Romans 6:15-23 – Slaves of God

Bethel Baptist Church – David Rising

Romans 6:15-23; October 18, 2026 Sunday AM

Slaves of God

Romans 6 gives to us what I think are some of the most practical and crucial teachings that we need to understand so that we can battle against sin in our lives.

There are lots of programs and methods that churches or Christian ministries or counselors have put together to help people with their sin, but unless we understand what Paul teaches us from God’s word in Romans 6, we will come up short.

In Romans 6:1-10 Paul gives us the foundation for understanding how we must think now about sin.

Because of our union with Jesus in His death, burial, and resurrection we now have a new life. Our old self was crucified with Christ and we have been set free. We are no longer slaves of sin as we once were.

Because we died and rose with Christ, our life now is living with Christ. We are to walk in newness of life.

That new life begins with new thinking. Verse 11 tells us to reckon – consider ourselves now dead to sin and alive unto God. That is the start. THINK.

Therefore when sin comes our way again and tempts us, we must resist and not let sin have power and authority in our lives. We must STOP sin from having its way in our lives. When sin calls us to obey, we must disobey.

We must not present ourselves as volunteers at sin’s command, but rather PRESENT ourselves to God as resurrected servants who are willing to be instruments of righteousness for His purposes.

As we do this, we must REMEMBER that sin shall not have dominion over us because we are not under law, but rather we are under grace. Grace is the dominating principle that governs our lives now rather than law.

That is where we left off last week having those four words to help remember and apply those verses.

Today we pick up at verse 15 and see a provocative question that flows out of verse 14. Paul will answer it and give us more encouragement to continue strong in our battle with sin. Pray.

We ended last week at verse 14:

For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

As we ended last week, we noted that the controlling principle in our lives today is not law but grace.

The law/grace comment by Paul has generated enormous discussions, but I think the next verse helps us see the simplicity of what Paul just said.

If we are under law, then we might say that everything in our life is defined and all the rights and wrong are noted. The Mosaic Law was extensive, though it was not exhaustive in giving the particulars on everything. It established law through examples, which would be applied in similar situations.

But in reality, the Mosaic Law was God’s instruction for His people, Israel, and it was to govern them as His people and as a nation.

We believe that after Jesus came and returned to heaven, that He sent the Holy Spirit and this new entity began – the church. The church is not under the Mosaic Law, and many describe the economy of this church age as the age of grace.

No longer is God working particularly through a nation, Israel, but rather because of their rejection and the expansion of the mission to all the world in God’s perfect providence, God is working through this new body, the church, which includes both Jew and Gentile.

Having said that, I am not saying that the church has replaced Israel. We believe and teach that God still has a future for Israel as Romans 9-11 will describe.

The nation of Israel had disobeyed the Mosaic Law repeatedly, and God ultimately sent them into exile. Even though they returned from Babylon they still were under foreign rule. Daniel lays that out, and when we come to the NT, it is Rome.

As Israel lived under Roman rule, something new was at work with the coming of Christ. We believe that the way in which God works now to reveal Himself to the world is through the church, and it in this context that Paul now writes.

Paul does not define ‘grace’ here as many bible students do, but I think we see the implications of grace when he raises another logical question in verse 15 that flows out of verse 14:

15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not!

15Τί οὖν; ἁμαρτήσωμεν, ὅτι οὐκ ἐσμὲν ὑπὸ νόμον ἀλλὰ ὑπὸ χάριν; μὴ γένοιτο.

1. Grace does not give us permission to sin (6:15)

I think Paul’s question here comes from the meaning of grace and its implications. Grace is freedom. Grace is not law. Grace does not bind or bring about death, but rather it sets us free.

But grace does not mean we can go ahead and just sin.

Someone hearing verse 14 might ponder it and be deeply concerned that without law the alternative is just to sin.

I call this an absurd question because though it is logical, it still misses the gravity of sin and all that Paul has just been saying.

Some might have concluded after verse 14 that Paul was advocating a lawless life.

If believers are not bound by the Mosaic Law, then will they not simply lead a lawless life?

Sure, the argument is logical, as was the one in 6:1, but he will now set about to answer it.

