Slaves of Righteousness

Slaves of Righteousness 120304
Romans 6:15-23
What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 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? 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, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. 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.

For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 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. 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. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Last week we heard a great promise “Sin will have no dominion over us”, since we are under grace not under the law. A person who is born again does not have to be a slave to sin. We can sin, and will sin, but we can help ourselves because of the spirit that works in us. Today we see the Apostle asking the same question, “Are we to sin because we not under law but under grace?” The answer remains the same, “BY NO MEANS!” Ultimately, spiritual slavery is a matter of choice. (This choice is not a choice between being free or being enslaved. The choice is, “Whose slave will I be?”) The problem most people have with that statement is this, their slavery to sin is an entrenched habit that is not yet broken. Therefore, they think they have no choice. Believers have a choice because the grace of God is released in their lives. The Spirit of God bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.

I. There are two kingdoms. Anyone who doubts that is not very observant. No matter how one looks at it there is obvious evil and obvious good in the human race. Whether it is set in the world of fiction such as The Chronicles of Narnia or in the reality of the daily news nothing could be so obvious as the struggle between good and evil. These two kingdoms dominate our worldview. Often Christians try to “sit on the fence”. Jesus himself said that wasn't possible.

A. We cannot serve two masters. (Matthew 6:24) “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” Here, “money” is used to represent the fallen world. The anger and dissension we see all around us as a result of attempting to live in two worlds at one time. Having become a Christian we have a new allegiance. We must serve Christ if we are to have peace.

B. We cannot be intimate with the world and with God. (James 4:1-7) “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” In recent years it has become more and more obvious that the church and the world are much alike. But it's not anything new it is just more obvious in the world of television and the Internet. Wordsworth said it two hundred years ago: “The world is too much with us; late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers:” Of course, we cannot be totally separated from the world! To do so would cut us off from all opportunity to witness to our faith in Christ. The problem is not the world around us but the subtle inroads of the world within us.

C. We have been transferred. We were born sons and daughters of Adam and Eve and as such were subject to the kingdom of this world. Paul explained our new relationship to the Colossian Christians with these words: “May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (Colossians 1:11-14) Now, we did not apply for a transfer and it was not our idea! It is God the Father who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints. He delivered us! We did not deliver ourselves because we could not. We were dead in sin!

II. Believers were dead and are now alive.

A. Dead In trespasses and sin. Paul said, “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—“ (Ephesians 2:1) We must all admit that dead people are incapable of making decisions. We could not decide for ourselves. He had to decide for us because we were not only dead but our very actions proved we were dead in sin. Of course we were physically alive but spiritually dead. We could not make spiritual decisions that would deliver us.

B. We lived like dead people. In the first letter to the Corinthians Paul reminded them what life was like before they met Christ, “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:9-11) When a person comes to faith in Christ things began to change. What was formerly natural to them is now unnatural! Things that they used to do without any sense of conscience now disturb them. After a person comes to faith in Christ they begin to wonder why people around them seem to not care when they do wrong. They are simply following their nature. We really shouldn't expect better of them. The change in the Christian's nature comes about by the work of God in them. What they once did, without much thought, now weighs on their conscience. You see? We been transferred to the kingdom of his beloved son and we have passed from death to life.

C. We are now alive! Paul reminded the Ephesians that they were once alienated from the life of God having no hope. Then he says, “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, …“ (Ephesians 2:13-15) This is magnificent news! We were spiritually dead and lived like spiritually dead people. But now, in Christ Jesus, we have been brought near to God and to other believers. God has destroyed the barriers that kept us from him and from others who believe in him. We once were slaves to sin but now, Praise God, we have been given life in his name and have been adopted into his family. We have submitted ourselves to a new master!

III. Now we are slaves of righteousness.

A. We have been set free. A new spiritual law has taken effect in our life. In Romans 8:1-2 Paul points out that we are not under condemnation because we have been set free! Listen to his words, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.”

Have you ever wondered what makes an airplane fly? Most of us have made paper airplanes. Some of them actually fly! The reason they do is they are shaped right and balanced properly. No matter how large the plane the rules are the same. A Boeing 747 has a takeoff weight of nearly one million pounds. It's long enough that the first flight of the Wright brothers could have been made inside its economy section. It takes off with between 400 and 500 people inside. And it flies! The 747 flies because the engineers designed it according to certain scientific laws that override the law of gravity. Gravity would keep it down on the Earth. But the laws of aerodynamics work together and it not only can lift into the air! It can fly from San Francisco, California, to Melbourne, Australia, nonstop!

In the same way, the law of the spirit of life sets us free from the law of sin and death. We were in bondage to a slave master. We were bound by the chains of sin and inheritance. We could not set ourselves free. New Year's resolutions, determination and struggle produced frustration and failure. And then Christ came into our life and set us free. One problem we have, out of many, is this — we're accustomed to the voice of our old slave master. We haven't fully believed that we are free. Romans 6:11 lists two of our assets: “dead to sin” and “alive to God”! When we enter those assets and weigh them against the deficit of “dead in sin” we see that our eternal assets greatly outweigh our deficits. If Christ has set you free you are free indeed! ( John 8:36)

B. We are free to serve God. Verse 22 of our text says, “…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.” in the Garden of Eden Satan promised freedom and delivered death! The fruit they received led to bondage. We're either subject to Satan or God. When we come to faith in Christ we are set free from sin and have become the slave of God. A blessed slavery that bears fruit leading to holy living and eternal life. Jesus told the Pharisees, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10) Satan lies when he promises happiness and freedom. Remember, Satan was a liar from the beginning. Only in service to God are we going to find peace. We were created for that purpose. The old confession of faith says, “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.” Service to God is a joy beyond compare!

C. God's grace gives us eternal life. Verse 23 of our text says, “…the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The usual use of this passage is to point out the obvious, “the wages of sin is death”. If we stop there we are left in trouble. Grace is a gift given without any expectation of return having its sole purpose in the need of the recipient and the freeheartedness of the giver, God's grace gift is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. We should rejoice in serving him. Because he has rescued us from death — eternal death. We should glorify God by enjoying him forever. We should begin now and the joy of our relationship with God will flow over into the lives of others.

Mankind is born in trouble. All mankind is born in sin and we all choose to sin. The wages of sin is death. If that was the entire message we would have no hope in this world or in the next. The truth is we do have hope. Although the wages of sin is death the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord! We once were slaves to sin leading to death, and now, for those who've trusted Christ, we are slaves to God leading to sanctification and eternal life! Praise His Holy Name!

( All Scripture references are from The English Standard Version unless otherwise noted. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.)