real biblical faith in the Word of God. Live like the Christian you are in Christ. Live under the commands of your new master. Ignore the voice of your old master, his power over you is broken. Stop presenting yourselves to sin! What do you need to remove out of your life today in order to stop presenting your members to sin? Start presenting your members to righteousness? What do you need to start today? How can you take a small step of obedience to God. How can you offer your members as instruments of righteousness?
KNOW, ACCENT, AND ACT of God’s word today!