Paul will return to another of these kinds of questions in 7:7 where the law itself becomes the target.

Being free from the Mosaic Law and living under grace does not give us permission to sin.

“Asserting that believers are not under law does not mean that they are free from the moral commands contained in the Torah. It means that they are free from the power of sin, which was indissolubly connected with the Mosaic covenant (see the exegesis and exposition of 6:14). To say that believers are under grace means that they now have the power to keep the moral norms of the law (cf. 8:4; 13:8–10). Thus the freedom from the law trumpeted here does not imply that believers are free from the law in every sense (Murray 1959: 230–31). Indeed, Paul is probably responding to those who would infer from verse 14 that freedom from the law involves freedom from moral norms.”[1]

[1] Schreiner, T. R. (1998). Vol. 6: Romans. Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (330–331). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.

To the one who thinks that grace permits sin, notice Paul’s continuing argument:

16 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?

16οὐκ οἴδατε ὅτι ᾧ παριστάνετε ἑαυτοὺς δούλους εἰς ὑπακοήν, δοῦλοι ἐστε ᾧ ὑπακούετε, ἤτοι ἁμαρτίας εἰς θάνατον ἢ ὑπακοῆς εἰς δικαιοσύνην;

2. We are slaves to the one we obey (6:16)

Paul gives the simple answer “no” in verse 15, but now explains it in the form of a rhetorical question.

He prefaces his question by raising the issue in terms of what they should know. This takes us back to the idea of THINK. Bad thinking leads to bad living.

Here Paul makes a basic point: to the one we present ourselves to obey, we make ourselves slaves to that one.

If we present ourselves to sin to obey it, then we are slaves to sin.

If we present ourselves to God to obey Him, then we are slaves to God.

Notice Paul also shows the end result: either death or righteousness.

Paul is not saying really anything new, but is probing the teaching of the early parts of this chapter.

When we were transformed by God’s grace through the new birth – when we got saved, as we sometimes say – our eyes were opened to a lot of things. One of the things we soon learn, as Paul has taught in verse 6, is that our old man – the person we once were – was crucified with Jesus with the end result that we are now no longer slaves of sin. Sin does not have the automatic grip on us that it once did.

However, if we present ourselves to sin to obey it, then we voluntarily place ourselves again under King sin and it dominates us.

Verse 16 is an important footnote on verse 13. Remember, verse 13 is the third word: PRESENT. We must present ourselves to God rather than to sin.

Notice the encouragement Paul gives in verses 17-18:

17 But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. 18 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.

3. Thanks be to God for our new birth (6:17-18)

I don’t quite know how to best word this point, but it is clear that Paul is very encouraged by the status of his readers. In all of his teaching about sin and the believer, even as he answers some of these wild questions, he is very thankful here that he knows that so many of his readers were genuine Christians.

He is speaking in these two verses about their spiritual transformation from being slaves of sin to being slaves of righteousness. He is giving thanks to God for their spiritual conversion.

These two verses do not give us commands to follow, but demonstrate a word of thanks based on what has taken place.

In the English, it almost sounds like an imperative (God be thanked) but in the Greek it is just a few words together: χάρις δὲ τῷ θεῷ (but grace, kindness, thanks to God). It’s a little like when we hear of some great thing that we lift our voices and look to heaven and simply say “praise God.”

As Paul encourages us with his thanks to God, notice the three ways he describes what has changed:

First, he repeats the fact of our freedom from sin’s mastery. He says that we were slaves of sin. That is what we once were. That simply echoes verses 6-7.

Second, he speaks about our response to the gospel and our resulting deliverance. The way he describes it here seems a little awkward in how we might say it, but it goes to the heart of the matter.

Paul describes their response to the gospel as obedience from the heart. Describing it as from the heart means it was genuine.

We don’t often equate obedience and a response of faith, but look back at chapter 1 where Paul made that connection.

Romans 1:5–6 (NKJV) 5 Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name, 6 among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ;

Obedience to the faith is trusting Jesus for salvation. It is responding with genuine belief to the hearing of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Philippian jailer asked Paul and Silas: “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30). Their answer was an imperative: “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ….” (Acts 16:31).

Believe. An imperative. A command.

