Whose Slave are You?
People imagine they are free creatures. In truth, they are slaves to sin. The nature of sin is lawlessness (Eph 2:3; 1 Jn 3:4). We are all born into our father, Adam, and receive the inheritance of sin (Ps 51:5; Rom 5:12). Thus, one’s whole life from conception to death is marked by sinful thoughts, words, and actions.
We know what sin is because of the light of God’s Law (Rom 3:20). The Law helps us to see the holiness of God and sinfulness of sin. It is sin that has separated humanity from the holy God and positioned us at enmity with our Creator, Lawgiver, and Judge (Rom 8:7; 1 Cor 1:21; Eph 2:15–16; Heb 12:3; Jas 4:4).
The wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23); and death is the end of sin. One’s body of sin is a factory of sin. We sin because we are sinners. Men love darkness because their deeds are evil (Jn 3:19). We are judged by God for our sins: inherited and practiced. It only requires one sin for a man to be guilty before the whole Law of God (Jas 2:10). Adam, as our federal head, has provided that one sin for each one of us.
The Apostle Paul wrote to the church at Rome. He wrote about sin and the Law for Christians to understand how Jesus Christ has remedied the sin problem for God’s chosen people. Simply put, Christ died for our sins (Rom 5:8; 1 Cor 15:3); for while we were yet sinners God took our sins and imputed them to Christ (2 Cor 5:21), our sin bearer on the cross (Is 53; 1 Pet 2:24). He who knew no sin became sin for us. He died on the cross; and we have been baptized into the death of Christ (Rom 6:3).
The Christian, united with Christ in His death (Rom 6:11), is now dead to sin. Previously, he was dead to God like the rest; but a transformation has occurred by the agency of the Holy Spirit. Whereas we were dead in our trespasses and sins (Eph 2:1), so the Spirit of God has made us alive, spiritually (Eph 2:5; Col 2:13). The born again have experienced a resurrection of their souls. They walk in newness of life (Rom 6:4).
Union with Christ, in His death and resurrection, is God’s will and way of salvation for His elect (Eph 1:4–5); redeemed (Col 1:14); regenerated (1 Pet 1:3); believing people (Acts 16:31). He transfers us from the domain of darkness and into the kingdom of His beloved Son (Col 1:13). Sin no longer has dominion over the Christian, who is now under the control of grace.
Sin remains in the life of the Christian, who remains in his or her body of sin and death. Our souls have been converted; and it is God’s plan to resurrect our bodies on the last day, the day of Christ’s return (Jn 5:29). Eternal life has been given to us (Jn 17:3), demonstrated by our growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Pet 3:18).
For now, God has begun the good work in those baptized with the Holy Spirit and baptized into Christ’s church (1 Cor 12:13; Phil 1:6). No longer do these give allegiance to sin; rather, they have become slaves to righteousness (Rom 6:18–19), that is slaves of Christ (Eph 6:6). Sin is hated by the child of God, whose new ambition is to please God (2 Cor 5:9).
Sin is judged and punished by the just Judge (Gen 18:25; Jn 5:22; 2 Cor 5:10). The Law is no help to the slave to sin because of the weakness of the flesh. The Law actually stimulates sin in the sinner (Rom 5:20). Unjustified sinners are condemned by the Law. Death is the result, the outcome for those who miss the mark. That is everyone.
In His free will, God freely chose to have mercy on some, but not all (Rom 9:15–16). In fact, the “some” are a remnant of the whole of humanity, by His choice (Rom 11:5–6). From slaves to sin, these become slaves of Christ by being moved from one category to the other. The Apostle Paul employs a number of descriptive terms to explain this conversion work of God that begins the new life for the sinner who has become a saint.
First, there is the “transfer” from the domain of darkness and into the kingdom of God beloved Son (Col 1:13). Second, one is “made alive” in Christ (Eph 2:5; Col 2:13), having formerly been dead in sin (Eph 2:1). Third, one is said to have been “baptized” into Christ — His death, burial, and resurrection (Rom 6:3–5). Fourth, dead branches are “grafted in” to the true Vine, who is Christ (Rom 11:17–24). There are many more ways to describe this work of God in saving His chosen people; but in Romans 6, the word is “baptize.” Let us consider it.
Baptism is the spiritual work of the Holy Spirit depicted in the covenant sign of water baptism (Mt 28:19). The sign points to the reality. It is a type of initiation. One’s Christian life actually begins to manifest when he or she is baptized by the Holy Spirit — a supernatural work of spiritual regeneration (Mt 3:11; Acts 1:5; 2:38).
In this new beginning to a new life, the old self is crucified (Rom 6:6), and the new man walks in newness of life (Rom 6:4). The result is sanctification (Rom 6:19, 22), his being set apart from the world and unto Christ. This work of God also imparts the free gift of God, eternal life in Christ (Rom 6:23).
The Christian is to live differently than those who remain slaves to sin (Titus 2:12). Having been freed from sin, he must not let sin reign in his mortal body (Rom 6:12). The Christian is now under the reign of grace (Rom 6:14–15), which is God working in and through Him (Gal 2:20; Phil 2:12–13). This man made new is an instrument of righteousness united with Christ (Rom 6:5, 13).
The Christian is occupied by the indwelling Holy Spirit (Jn 14:17; Rom 8:9, 11). He or she is no longer under the Law (Rom 6:14–15); but the believer lives by faith in the Son of God (Gal 2:20). He walks by the Spirit (Gal 5:16, 25), trusting the Lord, in a manner worthy of His calling.
Romans 6 teaches us about what it means to be positioned “in Christ.” Our federal Head, the second Adam, is the wisdom and power in each saint (1 Cor 1:24), which causes us to walk in His statutes (Ezek 36:27). The quest is to be pleasing to God, by living a life of faith, under grace, enslaved to God (Rom 6:22; Eph 6:6).
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
February 2, 2025
Romans 6:1–23
