Romans 6: We are all slaves; who will you choose to be your master?

Context

Studying through the Romans road of salvation

There are 2 reasons why we are going through this

The gospel is the good news, that salvation has come through Christ. Salvation can be a complicated idea the more we know the more we can grow and apply.

2. Our church, you guys not just people behind the pulpit, are committed to sharing your faith. This tool, the Romans road, will make your presentation of the gospel clear and full.

Our scripture for today is Romans 6:23 “for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

This verse needs it’s context. Paul is using parallelism to compare God and Sin as slave masters. You don’t get all that from that verse so we’ll start in v 15.

Paul is writing to Christians, both Jew and Gentile, in Roman churches. He’s writing a doctrinal foundation for these churches.

Thought of the day: We are all slaves; who will you choose to be your master?

Scripture: Read Romans 6:15-23

v15. Paul is dealing with our relationship to the law. Christ came to fulfill the law and the Christian does not receive salvation or righteousness from adhering to the law. So then what do we do with it? Just throw it out and fall back on a cheap form of grace? Paul says, “of course not”.

v16. here Paul begins the metaphor of slavery

what exactly does he mean here? Voluntary servitude. It’s important to know that this is voluntary especially how it relates to the gospel. It’s not just to clean it up for culture.

v16. “you are slaves to the one you obey” If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord but live as if He is not, then you’re lying. You are slaves to the one you obey, not the one you give lip service to.

v16. “whether” there are 2 masters sin and righteousness. one leads to death the other righteousness.

v17. “you used to be slaves to sin” not some of you, all of you. Evangelism: you are in slavery right now and you know it.

v18. “slaves to righteousness” If you are Christian your life is not your own, it has been bought with a price and you must voluntarily commit yourselves in word and deed to righteousness. That is our becoming like Christ.

v19. “leading to holiness” holiness being set apart

v22. The end of the road of sanctification is eternal life, the end of the road for a life lived in sin is death. Death being separation from God.

v23. Wages, what you are owed

paid from master sin, not only culminating in hell but per Diem, day to day. The idea of military rations.

is separation from God, serving anything other than God leads to a gap in your relationship with Him (remember he’s talking to Christians here)

Does this mean that we can sin our way out of our salvation, no. The point is if doing something opposed to God’s will or failing to follow His calling pays in separation from God, the Christian should run as far from it as possible.

v23. “The gift of God is eternal life in Christ” The gift, not the wage. One master gives you what you deserve the other gives you a gift despite what you deserve. Being a slave to righteousness does not earn a seat at God’s table that can only be a gift.

Conclusion

2 conclusions

1st evangelistic: When leading someone through the principles 1, we all fall short of the glory of God, now 2, the wage of serving the slave master sin is separation from God. We are telling the person outside of a salvation relationship with Christ, “you are in an abusive relationship with a slave master who hates you and wants to separate you from life!” Freedom is an illusion. Our desires are submissive.

2 for the saved: How do you know who your master is? This isn’t just talking about being slaves to filthy desires like pornography or drunkenness it’s also talking about an unhealthy desire for good things. Making idols out of good gifts God has given you, making sins out of over-desires.

3 tests

Anger- When you lose what you desire are you frustrated? Do you need time to cool off? Or do you lose control? Do you throw your fist into the wall and swear at your spouse? Do you kick the door and storm out? If a desire in your life has that sort of power over you it’s enslaving you.

Fear- Are you afraid to lose that one thing you desire most? Do you save for a rainy day, just in case you lose your job? Do you watch what you eat in order to stay healthy? Or are you paralyzed by fear? Are you wracked by anxiety? That thing you are afraid of losing is enslaving you.

Sadness- If you do lose that one thing. Your kids, your spouse, your house, your mind. Will you grieve? Will you cry and mourn? Or will you think about slitting your throat? Will you consider leaping from the mc kees rocks bridge? Will you refuse to serve God unless he restores what you have lost. If you get an overwhelming, all consuming, never ending sadness over the loss of any desire; it is enslaving you.

What do you do about it?

Your master controls your identity. If you know who you are afraid that you are being enslaved you need to preach yourself the gospel.