January 27, 2002
Series: Romans Chapter 6
“WHOSE
SLAVE ARE YOU?”
Romans 6:15-18
What then?
Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be! Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves
for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting
in death or of obedience resulting in righteousness? But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you
became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were
committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.
Some years ago in the downtown area of a large city a man was walking down the street with a sign on his shoulders. The front of it said, “I’m a slave for Christ.” The back of it read, “Whose slave are you?”
That is a very good question, because every one of us is a slave to something. We are either slaves to sin or slaves to God. That is our makeup. This fact is clearly evident in this passage.
Paul begins in verse 15 with, “What then?” This refers back to verse 14, “You are not under law but under grace.” So we must ask ourselves the question, “What then? Shall I sin because I am not under law but under grace?” Paul resounds with an emphatic, “May it never be?” He says then that when you yield yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves to the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness.
It’s simple. We are either serving sin or we are serving God any moment of the day. It’s the choice we make at any given time.
Now Paul makes his case for us. He reminds us first of all that we were once a slave to sin. We then became obedient from the heart to a form of teaching to which we were committed. The teaching he is referring to is the liberating truth of the Gospel, namely our unity with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection. Having been freed from the enslavement to sin we became slaves of righteousness.
What are you struggling with today? Something that still has its hold on you? Something that is still calling the shots in your life? Then stop it! “May it never be!” You no longer have to be a slave to it. Present the members of your body – your eyes, your mind, your hands, your entire being, to God the Holy Spirit.
Our lives are so much richer if we are slaves of God than if we are serving sin. Beloved, whose slave are you? God bless.
Love
to you all,