Slave to What?

Romans 6:15 -23

English Standard Version Chapter 6

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.

Here Paul continues to discuss whether sin results in more grace (see Rom. 6 :1). He reformulates the discussion in terms of the law and grace. Believers are called to use their freedom to bring righteousness, since sin can only result in death. Paul uses imagery of slavery, fruit, and labor to emphatically deny the question posed in verse Rom 6 :15.

Who is a Slave? this is a person under the control of someone or something.

“Mother Nature, you see, has cooked up an even more sadistic punishment for the humble snail. It’s called Leucochloridium, and it’s a parasitic worm that invades a snail's eyestalks, where it pulsates to imitate a caterpillar (in biology circles this is known as aggressive mimicry—an organism pretending to be another to lure prey or get itself eaten). The worm then mind-controls its host out into the open for hungry birds to pluck out its eyes. The worm breeds in the bird’s guts, releasing its eggs in the bird’s feces, which are happily eaten up by another snail to complete the whole bizarre life cycle.

Here the snail becomes a slave for the Parasitic worm all for the benefit of the worm and ultimate death of the snail”

Faithlife Study Bible Chapter 6

Prior to faith in Christ and baptism, believers were enslaved to sin and suffered its effects. Paul presents salvation as deliverance from spiritual bondage. He illustrates it as a transfer from one master to another—from sin to God