From Slaves to Sin to Servants of God

Romans 6:19-23 NLT

¹⁹ Because of the weakness of your human nature, I am using the illustration of slavery to help you understand all this. Previously, you let yourselves be slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led ever deeper into sin. Now you must give yourselves to be slaves to righteous living so that you will become holy. ²⁰ When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right. ²¹ And what was the result? You are now ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom. ²² But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life. ²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

Message

I. Recap: What We Have Learned So Far

Let’s briefly recap what we have learned:

After the first man Adam sinned, his family was banned from the Garden of Eden where the Tree of Life was. As a result, everyone born on the earth eventually died. Since the second Adam Jesus Christ obeyed God and sacrificed for our sin, God’s grace and His gift of righteousness became available for all who receive it and they can live in triumph over sin and death through Jesus Christ. (See Romans 5:12-21)

When we believed Jesus Christ (and were baptised), we were united with Him in His death and set free from the power of sin. So, we will also be raised to life as He was. We should consider ourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus. (See Romans 6:1-11)

We were set free from the slavery to sin to serve righteousness. We live under the freedom of God’s grace, which set us free from the law. We have become slaves to righteous living. (See Romans 6:12-18)

II. Today’s Passage (19-23)

The Roman world understood slavery: a slave belongs to a master and obeys that master. So, Paul uses that familiar image to explain a spiritual truth (19^a). See 19^b.

^19b Previously, you let yourselves be slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led ever deeper into sin. Now you must give yourselves to be slaves to righteous living so that you will become holy.

Those who are slaves to sin do not have the obligation to do right (20), which results in shame and eternal judgment (21). Now, see verse 22.

²² But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life.

Paul uses the fact in verses 20 and 21 to contrast and highlight that now we, slaves to righteous living (Romans 6:18, 19) do have the obligation to do right. And the righteous deeds lead to holiness and result in eternal life (22^b).

See verse 23.

²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

The structure of Romans 6:19–23 shows a repeating pattern:

That is, sin and holiness in verse 19 are repeated as shame in verse 21 and holiness in verse 22; eternal doom in verse 21 and eternal life in verse 22 are finally summarized in verse 23 as death and eternal life.