Slaves Of God In
Christ
Arguments
In a Brief Survey
of the Epistle of Paul to the Romans
Based on sermons
preached in PCC Worship Services, July 2003 to Sep 2005
Part 26c of 83
“… 20
For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. 21
What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end
of those things is death. 22 But now being made free from sin, and
become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end
everlasting life. 23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of
God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:15-23).
[The apostle Paul has
been expounding on the doctrine of justification by grace alone through faith
alone in Christ alone. From verse 15 onwards, he seeks to deal with the
suggestion since we are under grace and not under the law, we may sin with
impunity.
His answer may roughly
be divided into three parts:
I. v. 16 Axiom
II. v. 17-19 Admonishments
III. v. 20-23 Arguments
We have already
considered Paul’s Axiom and Admonishment to seek to be slaves of Christ.
But now, Paul continues with arguments to undergird his
admonishment. —JJL]
3. Arguments
He
gives us a 3-point answer.
a. The first reason why we should not serve sin
is because we are not the slaves of sin anymore. “[We] were [once] the [slaves] of sin” (v. 20). We loved sin and all
we did were sinful. We had no inclination to do good. “Ye were free from
righteousness,” says Paul (v. 20). But today we have been redeemed by the
precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have been freed from the bondage of
sin. The bars are broken. The chains have fallen.
We are free men. We can choose not to sin. The unregenerate has no choice, but we have. The
Spirit of Christ has made us free. We no longer belong to sin. We belong to God
in Christ. Let us serve Him with all our members.
b. The
second reason why we should not serve sin is that there is absolutely no
benefit from serving sin.
21
What fruit had ye then in those things
whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.
We were once slaves of sin. We lived
according to our state and nature. We were not ashamed of how we lived. But
today we look back and we see that we did that which we are embarrassed to talk
about. We are ashamed of those things.
I cannot see your heart.
You cannot see mine. You don’t know how many shameful things I have done, said
or thought. I am too ashamed to mention any of them. Many of the things remain
in my memory and will probably go down to the grave with me. I am sure you have
such memories too. But they are painful memories. We would rather not have done
them. What “fruit”, or what benefit
did we derive from those deeds?
The
answer is obvious, isn’t it? Nothing good! We derived some things indeed. But
they were never good. They were carnal pleasures that lead to destruction and
death to our souls.
Now, if we derived no benefits from serving
sin in our unbelief, what benefits can we derive from engaging in them now? Let
us not be fooled into thinking that any acts of sin are beneficial. No, no;
whatever immediate gratification we may derive would certainly not be
beneficial—not to us, nor to anyone else. Let us rather serve the Lord wholeheartedly with all our
members.
c. In
the third place, and positively, we should serve the LORD for there are great
benefits to be enjoyed from serving Him. Says Paul:
22 But
now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit
unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
As we were
once free from righteousness, so we are now
freed from sin. We were slaves of sin, but now we are slaves of God in Christ.
While we bore no good fruit from serving sin, we have received much from
serving God and His righteousness. As we serve God, we are bearing fruit unto
holiness. And we are heading towards everlasting life.
Now,
this must not be misconstrued to mean that we can have everlasting life by
works of righteousness. No, no; Paul has already shown earlier that there is
none righteous, no not one. And he has repeated over and over again that it is
impossible for us to obtain everlasting life by good works. For by the deeds of
the law shall no flesh be justified; and we are not under the Law, but under
Grace.
This
is also what Paul is seeking to highlight when he says:
23 For
the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus
Christ our Lord.
We
will take a separate study on this magnificent verse. But briefly this verse
contrasts between two masters: God and Sin.
Sin
is a master who pays. But it pays with eternal death. He pays what we deserve.
God,
on the other hand, is a master who does not pay. Instead, He gives us what we
do not deserve. He gives us eternal life. How does He give it to us? Through
Jesus Christ our Lord! Christ purchased eternal life for us. He worked for us.
We did not lift a finger to make ourselves worthy to receive it.
Is this not a good reason to persist on to serve God
rather than sin?
Conclusion
Dearly
beloved brethren, are you still living as a captive slave of sin? Or are you
living as a grateful slave of God. If you are living as a slave of God, your
life will bear fruit unto eternal life. On the other hand, if you are a slave
of sin, you will bear fruit of death and destruction by your life. Whose slave
are you? If you have been baptised you should be a slave of God. If you are a
slave of God then do not give your members to serve Satan and sin.
The
slave of God is a good tree that bears good fruit. People are glad to have such
good trees around. They are pleasant to look at and they are useful. If you
have a garden, you will not mind having such a tree. It will be a blessing to
everyone. To the family, to the neighbour, to friends, and to the church.
The
slave of Sin, on the other hand, is like a thorny bush. It bears no fruit. It has
many dangerous thorns. It is sometimes nice to look at. But they send the chill
down your spine if you look at it carefully. If you have a garden, you will
want to make sure that such a bush is not planted in it. It may be nice to look
at; but it can be dangerous. If your garden has thorny bushes, no one will want
to let their children play in your garden. And it brings no blessing to the
family, to friends or to the church.
How to be a good fruit tree? King David speaks of the
good fruit tree as being one that is planted by the river. A man who is a good
fruit tree is drawing water from the everlasting river. This river is both a
river of blood—the blood of Christ, as well as a river of the Holy Spirit—the
Spirit of Christ. In other words, you will be a good tree only if you are
living in union to Christ.
If
so, you will depend on the blood of Christ for forgiveness of sin. You will
depend on the Spirit of Christ for strength to bear fruit for Him.
You will obey Christ as your King. Although you are not
under the law, but under grace, you will know and love the Law so that you can
live as a grateful slave of God in Christ.
You
will be a slave of God in Christ. You will not be a slave of Satan.
Do you bear the name of Christ? Have you been baptised?
You must be a slave of God rather than a slave of Satan. You must serve Christ
rather than Satan. During the Civil War in America there were two armies: the
Union and the Confederate. It is said that one of the reasons for the war was
that the Union forces were opposed to slavery; whereas the Confederate forces
wanted to keep their slaves. But it is interesting to note how some black
slaves actually fought willingly with their masters in the Confederate army
against the Union forces which were trying to liberate them.
Is
that you, dearly beloved? Are you opposing Christ? Are you opposing His Gospel?
Are you opposing the means of grace which He has instituted for your
liberation? Oh will you not repent of your rebellion against Him.
But
finally, I speak to you who are still unconverted. I would remind you that as
long as you are outside Christ, you are a slave of Satan and sin. Only the Lord
Jesus Christ can free you. Only He can make your life worthwhile and
meaningful. Will you not seek after him while He may be found? Will you not be
a slave of God in Christ rather than a slave of Satan and sin? Amen.
—JJ Lim