Scripture: Romans
6:12–23
In the first part of Romans 6, Paul speaks of being baptized
into Jesus’ death and having the hope of newness of life in Jesus’
resurrection. With this vision of living in newness of life in mind, Paul
probes the death that the Christian receives in baptism as something that sets
the believer free from sin, but he/she is not free to do whatever he/she deems
to be good or right. The newness of life is a righteous life – living in
forgiveness and striving to live in holiness. This passage reminds us that we
are not free to sin, but freed from sin so that our lives may be lived in
service (slavery!) to God.
Teaching
We must be absolutely clear that Jesus’ forgiveness, the
payment he made for our sin, is the heart of our relationship with God.
Unequivocally, our standing before God is determined by Jesus’ death and
resurrection, and not by our deeds. However, that does not mean that the
believer’s behavior does not matter. As Paul asks, “Are we to sin because we
are not under law but under grace?” The answer is, “By no means!” The idea of
giving ourselves over into sin in ridiculous in light of God’s grace.
Paul teaches us here that we are either slaves to sin or
slaves to righteousness. There is no such thing as freedom to do what we think is right. Indeed, if we dig a
little deeper into that idea we will usually find that what we think is right
is defined by God as sin. So as we are freed from sin, we are freed to a new
slavery – slavery to righteousness in which we do as God pleases; and that
which pleases God begins with receiving Jesus’ forgiveness by faith.
Life
What I am saying here runs counter to what a lot of modern
Christians think. The general belief is that people are essentially good and,
given the right circumstances, will agree that God’s ways are best. This is not
what God teaches in the Scriptures. To fully understand the depth of our
sinfulness we should see ourselves as slaves to sin apart from Jesus. We have
no choice but to sin without his redemption and the work of the Holy Spirit in
us.
That being said, are we not people who have been forgiven by
Jesus? Isn’t his Spirit in us? Yes, and yes! That means that we will indeed
desire to live for righteousness because of what God has done for us. Thanks be
to God! This will be a struggle for us as sin will continually seek to regain
us as its slaves and our sinful nature will always be drawn to that old way of
life. So Paul warns us, “Do not present your members to sin….” We have been set
free from sin to be slaves of God, and that leads to holiness and eternal life
in which we resist sin and seek to do God’s righteous will.
Prayer
O God, it is hard to think of being slaves to sin and then
being set free to become your slave. These are terms that are uncomfortable for
us. Nevertheless, we thank you for freeing us from sin which leads to death,
that we might live in Jesus’ righteousness that gives us life. Forgive us for
the times we have returned like a slave to serving our sinful desires. Forgive
us for allowing sin to reign in our mortal bodies. Grant us your Spirit that we
would freely embrace being slaves to you, living in the righteousness that
Jesus gives us, and living lives that show his righteousness in our thoughts,
words, and deeds. Amen.
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