Slaves of Sin or Righteousness
Notes
Transcript
Handout
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,
In this passage Paul is continuing to explain the Christian’s relationship to sin.
Paul’s purpose in the book of Romans is to show that we are saved by faith and faith alone.
Paul knows that when the human heart hears this truth, it wants to corrupt it.
Many people may say:
“If I am saved by faith, and not by my works, then I can do anything I want because God’s grace will cover it.”
“If I can’t lose my salvation, then if I dabble in some sin here and there, it will be okay because I will still go to heaven.”
Now, many people might not actually say these phrases, but they will live like they believe them.
I know this to be true, because of how lightly we treat sin.
How often do I see people gossip, slander, or just tear down people with their words?
How often do I see people hold grudges against others?
How often do I see people being bitter in their heart?
How often do I see people show disrespect to those whom God has placed as their authority?
It isn’t that I just see people fall into these sins on the rare occasion, but instead I see people living like this, day in and day out.
Paul is wanting us to know that this isn’t what being a follower of Christ looks like.
As followers of Christ we have a new identity, but before we can grasp our new identity, we must look back at our old identity.
We were all once slaves of sin.
We were all once slaves of sin.
I want us to pay close attention to every word in one of the phrases that Paul says here: He says, “you who were once slaves of sin.”
The first important word here, is the word "you.”
Who is the “you” in this passage?
Remember Paul is writing this letter to the Christians who are in Rome.
He is speaking of something that is true of all Christians.
So what is true about all Christians?
Well let’s look at the next few words to continue to lead us to the answer: Paul says. “were once.”
This phrase is to show us about the Christian’s past identity.
Paul is wanting to tell us something that was true about us, but is no longer true.
That is why he is using the past tense “were”
So what was true about us, that is no longer true about us?
Let’s look at the last words of this phrase: “slaves of sin”
Now this is some strong language here.
It wasn’t that we had just commited some sin in the past.
It wasn’t that we have just made a few mistakes in our life.
Paul is saying that we were “slaves.”
A slave is fully owned by his master.
Everything a slaves does is to the service of his master.
When we are a slave to sin everything we do is marked by sin.
Sin completely controlled us.
I skipped the best part of the whole phrase, for Paul starts it off by saying “thanks be to God”
Why is it such good news that we were once slaves to sin?
To find the answer I need to skip ahead in this passage to verse 23.
In this verses it says "For the wages of sin is death.”
It should lead us to praise God that us who are in Christ will not experience the ultimate death of spreading an eternity in hell.
You know what burdens me???
Many of you are still slaves to sin.
You have chosen to continue to serve that which will bring about your eternal death.
You have refused to surrender your life to Christ, which is your only hope.
You continue to seek hope in everything this world has to offer, instead of seeking after God.
Turn away from the sin that has made you a slave and instead turn towards Christ.
Yet, this is just half the picture of what Paul is providing us in this passage.
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.
Through faith we have become slaves to righteousness.
Through faith we have become slaves to righteousness.
I believe there are three important phrases that not only help us understand what this truth means but also what it means to be a follower of Christ.
Those phrases are:
“(you) have become obedient from the heart”
“(you) having been set free from sin”
“(you) have become slaves of righteousness”
Before I dig into these phrases individually, I want you to see what they have in common with each other.
Each one of these phrases are in the present perfect tense.
The present perfect tense is formed using "have" or "has" followed by the past participle of a verb.
It’s purpose is to describe actions or states that began in the past and continue in the present.
An example would be “The last 5 years I have been a teacher at Fulton County.” vs “The last 5 years I was a teacher at Fulton County.”
The first sentence, “I have been a teacher at Fulton County,” implies that I am still a teacher at Fulton County, while the second sentence “I was a teacher at Fulton County” implies that I am no longer a teacher at Fulton County.
So when we look at these three phrases that Paul uses here in Romans, we see that they started in the past, but they are still true now. They are ongoing.
Now let’s look at why that is important when looking at these individually.
First we have “(you) have become obedient from the heart”
This “obedience from the heart” is talking about how we came to faith in Christ.
Our faith comes from believing with our heart in Christ.
And this faith didn’t just end by us becoming Christians, but it continues to push us to be obedient to God.
Next we have “(you) have been set free from sin”
Those who have put their faith in Christ, are no longer slaves to sin.
This wonderful truth will continue forever.
We can find joy that sin can no longer control us.
Lastly we have “(you) have become slaves to righteousness”
Where once everything about us served sin, now we live a life that is all about serving God.
I think we we all need to examine ourselves.
Those three phrases that we just examined describe what it looks like to be a follower of Christ.
Have you been obedient from the heart to the Lord?
Have you been set free from sin?
Have you become a slave to righteousness?
If you are a Christian, you need to be growing in these areas. Since these are ongoing actions, we won’t be perfect in them, but we will be pursuing them.
If these aren’t present in you at all, that reveals that you are not a follower of Christ.
I ask that you turn from your sin, and you embrace Jesus, both as your Lord and your Savior.
Who is going to be your master, sin or Jesus?
Who is going to be your master, sin or Jesus?
