Slaves to Righteousness

Slaves to Righteousness
Exodus 29-31 | Psalm 27 | Romans 6

Paul's message in today's reading from Romans is one of liberation. Through explicit statements and various analogies, Paul writes to convince the Roman Christians that although sin had total mastery over them before they believed, sin is now an alien thing to them. This is true for all believers.

In our lives before our faith, there was but one way we could live: that is, under the law. But this law highlighted sins - as Paul says in Romans 7:7-8, "I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, "Do not covet." But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from law, sin is dead." So living under the law meant that we were slaves to sin - there was no way of living under the law without knowing of our condemnation.

But through faith we who are believers are united with Christ and His life becomes ours - we share in His death and in His resurection - we died and rose with Christ. And because we died (in Christ) while enslaved under the law to sin, we were removed from its hold because the law has no authority over the dead; but in our resurrection (in Christ) we rose into a new authority: that of God's grace; and are instead slaves to righteousness. Bruce comments: "If you consider yourselves to have died in [Jesus'] death, and risen to a new way of life in his resurection, sin will dominate you no more. You now live under a regime of grace, and grace does not stimulate sin, as law does; grace liberates from sin and enables you to triumph over it."

In order to clarify his message, Paul uses the analogy of the slave and master. In doing so he highlights the loss of authority as a slave passes into the ownership of a new master. Similarly, we were once enslaved to sin, and performed the bidding of sin, but now we have passed into the service of God and are slaves to Him. Under the mastery of sin, as slaves we would follow the path of sin; but under grace we are to serve and seek to please God. Slaves to sin are paid for their work with death; but God gifts all "under grace" with eternal life: "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

The purpose of Paul's teaching here, as mentioned previously, is to convince the Roman believers that sin is an alien, unfathomable thing in the Christian life. We are united by faith with Christ and live His life - how could we possibly go on sinning?

Yet we all continually struggle with sin in our lives (Paul mentions his own struggles with sin in the very next chapter!) But this passage is meant to give hope in such a frustrating situation: the sin in our lives does not now belong there as it used to. In its place as the dominating standard is grace, and all under grace are assured God's reward.

Praise God for His grace, and pray that He will empower you to deal with the sin in your life, seeking to please Him in all things; and glorying in knowing that through Christ you are no longer dominated by sin.