Introduction
Paul has been teaching us that sin and death came into the world because of Adam; and justification and life came into the world because of the Lord Jesus Christ.
In the beginning, Adam disobeyed God’s clear command concerning the forbidden fruit. And by disobeying God, it’s as if he opened a door that let sin into the world so that all of us who are born in the normal way are born with a corrupt and fallen nature. And so, sinning against God comes naturally to us. And Adam not only opened a door to sin, but he opened a door to death, so that we all die because of Adam’s first sin the beginning.
So, sin and death came into the world because of Adam. But justification and life came into the world because of the Lord Jesus Christ. Whereas Adam was disobedient, the Lord Jesus Christ obeyed his Father in heaven perfectly, even to the point of giving up his life on the cross in obedience to his Father’s will to pay for our sins and to make peace for us with God. And the result of his obedience is that all who believe in him are justified: we are forgiven and accepted as right in God’s sight. And all who are justified through faith in the Saviour receive the free gift of eternal life, so that while we still die and our bodies are buried in the ground, nevertheless death for the believer is not the end, but it’s the doorway to life in the presence of God which is far, far, far better than our life in this world.
And Paul went on to refer to the law. The Jews thought that by keeping the law they could win God’s favour. But Paul says that the law was added so that the trespass might increase. He means the law only makes things worse, because every time we sin, we’re breaking God’s law and we’re disobeying his commands. And the law reveals to us that we’re all just like Adam, because just as Adam disobeyed God’s clear command to him, so we too disobey God’s clear commands to us.
But, says Paul, where sin increased, grace increased all the more. Where sin increases, God’s grace to sinners increases as well. And God’s grace — his kindness to sinners — always surpasses our sin. While our sin might be high, God’s grace is higher still. God’s willingness to be gracious to us always surpasses our ability to sin and to do wrong. He’s always ready and willing and able to forgive us our sins so long as we’re trusting in Christ the Saviour.
And in last week’s passage, it was as if Paul was reading the thoughts of his readers, who might have been wondered to themselves: If that’s the case, if it’s true that where sin increases, God’s grace increases too, then shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? Can I do as I please and sin as much as I like, because after all, God is sure to forgive me?
And Paul responded by saying: ‘By no means!’ And in last week’s passage he explained that when we first believed and were united with Christ by faith, it’s as if we died with Christ in his death and it’s as if we were raised with him in his resurrection. When we first believed, we died. That is to say, our old life of sin and disobedience died. And when we first believed, we were raised. That is to say, we were raised with Christ to live a new life of obedience.
And since that’s the case, we must not let sin reign in us any longer and we should offer ourselves to God as instruments of righteousness. We must say to God: ‘Here I am. Now that I’ve died with Christ to sin and have been raised with Christ to live a new life, here I am, ready and willing to do your will and to do whatever is right in your sight. Here I am. Take me. Use me. Let me be in your hand an instrument of righteousness.’
That’s what we were thinking about last week and I hope you’ve been thinking about that this week and that you’ve been saying something like that to the Lord every morning this past week. ‘Since I’ve died to sin and since I’ve been raised to live a new life of obedience, let me be in your hand an instrument of righteousness.’
And in today’s passage, Paul again seems to be reading the minds of some of his readers, because he deals with another question. they might have. And so, we have the question in verse 15 and Paul’s initial response in verse 16. And then he elaborates on his response in the remainder of the passage by contrasting what his readers once were before they believed; and what they are now, now that they believe. This is what you once were and this is what you are now. Once you were like this, but now you’re like this.
And right in the middle of the passage, in verse 19, we have an imperative, a command, an instruction: ‘Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.’ That’s what every believer is to do: we’re to offer ourselves in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.
Verses 15 and 16
Let’s turn now to the passage. And in verse 15 Paul raises this question which may have been in the minds of his readers: ‘Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace?’
This question arises from the last thing Paul said in the previous passage. Look with me at verse 14 where he said: ‘For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.’ Paul uses the word ‘law’ in various ways throughout his letters, but here he’s using it to mean that before we believed in the Saviour, God’s law condemned us. It condemned us because it showed us that we were just like Adam, because just as Adam disobeyed God, so we disobey God as well. We are lawbreakers and therefore we deserve to be condemned by God. However, now that we believe and have been justified, we’ve been set free from the law’s condemnation, because of God’s overflowing grace and kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
But here’s the question: If we’re no longer under the law, but under God’s grace, so that God will not condemn us for breaking his law, shall we keep on sinning? If God will not condemn us, what’s to stop us from breaking God’s law? So, shall we keep on sinning?
And Paul once again responds with a firm: ‘By no means!’ Not at all. And then he asks his readers: ‘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….’ I’ll pause there, because this is really a general principle which his readers in the ancient world will have been familiar with. Slavery was part of life in the ancient world and sometimes people who found themselves in difficult circumstances would sell themselves into slavery as a way, perhaps, to clear their debts. And Paul refers to this common practice in those days to make a simple point which is that when you do this, you become a slave. You’re a slave to the one you obey. But he’s not really thinking about normal, everyday slaves in Rome. He’s thinking about what’s true for everyone. Every single person in the world is a slave, because everyone in the world is either a slave to sin or a slave to obedience.
