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In the first part of chapter six, we learned we are no longer related to sin, but united with Christ in a resurrected life. Here are three things we can say to ourselves each morning that will help us live this new life: "I am dead to sin and alive to God in Christ. I no longer am a slave to sin. I am a slave to God. (I no longer have to give in to the temptation of sin. God will provide a way out. 1 Corinthians 10:13) Because I believe this, through God, I can choose to change my behavior." In the second part of chapter six, we learn that true freedom is slavery to God. Did you ever wonder why everyone doesn't want to become a Christian? God gives us eternal life, purpose here on earth, an understanding of truth far beyond anything we could have imagined, and love. Yet, many people reject His gift because they cling to the sinful desires of their hearts. They do not want to know the truth of God because, if God does exist, then God would be above them. The temptation to place ourselves in the role of God comes as early as Genesis 3:5. Sinful man does not desire God because he believes God would restrict his freedom. He cannot understand that true freedom is being who God wants you to be and doing what God wants you to do. He has created us. He loves us and desires us to have true fulfillment through the greatest gift He could ever give. He gave us this gift in the form of His Son Jesus Christ. However, God will not make us receive the gift. In chapter six Paul is developing the concept of two kingdoms begun in chapter 2. He now adds to that idea by introducing two masters. The idea of slave and master is a very foreign concept to today's autonomy and freedom, but that doesn't make it less a reality. In this life you will serve someone. You will be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or to God which leads to righteousness, holiness and life. What you do with your mind will determine a great deal of what you will become as a Christian. If you fill your mind with products of our secular culture, you will remain secular and sinful. If you feed your mind on the Bible and Christian books, train it with godly conversations and discipline it to critique what you see and hear, you will grow in godliness and become increasingly useful to God. Your mind will become an instrument of righteousness. A proper use of our minds is necessary for growth in all areas of our Christian experience. We must take hold of the fact that God speaks to us through His words given in the Bible. God will renew our mind through Christ. The use of the mind is important in sanctification; if Christians fail to yield their minds to God, is it any wonder that many Christians are almost indistinguishable from non-Christians around them? In verse 15 Paul again asks, "Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace?" The answer we know is; "By no means!" Paul then gives reasons why we cannot continue to sin: 1. From verse 16-18 we understand we are either a slave to sin or to righteousness. Before salvation our relationship to sin is a relationship of slavery. It would be folly to be delivered from slavery to sin only to return to it again. The world never presents our relationship to sin in that way. Sin is presented as the very essence of freedom. The truth is that sin is bondage. It enslaves us so that we are unable to escape its grasp, even if we want to. The obvious ravages of sin's destruction in drugs, greed, crime, and, immorality are apparent on the front page of every newspaper. But the subtleness of sin as seen in selfishness, emptiness, lust, and despair cuts very deep into our modern day society.2. Sin leads to death. (Romans 6:16,21,23) Again, this is not what the world or the devil tells us. In Genesis 3:4, the devil countered God's word (Gen.2:17) by telling Adam and Eve, "You will not surely die..." However, they did die. They died in their spirits instantly, for the fellowship they had enjoyed with God up to this point was broken, (which is shown by them hiding from God when He came to them later in the garden). Their personalities began to die, for they started to lie and shift blame to one another. And at last their bodies also died. As God said, "Dust you are and to dust you will return." (Genesis 3:19) God graciously gave them the promise of a redeemer who would save them from sin. (Genesis 3:15) The world suggests sin is harmless. Believe God, who tells you that sin leads to death. In fact, being a sinner, you are dying now. Your mortal life is decaying. One day you will experience the second death, which is to be separated from God in hell forever, unless you are saved first. The only sensible reaction to sin is to turn from it and receive salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. 3. Christians have been freed from sin's slavery. (Romans 6:17-18) Deliverance from sin's slavery is the meaning of redemption, as we saw when we were studying Romans 3:24. Redemption means to be bought out of slavery. How, then, can those who have been redeemed from sin return to sin's lordship? To do so would be to repudiate Christ and His work on the cross. It would indicate a lack of faith in the completed work of Christ. 4. Christians have become slaves to God which is true freedom. (Romans 6:22) Someone might ask, "What advantage is it to be freed from one master if all it means is that we become slaves of another?" Well, it would be a significant gain if we were slaves in a physical sense and were set free from a cruel master to become a slave to one who was kind and had our best interests at heart. God is as good, gracious, and loving a master as sin is cruel and harmful. However, there is more to this new slavery than that. The Bible teaches this new relationship includes becoming a son of God. Read Romans 8:14-18. Slavery to God actually brings freedom. This is because true freedom is also true fulfillment and is found in belonging to the right master. It is not being able to do anything at all. A child that is allowed to grow up without any restrictions is not a fulfilled child. The freedom you or I desire to know is the freedom that comes from a relationship with Jesus Christ. In Him is found fulfillment of life, personality and work. This includes living a righteous life. 5. This chapter shows us that genuine Christianity will never lead to moral license. Either we must serve sin, which is bondage and leads to death, or we must serve God which is freedom and leads to righteousness. (verse 22) There is no neutral ground. We live in a day when many people shirk hard work, looking for some easy solution or quick fix for nearly everything. In Christianity there is no easy formula for success. After realizing what God has done for us, we must discipline the parts of our bodies, minds, eyes, ears, tongues, hands, and feet, to respond according to His will. God has done everything necessary for our salvation and given us everything we need to live a faithful, maturing Christian life. This process of sanctification, becoming like the Lord Jesus, will not come as we struggle toward it by our own effort, but rather as we turn moment by moment to our union with Christ. We should not measure sanctification by comparing ourselves to others. We must keep our eyes on Jesus. Maturity is a growing awareness of how sinful and helpless we are alone, and how dependent we are on our Lord Jesus Christ for His power to live according to His will. Before we were saved, we served sin; that was consistent and reasonable. Now that we are converted, it is equally reasonable we should serve God. If you claim to be a Christian and are living a sinful life, your conduct is inconsistent with that profession. You must call upon God to straighten your life out, or you dare not assume you are united with Christ. Jesus prayed for His
disciple's sanctification, saying, "Sanctify them by the truth; your
word is truth."(John 17:17) Lord, renew our minds to grasp the
ramifications of belonging to You.
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