Romans 6.17-Paul Thanks God For The Roman Christians' Obedience To The Gospel
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday July 17, 2008
Romans: Romans 6:17-Paul Thanks God For The Roman Christians’ Obedience To The Gospel
Lesson # 198
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 6:15.
This evening we will note Romans 6:17, in which Paul thanks God the Father because the Roman believers were once perpetual slaves to the sin nature but then they obeyed the gospel and as a result were delivered positionally from the tyranny of the sin nature.
Romans 6:15-18, “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be! Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed. And having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.”
“But” is the “adversative” use of the conjunction de (deV) (deh), which introduces a statement that presents a contrast with Paul’s statements that appear in Romans 6:15-16.
In Romans 6:15, in response to any possible misconceptions regarding his teaching in Romans 6:14 by those Jews who insist that the Law is necessary to restrain sin and those Christians who might erroneously conclude that grace is a license to sin, Paul emphatically rejects any idea that grace is a license to sin.
In Romans 6:16 Paul teaches that the Christian is either a slave to the sin nature, which results in temporal spiritual death, i.e. loss of fellowship with God or he is a slave to obedience to the Father’s will, which results in the believer experiencing the righteousness of God.
Then, in Romans 6:17-18, the apostle teaches that since the Roman Christians have accepted by faith Christ as Savior and as a result have been declared justified by the Father and identified with Christ in His death and resurrection through the baptism of the Spirit that they have already exchanged one master for another, namely, the sin nature for Christ.
In this passage, he emphasizes that their new position in Christ or union and identification with Christ, which came about through the baptism of the Spirit the moment they trusted in Christ as Savior, has given them a new master, God.
Therefore, the conjunction de introduces a statement that addresses the believer’s new “position” in Christ that has resulted in God being his new master, which stands in contrast with the rejection of the idea of the believer obeying his old master, the sin nature because he is no longer under the Law but under grace.
It also emphasizes the believer’s “transition” from the dominion and tyranny under the sin nature to that of being under his new master, God.
Romans 6:17-18 teaches that in “reality” the Roman believers have already made the decision as to which master they will serve when they were declared justified through faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior.
This passage “contrasts” the rejection of the idea that grace is a license to sin and serving the old master, the sin nature with the reality that the Christian has already made a decision and “transition” to serve a new master, namely God, when they obeyed the gospel, which freed them from the sin nature and made them slaves to God.
Therefore, Paul is emphasizing in Romans 6:17-18 that it is inconsistent with the Christian’s new position in Christ, for him to desire to serve his old master, the sin nature when, in reality, he is obligated and free to serve his new master, God.
Romans 6:17, “But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed.”
“Thanks” is the nominative feminine singular form of the noun charis (xavri$) (khar-ece), which refers to the response and expression of gratitude or thanksgiving on the part of the justified sinner towards God for His grace policy.
“To God” is the articular dative masculine singular form of the noun theos (qeov$), which refers to the first member of the Trinity, God the Father as indicated by the articular construction that is commonly used to indicate that theos is a reference to the Father.
Paul is not requesting or commanding his readers to give thanks to God but rather he is expressing his own thanks to God for their deliverance from the sin nature as a result of obeying the gospel of Jesus Christ.
“That” is the conjunction hoti (o^ti) (hot-ee), which is used with the indicative mood of the verb eimi, “though you were” in order to form a “causal” clause that presents the reason why Paul gave thanks to God the Father.
Namely, “because” the Roman Christians, prior to being declared justified through faith in Christ used to be perpetual slaves to the sin nature but now, they were set free from the tyranny of the sin nature when they obeyed the gospel and trusted in Jesus Christ as their Savior.
Paul did not thank the Father because they used to be in perpetual or continual state of slavery to the sin nature but rather because they have been delivered or freed from this slavery by obedience to the gospel message when they were unsaved.
“Though you were” is the second person plural imperfect active indicative form of the verb eimi (ei)miv) (i-mee), which to “belonging to those members of the human race” that are slaves to the sin nature as indicated by the expression douloi tes hamartias, “slaves of sin.”
The imperfect tense of the verb is a “stative customary imperfect,” which denotes that prior to being declared justified through faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior, the Roman believers existed in the “perpetual” or “ongoing” state of being slaves to their old indwelling Adamic sin nature.
“Slaves” is the noun doulos (doulo$) (doo-los), which referred to someone who belonged by nature to someone else and not himself, having his will bound up in the will of another who has power over him.
The word personifies the sin nature, which is denoted by the noun hamartia.
Together, they paint a picture that would appeal to the frame of reference of the Roman Christians since slavery was a major institution in Rome.
These two words portray the Roman Christians prior to being declared justified as slaves to the sin nature.
Romans 6:17, “But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed.”
“Of sin” is the articular genitive feminine singular form of the noun hamartia (a(martiva) (ham-ar-tee-ah), which refers to the sin nature.