When we’re born into this world, and before we come to faith in Christ, we’re slaves to sin. And that means we do what sin wants. Now, we’ve noticed before that Paul likes to personify sin so that he regards it as if it’s a person who rules over us. And so, before people believe in the Saviour and are set free, they are slaves to sin. Sin is their master and it bosses them around and tells they what to do. And people obey its voice because they are slaves to sin.
People who don’t believe in the Saviour like to think they’re free. They think they’re free to do whatever they like and no one like God is going to tell them what to do. But the truth is that they’re not free. When we’re born and before we believe, we’re slaves to sin and sin rules over us and makes us do evil. That’s why the world is the way it is and that’s why lots of people who don’t believe are doing wicked and evil things. It’s because they’re enslaved to sin.
But when we believe in the Saviour, we receive a new master. And our new master, according to Paul in verse 16, is obedience. We’re to obey it’s voice and do what it says because obedience is now our master.
And so, everyone in the world is ruled over by one of these two masters. Every person is either ruled over by sin or by obedience. And when sin is your master, the result is death. Do you see that near the end of verse 16? And when Paul mentions death, he’s probably thinking not only of death, but of what happens afterwards for sinners who never trusted in Christ for salvation. So, it’s death followed by condemnation followed by eternal punishment away from the presence of God.
When sin is your master, the result is death. But when obedience is your master, the result is what? Paul says the result is righteousness. So, if obedience is our master, if we live a life of obedience to God, then we end up living a righteous life, which is a life that is pleasing to God, because instead of doing what is wrong in God’s sight, we’ll do what is right in his sight. And that’s a far better way to live, isn’t it? Instead of doing what is wrong and wicked and evil and unkind, fighting with one another, hurting one another, frightening one another, hating one another, we end up living a life that is good and right and kind and loving and forgiving. That’s the way to be.
Verses 17 and 18
And Paul takes what he said briefly in verse 16 and he elaborates on it in the remainder of today’s passage. And he contrasts what his readers once were with what they are now.
And so, take a look at verse 17 where he gives thanks to God. And he gives thanks to God, because God is the one who produces this change in us. He’s the one who sets us free from our natural slavery to sin and he makes us slaves to obedience. And since he’s the one who does it, then he’s the one who deserves our thanks.
So, thanks be to God that, ‘though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted.’ So, Paul is writing to believers. He’s writing to Christians. And he’s saying to them that this is the way you used to be. When you were born, and before you believed in the Saviour, you were slaves to sin. Sin was once your master and you did what it told you to do. Your life, before you believed, was dominated by sin. And this is true for all of us before we come to faith in Christ. But thanks be to God, because though you used to be slaves to sin, now you’ve become obedient. So, now that they’ve trusted in Christ, they have become God’s obedient people.
But look closely at what Paul says about them. He says ‘you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted.’ When Paul mentions a form of teaching, he’s referring to what Christians believe and teach and obey. He’s thinking about God’s word and what it says we’re to believe and do.
But notice that Paul does not say that this Christian teaching was handed over to them. It’s not that the minister gave them a copy of the Bible or a copy of the catechism. Instead, he says that they were handed over to the Christian teaching. So, think of a man in the ancient world who might have handed himself over to another person to be his slave. Well, believers have been handed over to this Christian teaching. We have been placed under its authority to do what it says.
And notice one other thing about what Paul says. He didn’t say his readers entrusted themselves to this teaching as if this was something they did. Instead, he said they were entrusted to it. This was something that was done to them by another person. And so, who entrusted them? Who placed them under this Christian teaching? Well, God entrusted them. God placed them under the authority of his word. Once they were slaves to sin and they did what it told them to do. But then God enabled them to believe in the Saviour and he placed them under the authority of his word which tells us what to believe and what to do.
And in this way they have been set free from sin. Believers have been set free from the reign of sin. Sin is no longer our master who bosses us around. Instead we have become slaves to righteousness. And, of course, Paul is using different words to mean the same thing. Being a slave to righteousness is the same as being a slave to obedience. And he means that once our life was characterised by sin, because sin was our master. But now, now that we have trusted in Christ for salvation and have been set free from sin in order to live a life of obedience and a life of righteousness so that we do what is right in the sight of God.
Verses 20 to 23
I’m going to skip over verse 19 and come back to it at the end. And so, turn with me now to verses 20 to 23 where Paul once again contrasts what his readers once were before they believed and what they are now, now that they believe in the Saviour.
