Romans 6. Slaves to Righteousness.  

1. Why do we want to talk about this? Verses 1-23. 

   1. We’ve been bought with a price, the blood of God Himself, why would we ever want to be enslaved to anything other than Him? 

2. What is sin? Verses 1-2. 

   1. Hamartia in Greek refers to a sin, meaning to miss the mark, a fault or failure in an ethical sense, something that is not originated or empowered by God. Used to describe an archer missing the target. Appears 173 times in the NT. 

   2. When we sin we miss the mark of God’s perfection, of glorifying Him. Similarly, this is our goal in this race we are in. A mark is to a dart board as a finish line is to a race. The end goal of the race, the finish line, is to be with the Lord and enjoy His perfection. When we sin we stray away from this path, a good way of putting it is that we are choosing to run backwards during the race. 

3. If you have died to sin, can you live in it? Verses 2-4.

   1. Absolutely not. To live in it is not to fall at times, get back up, and repent to God. To live in it is to remain under its dominion. To be enslaved to it. To do its will. 

4. How are we baptized into Christ Jesus? Is this merely water baptism? Verses 3-4.

   1. On verse 3…

      1. “baptized into Christ Jesus. This does not refer to water baptism. Paul is actually using the word baptized in a metaphorical sense, as we might in saying someone was immersed in his work, or underwent his baptism of fire when experiencing some trouble. All Christians have, by placing saving faith in HIm, been spiritually immersed in to the person of Christ, that is, united and identified with Him (cf. 1 Corinthians 6:17, 10:2; Galatians 3:27; 1 Peter 3:21; 1 John 1:3). Certainly, water baptism pictures this reality, which is the purpose - to show the transformation of the justified. into His death. This means that immersion or identification is specifically with Christ’s death and Resurrection, as the apostle will explain (see Romans 6:4-7). 

   2. On verse 4…

      1. “buried with Him. Since we are united by faith with Jesus, as baptism symbolizes, His death and burial become ours. newness of life. This is true if, in Christ, we died and were buried with Him, we have also been united with Him in His resurrection. There is a new quality and character to our lives, a new principle of life. This speaks of the believer’s regeneration (cf. Ezekiel 36:26; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15; Ephesians 4:24). Whereas sin describes the old life, righteousness describes the new.”

• John MacArthur, The MacArthur Bible Commentary.

5. Let’s walk through the next set of verses and look at what each one tells us about what happens to our relationship with sin upon regeneration by the Spirit. 

6. Paul is extremely clear that we have the ability to resist sin because of our new hearts and desires that are to rely on the Spirit for guidance and strength. We cannot make the excuse that we cannot resist sin (1 Corinthians 10:13). 

7. What does it mean to present yourself as an obedient slave? Verses 15-16.

   1. “To fully grasp Paul’s meaning we have to understand something about indentured servitude. When we think of slaves, we tend to think of the slave trade in the West in more recent centuries—man stealing. We think of slavery as kidnapping young people from Africa, bringing them across the ocean to the auction block, and selling them to other men. In the ancient world slavery was primarily voluntary servitude. When someone had a debt he could not pay, he would offer his services to fulfill the debt. That is the context in which Paul asks, “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey?” He is saying that if we present ourselves again to sin as slaves to sin, it will lead to death. If we obey sin as a slave, the only outcome is death, but if we present ourselves as slaves of obedience, the end is righteousness.” - RC Sproul, Romans: An Expositional Commentary, Pg. 180.

8. Why do people desire a “free will” and adamantly oppose those who tell them their will is never truly free? Verses 16-19. 

   1. People desire to be in control of their own lives. The natural man seeks to please himself rather than please God, he covets what he does not have, and he makes himself his own god. People are blinded spiritually and cannot understand their will is bound by sin and therefore the only thing it is free from is righteousness. 

