23.293 | Whose Slaves Are We? | Romans Rom 6:15-20 | God’s Word for Today with Pastor Nazario Sinon

2023-12-07

Text: Romans Rom 6:15-20 ESV 15 What then? Are we to sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! 16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and,...

Text: Romans Rom 6:15-20 ESV

15 What then? Are we to sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means!

16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?

17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed,

18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.

19 I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.

-Rom 6:15-20 ESV

WHOSE SLAVES ARE WE?

We are not under the law but under God's grace through faith in Christ. So Paul asks, “What then? Are we to sin? By no means. On the contrary, our freedom from the authority of sin should cause us to resist and reject our sinful desires. Definitely, we are not to take God's grace and forgiveness lightly by indulging in them.

We should decide who to obey and become the slave of him. Paul pointed out that we are in an ongoing battle to serve Jesus, the right master. Sin isn’t our master anymore. But, one could be a slave to sin by choice not by default. We don’t need to but we can choose to be a slave to sin.

Our slavery to sin is a thing of the past.[v.17] Thanks to God. It’s manifested in our obedience from the ‘heart’ as we are taught. We’ve become slaves to righteousness. By this, Paul means that as Christians living in this present world, we should be presenting ourselves, our bodies, and minds to God to accomplish His righteous purposes.

It sounds odd to the modern mind, that Paul would describe this commitment to be used by God for righteous purposes as "slavery." Thus Paul, said, “Because of the weakness of your human nature, I am using the illustration of slavery to help you understand all this.”[v.19]Paul has emphasized that Christians are absolutely under the full authority of God to be used for His purposes. However, God, as our master, is not a tyrant, is He? He is always a loving Father and does not compel us to act against our will. As the eternal good father, He is ever calling us to obey Him out of love not by compulsion.

Man could not be morally independent or neutral, could he be? There are only two choices, either serving sin or serving righteousness. This depends on what kind of heart does a person has, either from an unregenerated heart or a new heart.[2 Cor 5:17] An unrenewed heart loves to sin. While a renewed heart desires to live godly.

-------------------------

Visit and FOLLOW Gospel Light Filipino on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram

Comments (3)