Bible Reading for May 14 – Romans 6:15-23

“I’m nobody’s slave – I’m a free American!” That’s what we believe, and that may be true in a strictly political sense. But isn’t it also true that with every relationship goes certain responsibilities, certain limitations on our liberties? A teacher has to be in the classroom every weekday, and has to grade all those papers the students turn in. A husband has to spend time with his wife and make at least a minimal sort of effort to get along with her. And we all know that an employee has to do what his boss wants, or else he’ll get fired.

Okay, so what do you earn from your service? Your boss gives you a paycheck. A teacher gets to see students make progress in knowledge. A husband and wife enjoy love and security. If every relationship limits our freedoms, it also brings with it different kinds of rewards.

Just so, Paul reminds us that we are all either servants of sin or servants of God. If we serve sin, that means we are focused on ourselves and what we want – lots of people would call that freedom. But such “freedom” necessarily involves rejecting God’s standards of behavior, for He sees such self-focus as impurity and lawlessness (6:19). And Paul reminds us that when we devote ourselves to such a life, we are actually enslaved to it.

But what does that slavery to sin and self earn us? Well, if we are disconnected from God, rejecting His authority and turning away from a relationship with Him, that means we are also cut off from the only source of light and life. So, it’s no wonder that Paul says the end of such rebellion, the wages of such sin is death (6:21, 23).

In contrast to this, Paul reminds us that God offers a free gift to those who draw close to Him in faith – the gift of eternal life (6:23). But drawing close to Christ Jesus means acknowledging Him to be our Lord (6:23), and that necessarily means obeying Him – not out of fear but from the heart (6:17). In that sense, a relationship with Christ means we become slaves of righteousness, which in turn leads us to become more and more holy in His sight (6:19).

Jesus Himself said the same thing, inviting those who come to Him to take His yoke on ourselves, thus learning His will and walking in His ways. But Jesus assures us that He is a gentle and humble Master, and thus that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. And Jesus promises that all those who come to Him will actually find rest for our souls (Matthew 11:28-30).

So, do you want to cling to the sort of freedom that is actually slavery to sin, and the death that goes along with it? Or will you receive the free gift of eternal life and the rest and peace that goes along with living in submission to God’s will? After all, as Bob Dylan pointed out, you gotta serve somebody.

Romans 6:15-23 (ESV)

15 What then? Are we to sin because we are not under 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.
20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.
21 But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.
22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.