Romans 6:12 – Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. 13 Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. 14 Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.

15 Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not! 16 Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living. 17 Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you wholeheartedly obey this teaching we have given you. 18 Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living.

19 Because of the weakness of your human nature, I am using the illustration of slavery to help you understand all this. Previously, you let yourselves be slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led ever deeper into sin. Now you must give yourselves to be slaves to righteous living so that you will become holy.

20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right. 21 And what was the result? You are now ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom. 22 But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. (NLT)

Have you ever felt as if you were a slave to work?  Maybe you feel that you are a slave to a certain activity, a habit.  The Bible teaches us that we are all slaves!  Each of us is a slave – to something!  Romans 6:16 tells us that we are a slave to whatever we choose to obey.  I would suggest that each of us obeys something, even if it’s our own desires.  So, each of us are a slave.

Being a slave to something is simply part of the human condition.  However, we have the opportunity to choose what it is that enslaves us.  In this passage, Paul tells us in verse 16 that we can choose to be a slave to sin, or God.  Some people do not like this imagery. They feel as if this talk of being a slave is oppressive.  Some translations translate the word in question as servant, hoping to make it less offensive.  The word that Paul uses is δουλόω, which usually referred to someone who had sold themselves into slavery.  Sometimes such people were called bondservants.  Paul often called himself a bondservant to Jesus.  As to offering ourselves into slavery, Paul is correct – we do allow ourselves to be enslaved.  If that is the case, and we will allow ourselves to be enslaved to something, then why not choose God?  

Let’s note two things about this passage.  Verse 22 tells us that being slave of God is being free from the power of sin.  Giving the choice between sin and God, I choose being a slave to God! The second thing to note, choosing to be a slave of God does not earn our salvation, for salvation is a free gift (verse 23).  So, why do we choose to be a slave to God?  We do so because we are human, and we will choose to be a slave to something.  Why not choose that which can empower our lives, strengthen our relationships, and bring us eternal joy!

Posted by Ramón Torres