Serve the Master: (6:15-23)
- We are under the grace: (6:15-16): The Apostle says that a person cannot think that he has the liberty to sin just because he is under the grace. A lifestyle of habitual, continual sin is not compatible with one whose life is changed by grace. An occasional sin must also be dealt with the forgiveness and strength from God to avoid recurrence. There is no middle ground between being slave to sin and slave to obedience to God. No one can serve two masters. If we are slaves to sin, our slavery leads to death because “the wages of sin is death”(6:23a). obedience to God leads to righteousness and eternal life. There is no middle ground. Either we are slaves to sin or slaves to obedience. We can legally be free and serve God in obedience. When we put our faith in God, we are set free and are free indeed.
- We have obeyed the form of teaching: (6:17-18): The Apostle puts a beautiful picture that describes of a mould used to shape molten metal. The idea is that God wants us to melt us by the Holy Spirit and the Word of God and mould us in His truth in which we receive a shape of doctrine.
Adam Clarke says: “Here Christianity is represented under the notion of a mould, or die, into which they were cast, and from which they took the impression of its excellence. The figure upon this die is the image of God, righteousness and true holiness, which was stamped on their souls in believing the Gospel and receiving the Holy Ghost. The words refer to the melting of metal, which, when it is liquefied, is cast into the mould, that it may receive the impression that is sunk or cut in the mould; and therefore the words may be literally translated, into which mould of doctrine ye have been cast. They were melted down under the preaching of the word, and then were capable of receiving the stamp of its purity.”
The form of teaching delivered to them is nothing but the Gospel that Jesus died for the sins of all mankind and was raised up to give them the new life. The result is that, we have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. This should be manifested in our daily life experience and demonstrate to others. Believers should never give free access to sin, because we are dead to sin and no longer slaves to it. But we are slaves to obedience that leads to righteousness and eternal life.
- Slave of righteousness: (6:18): We are set free from sin and become slave of righteousness. Sin no longer reigns in us, nor it is our master. A slave is more than an employee.
- A slave is one born into a condition of slavery.
- A slave has no will, no desire. But his will is the will of the master.
- A slave is bonded labour of his master, only death can break their bondage.
- A slave has no regard, but has to serve his master all the time.
But a slave of righteousness is something having a love bond with his master God. As David says: “My ears you have pierced” (Ps.40:6a). Initially we were born as slaves, only the death-spiritually dying with Jesus on the Cross had broken our bondage of sin. we serve God willingly, disregarding ourselves, it is God’s will that matter to us in our lives.
- Strengthen our bodies: (6:19-21): Most of the Roman believers were slaves and Apostle speaks in the language of slavery. Although they were slaves of righteousness, they needed to be exhorted. We are still in our mortal bodies and we need to fight sin as long as we live. If we don’t resist, it becomes worse increasing to wickedness. We need to be enslaved of righteousness which leads to holiness. Each slavery has a form of freedom. When we sin it might look like we are free from outside control, but we are really in slavery.
Ex. When we look at the parable of Prodigal son, he wanted freedom. By his rebellion he became of slave of wrong desires and wrong deeds. when he squandered all his money, he had nothing to eat, he became literally a slave when he took care of the pigs. He found himself totally lost in slavery. What he thought was a freedom, in fact turned out to be the worst kind of slavery. When he returned to his father, he found the true freedom.
The apostle asks, what benefit did we reap from being in sin. What looked like liberty has actually brought bondage. The two servitudes are incompatible. Either we serve God or we serve Satan. We are either saint or sinner, either God’s servant or the Devil’s slave. A believer deliberately yields to sin will reap sorrow. Sin cannot be our master when we have already died to sin. When we deliberately sin, we are yielding to our old nature instead of the Holy Spirit. Such a person is living beneath his exalted position. He is less than a Christian. He is living in slavery, when he could be reigning like a king.