Slave to Who You Obey—Romans 6:15-16

"What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey-whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?" (Romans 6:15-16)

What about sin? Should we allow sin to dwell in our lives considering that God has completely forgiven us? For we know that Jesus paid the price for the sins of the entire world upon the cross, ( 1 John 2:2, Hebrews 10:12 ). And if your sins were forgiven 2000 years ago, then does it matter if you continue to sin as born again believers?

The Apostle Paul must have run into this question on many occasions because he spent the entire chapter refuting the reason not to continue in sin. The first half of this passage we saw that the number one reason not to continue sinning was because we had been freed from it. It was part of our redemption through Christ's blood. Our emancipation to the bondage of sin was broken when Christ ascended to heaven. So why continue in something that was foreign to our new nature, fashioned after Jesus in righteousness and holiness.

Today's verse is very similar to a question raised in the beginning of this chapter. Should we continue in sin because we are operating under the covenant of grace and not out of bondage to the Law? Paul's response is the same, an emphatic no. Not only have we have been freed from sin, but the number two reason not to continue in sin is because it opens the door to the devil. If we continue to sin, then God is not mad at us, we are still saved, loved and forgiven. However, we don't sin because the devil is not as gracious. He will not give a second thought to reeking havoc in your life because of it. If we sin then we are just inviting him in to mess with us. Paul concludes that we will become slaves to whatever force we yield to. Although we have been set free by Jesus, if we continue to allow Satan to operate in our lives then regardless we will be subjected to him.

That is why we should remove sin from our lives. Not in order to please God, we already do that based on the blood of Jesus. But we should remove it because we are freed from it and to remain free we have to block any avenue that Satan will try to access. Today I praise God that Jesus destroyed the works of the devil ( I John 3:8 ) and set us free in the process. May you find great liberty in knowing and implementing this truth in your life.

 

Previous: Romans 6:14  Next: Romans 6:17-18

Original article published October 21, 2009.

Juli Camarin

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