We don’t often speak about one’s conversion as ‘obeying from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.’ Perhaps we should.

When Paul refers to “that form of doctrine” I think he is referring to the Christian teaching about Jesus in the gospel. But it is more as the last phrase describe: “to which you were delivered.”

Notice Paul does not say that it was the gospel that was delivered to them – though it certainly was – but rather Paul emphasizes the personal change that was made in their lives: “You were delivered.”

When the Lord transformed us by His grace – the day we got saved – He brought us to a new place and we are now under the mastery of our Lord and His Word.

Third, Paul describes believers as being set free from sin and having become slaves of righteousness.

Paul is not ashamed of using the imagery of slavery to make his points. We always feel the need to add a footnote when we do the same, but let us not miss what Paul is saying here.

Sure, the concept of slavery on a human level if horrible and we wish the earth would eradicate it permanently. Sadly, that will never happen.

But Paul says that though we have been set free from the mastery of sin, we are now slaves of righteousness. We went from one master-slave relationship to another.

Paul has used this analogy of slavery several times, but notice now he probes it more deeply and repeats the imperative of verse 13. Notice the first part of verse 19:

4. Sanctification (6:19)

19 I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh.

Paul says his illustration relates to us on a human level and is necessary because of the weakness of our flesh.

We must admit that hearing about being enslaved to righteousness or enslaved to God seems harsh, but it does not have to be understood harshly.

Paul made no apology to say that he was a slave of Christ, a servant of Christ. Most of his letters started with his credentials including a statement about being a servant or a slave of Jesus.

When we were justified by God’s grace through faith, we were granted a new relationship with Christ. That relationship is much more than seeing God as our buddy. Certainly it includes friendship, but we reverence our Lord and view Him properly as our Savior and our Lord. This implies we will gladly do what He says.

Jesus paid the price for my sin, and I gladly receive His full authority over my life to direct my steps. We do not fear the Lord becoming that cruel, harsh, sinful human master.

As Paul continues describing our new status as slaves of God, notice he repeats the imperative from verse 13:

For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.

Paul draws out the principle of change that is fundamental to our Christian life. Where we once were allegiant to king sin, now we must be allegiant to our God and His call for doing what is right.

Notice in verse 19 that our slavery to impurity and lawlessness led to more and more lawlessness.

NKJV: And of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness

KJV: and to iniquity unto iniquity

NASB: to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness

Unbelievers are totally subservient to sin as a power that exerts authority over their lives, but the slavery envisioned is not coercion. People do not submit to sin against their will. Rather, they “freely” and spontaneously choose to sin. In other words, unbelievers are slaves to sin in that they always desire to carry out the dictates of their master. This does not mean that those with addictions (e.g., to alcohol, pornography, or gambling) never wish to be freed. It means that the desire for these things is ultimately greater than the desire to be freed from them. Sinning is what they want to do. Only God, therefore, can release them from such subjection, for new desires are necessary to escape the bondage of sin. Of course, this is precisely what God has done. He has liberated them from the tyranny of sin so that they “have become obedient from the heart” to the gospel. He has planted new desires within them.[2]

[1] Schreiner, T. R. (1998). Vol. 6: Romans. Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (337). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.

Lawlessness leads to more lawlessness. Sin leads to more sin. One lie leads to another and another.

It’s a vicious circle. It is also very tiring and unnecessary.

As a contrast, Paul says here that we should take that same willingness for service and instead of presenting ourselves to sin, we should willingly present ourselves now to God – as slaves of righteousness for holiness.

Notice at the end of verse 19 that little phrase “for holiness.” The NKJV has a footnote: “unto sanctification.” NASB: “resulting in sanctification.”

Sanctification is the process of God cleaning us up. Sanctification is the work of God by His grace after we are saved to make us more and more like Jesus.

2 Corinthians 3:18 speaks to this.

Twice in this chapter Paul has given us the command to present our members to God for righteousness (13, 19) and we should take note.

In the final section of chapter 6, we see words of encouragement:

5. Encouragement: Eternal Life, not Death (6:20-23)

In verses 20-23 we have a contrast that is informative and encouraging. The contrast is between the past the present.

