Masters and Slaves

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This is a message based on Romans 6:15-23 in which the Apostle Paul urges his readers to be slaves of righteousness rather than slaves to sin. It is part of a series of sermons on the entire book of Romans.

Written Excerpts:

Introduction:

Last Sunday we resumed our series of messages through the book of Romans by looking at chapter six. The emphasis of this chapter is that Christians are expected to be consistently victorious over sin.

My heart is still just as passionate today as I felt last week about the theme of this chapter.

(In case there are people here today that missed last Sunday, I’ve never done this before, but I would like to urge you to go to our church’s website, click on “Resources” and listen to the sermon from last Sunday. If you don’t have internet, go back to the sound booth and sign up to get a CD of last week’s service.)

Until you get a chance to do that I want you to consider a few of the points that I made while introducing last week’s message. (Some of these points come from the speaker I heard in SC a couple of weeks ago.)

·        We [American] Christians do not want our faith to make us holy, we only want it to make us happy. (I’ve literally heard some people say, “God wants me happy, so whatever it takes to make me happy is God’s will.”)

·        Faith today [for most Christians] begins with personal felt needs and ends with convenience and simplicity. (In other words, many of us initially come to Christ because of some crisis that we want relief from, and then we continue living out our faith according to what is convenient or pleasant.)

·        The time spent watching TV by many Christians is 7 times greater that the time spent in all spiritual pursuits combined [i.e., personal devotions, church attendance, discipleship, etc.]. (It’s no wonder most Christians today live by moral values and priorities that are define by Hollywood.)

·        George Barna – “We have not transformed our culture because we are neither grieved nor embarrassed by our sin.”

·        Most people believe the message of the NT Gospel is, “How can my sins be forgiven and I be assured of heaven?”

·        But the real question is, “How can a deeply corrupted human being ever share the character of a holy God?” [and live once again in perfect communion with Him, both now and for eternity?]

·        I’d like to share two paragraphs from John Oswalt’s book titled, “Called to Be Holy.”

… the Christian gospel is not primarily about having one’s sins forgiven and spending a blissful eternity with God after somehow [managing to get] through this life with one’s faith reasonably intact…. The purpose of the Gospel is the same that God has had [ever since the fall of Adam and Eve in Genesis 3, which is] the transformation of human [desires] and behaviors in this world with the consequent possibility of living with God through all eternity. The OT shows us what that transformation is, and the NT shows us what God has done to make [it] possible.

This means that unless Christians are truly transformed into the character of God, the whole purpose of the Church’s existence becomes blurred and confused. The world looks upon hateful, self-serving, undisciplined, greedy, impure and [immoral] people who nevertheless claim to the be the people of God, and says, “You lie!”

We learned earlier in the book of Romans that this defective condition of sin has been passed on to all humanity. We have inherited it from our first parents. But, salvation and redemption is all about restoring what was lost: the character and image of God within us, a relationship with God that includes genuine fellowship and intimacy with Him, and ultimately, the restoration of perfect peace and order He designed for all of His creation.

Today we are going to finish up chapter six and we will be starting with verse 15. If you are using one of the outlines to follow along, you will see that last week we considered…

i.   Victory comes through knowledge of the truth. (1-10)

ii.  Victory comes through identification with Christ. (11-14)

Now we are ready to consider…

iii. Victory comes through slavery to righteousness. (6:15-23)

There is a natural division here because of the same type of question that was first use in verse 1. (“What then?”) (v.1 “What shall we say then?”)

Last week I pointed out that in verse 1, the question, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?” probably refers back to the statement in 5:20 “…where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.”

Here in verse 15, the question, “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace?” is a direct reference to the previous statement in verse 14: “… you are not under law, but under grace.”

(Reasoner) “The verb “sin” in v 15 is aorist subjunctive, implying a single act of sin. In 6:1 the question is whether we should continue (present subjunctive) in a life of sin; in v 15 the question is whether we should sin even once.”

(I probably should point out here that Paul is not speaking about “sins of ignorance” or mistakes, etc. He is speaking about a willful decision to violate God’s will in order to have my own way.)

