Romans 6:15-23 “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16 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? 17 But 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. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. 19 I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. 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. 20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romani 6:15-23 « Che faremo dunque? Peccheremo forse perché non siamo sotto la legge, ma sotto la grazia? No di certo! 16 Non sapete voi che se vi offrite a qualcuno come schiavi per ubbidirgli, siete schiavi di colui a cui ubbidite: o del peccato che conduce alla morte o dell’ubbidienza che conduce alla giustizia?17 Ma sia ringraziato Dio, che eravate schiavi del peccato, ma avete ubbidito di cuore a quella forma d’insegnamento che vi è stata trasmessa; 18 e, liberati dal peccato, siete diventati servi della giustizia.19 Parlo alla maniera degli uomini, a causa della debolezza della vostra carne; poiché, come già prestaste le vostre membra a servizio dell’impurità e dell’iniquità per commettere l’iniquità, così prestate ora le vostre membra a servizio della giustizia per la santificazione. 20 Perché quando eravate schiavi del peccato, eravate liberi riguardo alla giustizia. 21 Quale frutto dunque avevate allora? Di queste cose ora vi vergognate, poiché la loro fine è la morte. 22 Ma ora, liberati dal peccato e fatti servi di Dio, avete per frutto la vostra santificazione e per fine la vita eterna; 23 perché il salario del peccato è la morte, ma il dono di Dio è la vita eterna in Cristo Gesù, nostro Signore.”
Paul presents the idea of grace (v. 14) and then proceeds to explain what it means to be under grace. The idea had circulated that sins were automatically cancelled because the grace of God covered the believer. Paul, aware of this erroneous thinking about grace, put a stop to this kind of logic. The rhetorical question, “Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace?” gives Paul a chance to teach believers that the abuse of grace would put a believer under the slavery of sin. The end result of slavery to sin is death. Our position living under grace needs to be demonstrated daily. There is no in between state. Since believers are dead to sin, they can’t be slaves to it; that would be contrary to the plan of God in giving grace.
Paul then uses the term “slavery” to describe our righteousness metaphorically under grace. Although the idea of slavery to anything implies a sort of bondage to something, Paul uses the term to contrast the slavery of sin (verse 19 says, “I put this in human terms…”) so that the Roman believers could comprehend the responsibility of living under grace.
Finally, Paul presents the outcome of being a slave to sin or a slave to God (v. 21-22). For believers who continually think that they can be slaves to sin and live under grace, Paul emphatically says that living that way leads to death. The opposite is also true. Those who have been set free from sin are slaves to living righteously before God to inherit the benefits that lead to holiness and eternal life. The concise and concluding verse leaves no doubt to the plan of God for living under grace. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Pray with me: Lord, I know that living under grace that leads to eternal life requires my commitment to righteous living. Help me to resist any form of slavery to sin that would lead me away from Your grace. Amen!