Notice the focus on the past:

20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.

Paul speaks about their past. Once, back then, when we were unsaved, unregenerate, not followers of Christ, we were slaves of sin. He has said this many times.

When we were slaves of sin, we were also at the same time “free” regarding righteousness. What does this mean?

We once did not feel the tug of righteousness; we were free from its constraints. NIV: “When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness”.

When we were unsaved, lost in our sins, God’s righteousness did not have any real weight upon our life.

Sadly, some young people grow up in Christian homes but eventually “shed” their Christian experience by walking away.

No longer wanting to be bound by “rules,” they flee and then feel freedom from all of that righteousness. The lie of Satan is that this freedom from righteousness is wonderful.

Paul says that back when we were unbelievers, we were slaves of sin and out from under the shackles of righteousness.

And where did that lead?

21 What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.

What harvest did sin yield? What benefit did sin ever accomplish in our lives? None. Only death.

Sure, the short-term lie seemed to work, but in the end it bore bitter fruit.

God will never be mocked – whatever a man sows, that he also reaps. Paul argued along these lines also in chapter 2, that God will render to each one according to his deeds.

Verse 22 now contrasts and shows the better fruit of the present:

22 But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.

Life in Christ is superior. It gives true freedom. It gives us a perfect Master. No longer will sin call the shots, but now God will direct our steps.

Instead of bearing the fruit of death, now in Christ we see holiness and ultimately everlasting life.

Paul mentions ‘holiness’ or ‘sanctification’ (ἁγιασμόν) again (also verse 19 end).

And what is the end, the “fruit” of all of this? Everlasting life.

Everlasting life – a life that continues on and on for eternity. The concept of everlasting life is precious.

What was the fruit of a life of slavery to sin? The end of verse 21: death. Paul’s discussion has repeated itself frequently in this chapter, and for good reason: we need to hear these things over and over.

Notice how this discussion concludes with the familiar verse 23:

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This verse neatly summarizes the truths that have been taught in this chapter. Just as the metaphor of slavery was sharply contrasted, now we have the picture of resources sharply contrasted.

On the one hand, we have the picture of wages – the money we deserve after having worked for an agreed period of time. We do something, and someone pays us for it.

Remember Paul used this analogy back in chapter 4 when he was explaining faith? He said in 4:4: “Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt.”

The word for wages (ὀψώνια) can refer to soldier pay. We might think of it in any context of work and a paycheck. Remember that the one who is paying here is sin and the wages is death.

That’s a terrible paycheck!

Slaves of sin will earn death. Slaves don’t usually work for any wages, but here we see that the payoff is dark. The wages of sin is death.

That picture also describes the pathway of sin, for it does lead to death. That was the point of chapter 5 when we saw the work of Adam – sin – and the result – death passed upon all men.

Living as a child of Adam alone means a life that will conclude with death. Death here is not just the expiration of the physical body, but also separation for eternity apart from the presence of God. It includes the second death (as Revelation explains).

That is the bad news, summarized in the first seven words of verse 23.

But the contrast is the blessings he has been describing for those who are followers of Jesus Christ: “but the gift of God is eternal life, everlasting life, in or through Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Verse 23 is one of those oft-quoted and very critical verses for our understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Instead of wages, Paul speaks about the gift of God.

Gifts are received. We do not work for them. They are not merited. They are not payment for work. If they are received as a result of works, they are wages.

In chapter 5 Paul used this picture to contrast the offense of Adam. Listen again to 5:15-17:

15 But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. 16 And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. 17 For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)

God’s gift is God’s grace. Grace is linked with the person and work of Jesus Christ. His work abounded to many – those who trust in Christ alone for the forgiveness of their sins.

The judgment that was upon all has been taken upon the back of Jesus Christ, and through His death comes the free gift. This free gift is simply received by those who receive Him by faith.

I have little doubt that you have heard verse 23 before, and it is an excellent verse to summarize the discussion of chapter 6. Verse 23 gives to us the excellent conclusion of the discussion in chapter 6 to show the sharp contrast between the two roads: one leads to death, and the other leads to life.

Application

1. Think

2. Stop

3. Present

4. Remember