The next word that appears in the Greek text of Romans 6:17 is the “adversative” use of the post-positive conjunction de (deV) (deh), which the New American Standard Updated Version and the New International Version and many other English translations do not translate.
The conjunction de is first of all used in an “adversative” sense in that it introduces a statement that stands in contrast with the thought that the Roman Christians were perpetual slaves to the sin nature prior to being declared justified through faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior.
The Roman Christians were freed from the tyranny of the sin nature by obeying the gospel and trusting in Jesus Christ as Savior in contrast to their being slaves to the sin nature prior to making this non-meritorious decision.
“You became obedient” is the second person plural aorist active indicative form of the verb hupakouo (u(pakouvw) (hoop-ak-oo-o), which denotes the act of obediently responding to the Holy Spirit’s authority when the gospel was first presented to the believers in Rome when they were unsaved.
Notice, the implication of this verb in that it indicates faith or trust in Jesus Christ as one’s Savior is expressed by obedience to the command in the gospel message to believe or place your trust in Jesus Christ in order to be saved.
Romans 6:17, “But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed.”
“From the heart” is composed of is composed of the preposition ek (e)k), “from” and the genitive feminine singular form of the noun kardia (kardiva) (kar-dee-ah), “heart.”
The kardia refers to the dominant lobe of the soul, the right lobe and is the mental activity or function of the psuche, “soul.”
The kardia is that aspect of the soul, which circulates thought or mental activity and is where one’s frame of reference and memory center resides.
It is also the place where one’s vocabulary and the classification of thoughts reside as well as the conscience where the norms and standards reside.
A person’s entire mental attitude circulates in the kardia as well as the sub conscience where various categories of things that shock or impress from adversity, sin, failure or disappointment are located.
Also, it contains the volition, which enables a person to make decisions.
Therefore, the noun kardia signifies that the Holy Spirit in common grace communicates to the mental activity and conscience of the unregenerate human beings’ soul that God the Father loves them so much that He sent His Son Jesus Christ to die for them on the Cross in order to deliver them from the sin nature.
In common grace, the Holy Spirit appeals to the volition of the unregenerate, which resides in the heart.
The preposition ek functions as a marker of “source” and the noun kardia as a “genitive of source” indicating that when the Roman Christians were unsaved they obeyed the gospel message “from the heart.”
In their heart, their mentality considered God’s offer of salvation.
The Holy Spirit also appealed to their conscience in demonstrating to them their need for a Savior.
The Roman Christians obeyed the gospel from the heart in the sense that they also exercised their volition by making the decision to accept Christ as Savior.
Romans 6:17, “But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed.”
“Form of teaching” is composed of the accusative masculine singular form of the noun tupos (tuvpo$), “form” and the genitive feminine singular form of the noun didache (didaxhv) (did-akh-ay), “of teaching.”
In Romans 6:17, the expression eis hon paredothete tupon didaches, “to that form of teaching to which you were committed” is an obvious reference to the presentation of the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Roman believers when they were unsaved.
In this expression, the noun tupos means, “standard” in the sense that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the authoritative principle or rule to govern the lives of men.
It implies a model or pattern for guiding the lives of men by comparison with which the quantity, excellence, correctness of viewpoints and actions may be determined.
It also denotes that the teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ is authoritative and is the basis for judgment of men whether for condemnation or justification (See Romans 2:16).
The noun didache refers to instruction concerning Jesus Christ and His teaching, i.e. Christian doctrine or in other words a set of truths or practices to be learned and obeyed that originate with Jesus Christ.
The word refers to historical facts concerning the Person and life of the Lord Jesus Christ that are absolutely essential for unregenerate man to know in order to make a rational decision to accept Jesus Christ as Savior or not since the acceptance by faith of His Person and Work results in justification.
Didache would also include information regarding the meaning and significance of the spiritual and physical deaths of Jesus Christ as well as the meaning and significance of His burial, His resurrection, His ascension and session and how these facts apply to the Roman believers.
These historical facts about the perfect life of the Lord Jesus Christ serve as the basis for the believer’s spiritual life.
Thus, the content of that doctrinal instruction would include the fact that the Roman believers have been positionally crucified, buried, raised and seated with Christ.
Therefore, the expression tupos didaches refers to the communication of the gospel to the believers in Rome when they were unsaved.
Their obedience resulted in not only their justification but also their being identified with Christ in His crucifixion, death, resurrection and session through the baptism of the Spirit.
Romans 6:17, “But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed.”
“You were committed” is the second person plural aorist passive indicative form of the verb paradidomi (paradivdwmi) (para-did-omee), which means, “to be given something by someone,” which is identified by the expression tupon didaches, “the doctrinal standard.”
Therefore, paradidomi means the Roman Christians “were taught through instruction” the Christian doctrinal standard or in other words, the gospel of Jesus Christ.