Romans 6:15-23

No Middle Ground

Paul begins this paragraph with a similar question to the one he asked in Romans 6:1

Romans 6:1 HCSB

What should we say then? Should we continue in sin so that grace may multiply?

His answer is the same: an emphatic NO!

As Paul had written those of us ‘in Christ’ are now ‘under grace’ and not ‘under the law.’ In this passage Paul will draw on the analogy of slavery to explain why those who are in Christ are no longer ‘enslaved’ to sin.

Dictionary of Paul and His Letters 1. Slaves and Slavery in the Greco-Roman World

The Greco-Roman slave system was an integral part of every aspect of life in Paul’s time. Estimates are that 85–90 percent of the inhabitants of Rome and peninsula Italy were slaves or of slave origin in the first and second centuries A.D. Facts and figures about slavery in the provinces are sketchy by comparison with those in Italy, but the existing evidence suggests a comparable percentage (see Patterson, 105–31).

Slavery was a common practice among most of the Roman world. People could - and would - sell themselves into slavery in order to avoid financial disaster. (Ref: Douglas J Moo, The Epistle to the Romans, 398).

Here, Paul points out that every human being - without exception - is enslaved.

Vs 17-19

The real question is to what, or whom, will be present ourselves as slaves.

There are several contrasts in these verses:

Sin Obedience

Sin is a power that is evident in the actions and attitudes which comprise a person’s life.

Obedience is submission to specific precepts/directions/commands.

Death Righteousness

Death is both spiritual separation from God and the physical experience of life leaving the body.

Righteousness here is the gift God gives of Christ’s righteousness imputed to us. Paul reminds his readers that they once were ‘slaves of sin.’

God, however, intervened. They are no longer slaves to sin. Since the moment of their conversion, acknowledging that Jesus is Lord, God has set them free from being enslaved to sin. HE and He alone liberates from sin. Just as the OT demonstrates over and over, God acts to deliver His people from enslavement - to the Egyptians, to the Babylonians/Persians.

Romans 6:17–18 (HCSB)

But thank God that, although you used to be slaves of sin, you obeyed from the heart that pattern of teaching you were transferred to, and having been liberated from sin, you became enslaved to righteousness.

Paul reminds his readers that this new condition, this enslavement to righteousness is that which God does. The moment of conversion brings us into a pattern of teaching that constantly works at transforming us.

Paul pauses in vs 19 to explain why believers cannot offer themselves to sin. Being enslaved to ‘moral impurity’ (HCSB) is a choice. Yes, we are born with a nature that is bent toward sin. However, as soon as an individual becomes aware of his/her slavery to sin, there is a choice to be made - continue to serve sin OR accept the deliverance that God has provided in Jesus. This is not to deny the power of addictions and other sinful behavior. Yet, at some level every addiction is “the desire for [the addictive behavior] is ultimately greater than the desire to be freed from them...” [Schreiner, Romans, 2nd Ed, Baker Exegetical Commentary, 336).

Vs 20-22

Turning to a different analogy, Paul identifies the ‘fruit’ or ‘result’ of the choices mad? The fruit of sin, the result of enslavement to sin is death. Those actions and attitudes which evidenced our enslavement are now the very things that shame us.

Now that God has acted, now that we have been set free to serve God the fruit of righteousness is sanctification. The Greek word translated ‘sanctification’ is in a verb tense that reminds readers that sanctification is a result of an outside person of power. In other words, we are ‘being made holy’ as we continue to obey God and as we continue to submit to His direction.

Vs 23

Douglas J Moo offers the following observation regarding vs 23:

three contrasts:

the master that is served: sin, versus God;

the outcome of that service: death versus eternal life;

and the means by which this outcome is achieved: a ‘wage’ earned versus a gift recieved.

Douglas J Moo, The Epistle to the Romans, The New International Commentary on the New Testament, 408.