      1. Proverbs: 8:13, 11:2, 16:5, 16:18, 18:12, 29:23

      2. Romans: 1, 3, 8 

      3. John: 8:39-47 

   2. Our wills are either slaves to sin (John 8:34) or slaves to righteousness (Romans 6:16). We are either serving Satan or we are serving Christ. We are either serving the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4) or the King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 19:11-16). There is no in between, no one can serve two masters (Matthew 6:24). 

      1. We shouldn’t desire to be independent or completely free. We should long to be enslaved to Christ and to do the will of God and have our wills align with His (Galatians 1:10, Psalm 37:4). He has provided everything for us, including our salvation (1 Corinthians 1).

      2. We will always be enslaved to something. 

         1. Who is your master? 

   3. This does not mean that we will not fall to sin. Paul will delve heavily into this in Chapter 7 and we will pick up on this line of thought there.

9. Do you desire freedom or do you desire independence? Verses 20-22. 

   1. “The freest man on the face of the earth is the one who makes himself a slave to a perfect master. Where has God been wrong, and where has He wronged you? Has there ever been a time when you’ve listened to Him, when you’ve obeyed Him, when you’ve sought out His will, that He misled you somehow? Never! But have you ever followed your own ways and been misled by your own devices? Always. It is extreme. It is deliberate.” - Paul Washer. 

   2. If you are given an instrument but don’t know how to play it, you don’t have freedom. You can’t play it. However, if you know how to play the instrument then you have freedom because you know how to play it. The key to this freedom is submission. You either submit to someone who can teach you to play the instrument and are free to play it or you stay enslaved to your incapability to play. 

      1. Submitting yourself to the wisdom of God in the Law of God does not limit your life, it frees it. Surrender to Christ’s Lordship, sit under godly preaching, surround yourself with godly brethren and leaders. That’s where freedom is found (John 8:36), not anywhere else. 

   3. As we just walked through, independence from God is merely enslavement to sin. Freedom from sin means freedom for righteousness! 

10. Why is death a wage but eternal life a gift? Verse 23. 

    1. You earn a wage (opsónion), you receive a gift (charisma). 

    2. Recall in Chapter 2 how we discussed the building up of punishment for those who have not repented. They are storing up wrath for the day of judgment (Romans 2:4-5). The wages for their evil works are the holy and eternal wrath of God (Romans 6:23).  It quickly becomes clear that we earn our condemnation. 

       1. “You contribute nothing to your salvation except the sin that made it necessary.” - Jonathan Edwards (commonly attributed). 

    3. This is not how a gift operates. A gift is given, it is undeserved. We cannot earn a gift. However, the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord which He has given to His people out of the good pleasure of His will (Ephesians 2:4-10). 

       1. “In stark contrast to that is the good news, the gift of God. Wages are something we earn; a gift is something we cannot possibly earn. Wages are something we merit; the gift, on the other hand, is free. It is gratuitous. The wages of sin is death; the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. All the way through this section Paul has been dealing with contrasts: slavery to sin versus slavery to righteousness; wages of death versus the gift of eternal life.”- RC Sproul, Romans: An Expositional Commentary, Pg. 182.

11. How do we apply this to our lives?

    1. Stop trying to earn God’s grace and favor. If you earn it, it’s not grace. 

    2. Know that you cannot out-sin the grace of God (5:18-21). 

    3. Be a slave to Christ (1:1). 

       1. Paul uses the same word doulos to describe being a slave to Christ in Chapter 6 that he uses in Chapter 1 to describe himself. This aligns with Paul telling us to be imitators of him in 1 Corinthians 11:1. 

12. Resources: 

    1. The MacArthur Bible Commentary John MacArthur.  

    2. Romans: An Expositional Commentary Ligonier, RC Sproul.

    3. Quote by Jonathan Edwards Goodreads. 

13. Sermons: 

    1. Asking For Directions | Part 7 | June 26, 2022 LifePoint, Taylor Long. 

    2. My Soul's Needs and Biblical Keys For Growth - Paul Washer

    3. This is War - Paul Washer 

    4. Romans, Vol. 04 (4:3-6:10) GTY, John MacArthur.

    5. Romans, Vol. 05 (6:11-8:11) GTY, John MacArthur.