Paul, in his typical manner of writing, assumes that last statement is going to raise the question in the mind of his readers, “If we’re not under the law, but we’re under grace, then isn’t it okay if we keep sinning in order to exalt the grace of God?” (because the “law condemns, but grace forgives”)

Again, as in verse 1, Paul responds, “God forbid!” or “No Way!”

He then answers the hypothetical question by using another type of analogy: Slavery.

      a.  Slavery implies only one master. (6:15-20)

¹⁶  Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?

(A. T. Robertson) Loyalty to Christ will not permit occasional crossing over to the other side to Satan's line.

Paul is clearly making a direct connection between the idea of servant (slaves) and obeying. If we are “obeying” sin, then we are the slave of sin. If we are “obeying” righteousness, then we are the slave of righteousness.

There’s only two options and it cannot be a mixture of both.

¹⁷  But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.

Speaking to the believers, he reminds them that they were, in time past, slaves to sin, but they have been set free; just like a slave that has been redeemed.

The transition came about when they “obeyed from the heart” and were “molded” by the teaching they had received.

Their obedience here is characterized as “from the heart.” It was not mechanical, casual, or coerced. It was intentional and sincere - from the heart.

(Reasoner) This is an example of people who have allowed the teaching of the gospel to change them, rather than being changed by the culture to fit in with it. (Cf. Rom. 12:2)

¹⁸  And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.

“having been set free;” “became slaves” – aorist verbs, denoting completed action.

¹⁹  I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.

(Adam Clarke's Commentary) “As if he had said: I make use of metaphors and figures connected with well-known natural things; with your trades and situation in life; because of your inexperience in heavenly things…”

“slaves of uncleanness” – synonymous with “sin”, morally filthy.

“iniquity unto iniquity” – “lawlessness to more lawlessness.” Some think this is a reference of the sin nature producing sinful actions, or it may just be an indication that sin rarely if ever stands alone. One sin begets another, which begets another….

This obviously is the nature of slavery.

“righteousness unto holiness” – both righteousness and holiness (sanctification) are terms that describe the character of God. Justice, purity, separated from the ordinary or the common. Also, in contrast to the phrase “iniquity unto iniquity,” this description, “righteousness unto holiness” also implies the more we seek righteousness and holiness the more it produces.

²⁰  For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.

Logically, if we are freed from sin in order to become slaves to righteousness, then the converse is also true – when we are slaves to sin, we are free from righteousness. You Can’t Serve Two Masters!

      b.  Slavery produces consequences. (6:21-23)

Whichever “master” we serve as a slave, either sin or righteousness, there will be consequences irrevocably attached to each one.

²¹  What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.

The consequence of slavery to sin is first of all shame and regret in this life, and subsequently, death in the end.

²²  But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.

Slavery to God (equivalent to slavery to righteousness) results in a holy life on earth and everlasting life after this life.

²³  For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
 
(Reasoner) “While v23 is almost always preached evangelistically, in context it is a warning to the believer that if he yields himself to the control of sin, that course of action will lead to spiritual death (see v 16)…. v 23 answers the rhetoric questions raised in v 1 and v 15. Shall we who have been saved by grace continue in sin? No, for to do so would bring spiritual death.”

 

Conclusion:

This entire passage seems to echo the words of Jesus that we read earlier in our Scripture reading: “No man can serve two masters…”

Paul has vividly illustrated that it is impossible for a Christian believer to serve two masters. You and I will either be a slave to Jesus Christ resulting in righteousness and ultimately, eternal life, or we will be a slave to Satan and sin, with the tragic consequence of death.

Which master do you serve?

As we close the service today with a communion service, I wish to transition from this message into the celebration of communion by reminding each one of us that Jesus suffered and died so that we no longer need to be a servant to sin. Let me repeat a portion of the quote I read at the beginning from Dr. Oswalt: “The OT shows us what that transformation is, and the NT shows us what God has done to make [it] possible.” The emblems that we share today are the symbolic evidence that sin has been conquered by the blood of Jesus Christ and the power of grace can give us victory to live as servants of righteousness.

Hallelujah!