So, they used to be slaves to sin. And when they were slaves to sin, they had a kind of freedom. But it wasn’t a good form of freedom, was it? It wasn’t a good form of freedom, because before they believed and were still enslaved to sin, they were free from the control of righteousness. And when someone is free from the control of righteousness, then instead of doing what is right and good and wholesome, they do what is wrong and evil and corrupt. And again, that’s why the world is the way it is and it’s why the lives of so many unbelievers are broken. It’s because their lives are not controlled by righteousness. A car that is not controlled by a careful driver will end up crashing. And a life that is not controlled by righteousness is a life that will end up broken.
And Paul goes in to ask his readers in verse 21 what benefit they received at that time when they were free from the control of righteousness. Now, the way the NIV has translated verse 21 is not the best way to translate what Paul said. I think what Paul is saying is this: ‘What benefit did you receive at that time?’ Answer: ‘The things of which you are now ashamed.’ Many of us have had the good fortune of growing up in Christian homes and we came to faith early on and before we’d done anything terrible. But there are others who came to faith later in life and when they think back to the things they once did before they believed, they are ashamed. Yes, they have been forgiven and God has promised to remember their sins no more. But we remember what we once did and the memory fills us with sorrow and shame, because of the people we hurt and the foolish and wicked things we once did. We are ashamed still.
And for those who do not repent and believe, those shameful things lead ultimately to death and condemnation away from the presence of God. And so, Paul is asking what benefit did you get from your old way of life? What good came from your old life of sin? Answer: Nothing good came from it.
And what benefit do you get from your new life as a believer? That’s what verse 22 is about. He says they were set free from sin and they became slaves to God. Once again, Paul is using different words to say the same thing. So, he’s said that his readers became slaves to obedience; and they became slaves to righteousness; and here he says they became slaves to God. Those are three ways for saying the same thing. So, they were set free from sin and they became slaves to God and obedience and righteousness through faith in the Lord Jesus. And what benefit did they receive? What good has come from that? Answer: holiness and eternal life.
When God is our master, then the outcome will be a holy life. And a holy life is an obedient life. And it’s a life of love and kindness and generosity, because God commands us to be like that. And this leads ultimately to eternal life in the presence of God.
And just in case we get confused and think that eternal life is something we earn or deserve for living a holy life, Paul adds in verse 23 that the wages of sin is death — so that’s what we deserve for our sins — but the free gift of God is eternal life. Eternal life in the presence of God is God’s free gift, which he gives to all who trust in his Son. And not only does God give his believing people eternal life, but he also gives his believing people the ability to live a holy life of obedience, because when we believe in the Saviour, God frees us from sin and he enables us to do what was right in his sight.
Verse 19
And now I want to come back to verse 19, because this is the one verse in this passage with a command. In all the other verses, Paul has been telling us what we once were before we believed and what we are now, thanks be to God. So, every other verse has been descriptive. This is what you were and this is what you are now. And since this is what we are now, what should we do? How should we live? Paul tells us in verse 19.
And this is what he says to us: ‘Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.’ When Paul refers here to the parts of our bodies, he’s not just thinking about your arms and hands and legs and feet and ears and so on. He’s thinking about every part of our bodies, including our brains and our wills. So, he’s thinking about our thoughts and our desires and our attitudes and our words. He’s thinking about everything that makes us what we are.
And so, before we believed, we offered ourselves in slavery to impurity and ever-increasing wickedness. And isn’t that interesting? Wickedness and sin and unrighteousness don’t stand still. They don’t remain the same. They’re like weeds in the garden which just keep growing and growing and growing. And in a similar way, wickedness just grows and grows and grows. It grows and grows and grows in the lives of people and in the lives of whole communities and it just gets worse and worse and worse.
And that’s what you once did before you believed. But now, now that you believe in the Saviour, offer yourself, offer the whole of your being, in slavery to righteousness which leads to a holy life. That’s what you’re to do if you’re a believer. You’re to do what is right in God’s sight and you’re to aim for a life of holy obedience.
Now, God has already done the main thing, because he enabled you to repent and to believe the good news of salvation, so that you have been justified: forgiven and accepted. And God enabled you to die to sin so that sin is no longer your master. And God enabled you to rise with Christ to live a new life. And God has placed you under the authority of his word and he’s made you slaves of obedience and righteousness. God has done the main thing. And he’s coming to you today in the preaching of his word to tell you what you must do as a result and as a consequence of all that he has done for you. He’s saying to you today: offer the whole of your being in slavery to righteousness and aim for a life of holy obedience.
This is not just something you’re to believe, but it’s something you’re to do. And you don’t just do it once, but you do it every day. It’s a life-long commitment. It’s a daily duty. Commit yourself to doing what is right in God’s sight and aim for a holy life of loving obedience to God the Father, who loved you and who sent his Son to die for you and to set you free from the penalty and power of sin so that you might live for him and his glory. So, commit yourself day by day to doing what is right and aim for that holy life of loving obedience to God your Father and Jesus Christ your Saviour.
Sermons and Stuff 