“True Freedom as a Slave to Christ,” Romans 6:15-23

Bible Text: Romans 6:15-23 | Preacher: Pastor Mike Hale | Series: Romans

God created us for freedom, to be totally set free in order to enjoy all that God has made and all that God has for us to do.
Isn’t it interesting, that through Christ we are freed from the slavery of sin to become slaves to God. In Romans 6:15-23 Paul teaches us two important truths.

1. Slavery Is Inevitable (6:15-18), we are all going to serve somebody or something.

2. Slavery Is Intentional (6:19-23), we have to decide to either continue serving
sin, or to serve Christ.

Read 6:15-18… Every person on the planet is a slave. Paul says (v. 16), don’t you realize that you are a slave to the one you obey; for your obedience to someone or something shows you are serving that person or thing.

The truth is, we are all slaves. Not one of us is free, because we are in bondage to whatever controls our lives.” Some people are slaves to food, some to drink, smoke to exercise, some to entertainment.

The Christian who cannot put down the computer or turn off the television in order to read the Bible, pray to the Lord, or to spend time with his or her loved ones, is a slave to a screen of sorts.

The person who cannot break an addiction to pornography is a slave to immorality. The person who cannot say anything that builds others up, but only tears them down, is a slave to the wicked tongue that is set on fire by hell itself (James 3:5-8).

The bad news is, we will become slaves to whatever controls or captivates our minds and hearts. But there is good news: As believers and followers of Christ, we get to choose our master!

Unbelievers are slaves to self, and therefore, slaves to Satan himself, from whom they can never break free of their own accord, they remain Satan’s indentured servants.

But a Christian has been liberated from the bonds of sin in order to serve a new Master, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Christ came to set the prisoners free (2Corinthians 4:4), “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

Luke 4:18, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners & recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed,”(Is 61:1-2 In 6:17-18 Paul reminds his readers, as he reminds us, “But thanks be to God, “you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.”

The Roman Christians had been “slaves of sin,” but now they have been “freed from sin” and made “slaves of righteousness.” Paul says they have become obedient from the heart [wholeheartedly] through the teaching they had received about Christ (v.17), “the form of teaching to which you were entrusted [or committed].” When you place your faith in Christ, God instantly sets you free from sin’s authority, literally, you are “handed over” by God to a new kingdom, that you
might serve as slaves of righteousness.

Paul says, before Christ you “were slaves of sin,” but now you have “become obedient” to the message of eternal life in Jesus Christ the Lord. What is he saying? That they had listened to, heard, and obeyed the gospel!

Read 6:19-22… No one becomes a slave to Christ by accident or happenstance. To be Christ’s slave requires intentional effort and determined will on your part. Paul is contrasting a Christian’s former way of life, serving self and sin, with their present way of life, serving Christ through sanctification [the ongoing process of being set apart for God’s honor and glory]

Before Christ (v. 19), we “used to offer the parts of [our] body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness,” but now, in Christ, we “offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.”

As slaves to sin, we would tell a lie, and then tell another, and another and another,in order to cover up the previous ones. One sin leads to another, that is the
nature of sin. Envy leads to more envy and more envy. Lust leads to more lust
and more lust. Bitterness leads to more bitterness and even more bitterness. Sin
is“ever-increasing wickedness.”

Do you remember the Lay’s potato chip commercial that challenged, “Bet you can’t eat just one?” That expression is so true for sin. If I say to you, “Bet you can’t just do one sin.” You might say, “Oh yes I can. I can sin whenever I want and I can quit sinning any time I want.” We all know that is just not true, don’t we? The truth is, the freedom to sin will lead to more sin, leading to our slavery to sin. Paul says (v. 20), “When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control
of righteousness.” He goes on to make the point (v. 21), “What benefit [fruit] did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death!” In other words, how did that work for you when you were a slave to sin?

Five times (vv. 13-19) the verb “present” or “offer” is used: in a positive way, “to offer yourself to God’s service,” in a negative way, to offer yourself to sin.” Paul encourages us to demonstrate the same zeal for righteousness that we once did for sin. Think back to how consumed you once were with sin and how you gave yourself over to all kinds of immorality and lawlessness.

Paul exhorts us to commit to Christ’s service, in the same way we did to sin and self, for we have been freed from sin in order to be slaves to God. The benefit we receive through our sanctification is eternal life.

Christ did not take our punishment, pay for our sins, and redeem us from sin’s curse, so that we could be set free in the world to do whatever we want. He bought us with His own death, that we might then live for Him.

Paul concludes this passage by arguing that following God results in holiness and eternal life (v. 22). Paul contrasts the new life (living under God’s grace) with the old life (living under sin’s curse).

As a result of being “freed from sin and becoming slaves to God,” we reap great “benefit,” in fact, we even benefit our spouse, our children, our church family, and our unbelieving friends. We benefit all who know us, because Christ is in us, and as we honor and obey His Word, we grow to be more like Him.

Paul sums it all up in the final verse of chapter 6, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” We mostly use this verse with unbelievers in mind, and it no doubt applies to unbelievers; but in this passage of Scripture Paul seems to be applying it to the believers to whom he has been writing, not to unbelievers.

How does this verse apply to us? How can we apply this text to our lives? The person who does not place his or her faith in Jesus Christ will receive the wages of sin. “The wages” refers to a payment. When a person works, the person receives a wage or payment for their work.

The person who serves sin, remaining a slave to it, will receive the payment of spiritual death, i.e., eternal separation from God, in hell. But, through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord, the gift of eternal life is granted to those, like us, who were enslaved to sin. God’s gift is freely given through God’s grace because of what Jesus did on the cross, dying in our place, for our sin.

Prior to faith in Christ, we were slaves to sin, and if we had remained sin’s slave, the outcome would be death. We cannot earn our freedom from sin’s captivity by religious ritual, ancestry, our own goodness, or any manmade thing. Ephesians 2:8-9, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God– not by works, so that no one can boast. Acts 4:12, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”

Philippians 2:9-11, “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

All those who reject Christ will receive what they have earned, what they deserve, eternal death in hell; whereas, all those who believe in and follow Christ will receive what they couldn’t earn and don’t deserve, eternal life in heaven. Jesus
Christ is the only way, the only truth, and the only life from God (John 14:6).
Jesus Christ freed us from the power, the control, the corruption, and the condemnation of sin, so that we might serve God with all the wisdom, strength, power, provision, and protection that is granted to those who belong to God through Jesus Christ the Lord.

True and genuine freedom, to live and enjoy all that God has made, and all that God has for you to do on this earth, is only made available to those who chose to believe in and confess Christ as Savior and Lord, seeking to serve Him with their heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

Philippians 4:13, “I can do everything through [in] Him [Jesus Christ] who gives me strength.” 19-20, “…God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”

Pastor Mike