Romans 6:15-23
15: What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be!
16: Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?
17: But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed,
18: and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.
19: I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification.
20: For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.
21: Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death.
22: But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.
23: For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Once again Paul asked the question, "Should we still sin because we are under grace and not the Law?" His answer was, "May it never be!" The purpose of grace is not to allow or promote sin. It’s to enable a person to live free from sin. Paul explained that whatever a person obeys he becomes a slave to. If you obey sin, you are a slave to it. If you obey God, you are a slave of righteousness. He’s using this analogy to help them understand that giving yourself as a slave to impurity and lawlessness results in further lawlessness, but giving yourself as a slave to righteousness results in your sanctification.
Paul asked what benefit came of their sin, which they had become ashamed of? The only "benefit" of those things is death, but the benefit of being enslaved to God is sanctification, which results in eternal life. He emphasized this concept of grace, righteousness, sanctification, and eternal life being a free gift one receives by faith in Jesus Christ. There was a cost to it, but Jesus sacrificed Himself, paying the price so all who believe in Him could freely receive it. It was the only way. No one else could live a life deserving of it.
Paul had previously made the point that this gift didn’t come through circumcision or Law, but he wanted to make sure they understood that this didn’t mean there was no consequence to sin. On the contrary, sin leads to death—not just physical, but eternal. God has designed His plan of salvation so that the only way a person can attain righteousness with Him is to want it—to sincerely desire from the heart to do and be good. This desire leads to a humbling before God as one realizes he can never attain it on his own, a thankfulness to Jesus for paying the price, and a complete trust in Him for salvation.
16: Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?
17: But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed,
18: and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.
19: I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification.
20: For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.
21: Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death.
22: But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.
23: For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
***
Once again Paul asked the question, "Should we still sin because we are under grace and not the Law?" His answer was, "May it never be!" The purpose of grace is not to allow or promote sin. It’s to enable a person to live free from sin. Paul explained that whatever a person obeys he becomes a slave to. If you obey sin, you are a slave to it. If you obey God, you are a slave of righteousness. He’s using this analogy to help them understand that giving yourself as a slave to impurity and lawlessness results in further lawlessness, but giving yourself as a slave to righteousness results in your sanctification.
Paul asked what benefit came of their sin, which they had become ashamed of? The only "benefit" of those things is death, but the benefit of being enslaved to God is sanctification, which results in eternal life. He emphasized this concept of grace, righteousness, sanctification, and eternal life being a free gift one receives by faith in Jesus Christ. There was a cost to it, but Jesus sacrificed Himself, paying the price so all who believe in Him could freely receive it. It was the only way. No one else could live a life deserving of it.
Paul had previously made the point that this gift didn’t come through circumcision or Law, but he wanted to make sure they understood that this didn’t mean there was no consequence to sin. On the contrary, sin leads to death—not just physical, but eternal. God has designed His plan of salvation so that the only way a person can attain righteousness with Him is to want it—to sincerely desire from the heart to do and be good. This desire leads to a humbling before God as one realizes he can never attain it on his own, a thankfulness to Jesus for paying the price, and a complete trust in Him for salvation.
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