Which Side Are You On?
Romans 6:15-22
Turn to Romans 6. Before we move on from Romans 6, I wish to hover over a few verses this morning.
“What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be! Do you not know that when you go on presenting yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you obeyed from the heart that pattern of teaching to which you were given over, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. 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, leading to further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, leading to sanctification.”
Romans 6:15-19 (LSB)
You will notice in our reading this morning that there is such a focus on two sides, righteousness and sin. We could also say that of Law and grace. It would seem that Paul wants us to take a side. You have heard me mention of one of my former pastors, Rick Baker, and I remember talking to him back 10-15 years ago, and his son Jordan is also a very good friend of my son Aaron. Now Jordan and his Dad are die-hard Boston Bruins fans, and of course, Ottaway’s are Blackhawks fans. And this is back when the Blackhawks were good. Well, when I was speaking with Rick, he said that our son Aaron was sort of nice to them during the playoffs, and even when Boston got beat out, he said that Aaron was fairly kind to them. But he said that as soon as Chicago won the Stanley Cup, Aaron got real chirpy, and he said that Aaron was not gracious at all, rubbing it in and being very unkind. All I said was to be just glad that you didn’t have to deal with my son Marty, as he would have been far more obnoxious and in your face than Aaron. Well, in sports, people are pretty sure of what side they are on, as they are committed to one side or one team or the other, no question.
While playing two-pitch last week, while I was being unjustly teased, I said that pastoring is easy, while playing Elim two-pitch is very stressful, as some of us love to take a side. So, it is interesting that when Paul asks the question, “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace?” And this is a similar question Paul asks in verse 1:
“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?”
Romans 6:1 (LSB)
And of course, Paul says, “No!” And he gives the reason (vs 2) because the believer has died to sin. And then fourteen verses later, he basically asks the same question, and again, he says, “No.” And he gives another reason, because we are under grace and not Law. Now, we have talked about this already, that Paul would ask, would we sin because we are not under the Law but under grace? And then he will go on to explain what he means by this statement.
“Do you not know that when you go on presenting yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?”
Romans 6:16 (LSB)
Paul has been teaching that when we are under the Law and its demands, it leads to death. But when we are slaves to Christ, it leads to our obedience to Him and to life. And if (vs 16) was standing alone, we might think that it is teaching us a lesson of sin versus righteousness. So, if you want to live, then do what is right and don’t sin. But as we have said, there is more to it than that, as there is also the side of Law and grace, and Paul has already made it clear that we are not under Law, but under grace. So, what does that have to do with sin and righteousness? And he argues that our approach regarding Law and grace will determine whether we are a slave of sin or whether we are a slave of righteousness. And this is where he goes, that if you are under the Law, you will be a slave of sin; but if you are under grace, you will be a slave of righteousness.
He will say later on that being under grace will lead to sanctification, whereas being under the Law, will lead you to further lawlessness. This is the opposite of what we might think, which is why Paul is bringing up the question. And when he teaches these two very different sides—and he does this by saying that we are either slaves of one or the other—but ultimately it is our actions which reveal which side we are a slave to. And it does not seem from Paul’s teaching that we can be a little “cool” towards one side, and sort of “warm up” to the other side. No, Paul actually states in a very black-and-white way that you are either a slave to one or to the other. Which (vs 16), you are either a slave to sin, resulting in death, or you are a slave to obedience, resulting in life.
So, there are only two roads presented here. One road is the person who receives Christ as Lord by faith alone, apart from works, and we could really call this the “Grace Road.” And on the other side, the person who remains dead spiritually, and who is still considered an enemy of God, we could call this the “Law Road.” So, we have two people, one saved and justified and made right with God through grace, and the other unsaved, condemned, and an enemy of God, who is still under the Law. Now, that person number one, his faith will reveal that something powerful has truly occurred in his life, because when a person is truly saved by grace, then there is a process of that person becoming more and more like his Master, for he is now serving Christ.
The Bible calls this sanctification, where the believer becomes more and more like Christ. And that changing life becomes the assurance to the believer himself that his faith is truly genuine, and it is truly by the grace of God. And I say this because some have claimed to receive Christ, but with no assurance of this being real. And this is not a mystery, as the Bible is very frank about those who fall away. John wrote:
“They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they were of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be manifested that they all are not of us.”
1 John 2:19 (LSB)
This is the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints, that those who are truly saved will be known by their fruit. In other words, the one saved by grace will reveal which side he is on, so that, their faith will endure to the end. The Bible gives examples of those who will merely give lip service to Christianity but have never truly experienced the life-changing power of the gospel. Think of how the Book of Romans started out (Rom 1:16) …
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”
Romans 1:16 (LSB)
If someone has been saved through the gospel, that saving faith has been described by Paul as by the power of God. And Paul would ask, “Have you been changed by the power of God or not?” In other words, which side are you on? So, before we go further here, I want you to fully understand this. One, you can be under the Law and its demands and fail, and therefore, Paul teaches that this leads to death; or you can respond to God’s gift of grace and believe in Christ to save you, as you hope in His righteousness. And this also includes the power of the gospel to begin to change a person into the likeness of the Person of Jesus Christ. One is an obedience to the Law which leads to death. The second is an obedience to Christ, which leads to life, power, and sanctification.
“But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you obeyed from the heart that pattern of teaching to which you were given over.”
Romans 6:17 (LSB)
Notice the change, that at one time you were under the Law, but now, you have been given over to a new pattern of teaching. What we notice in this passage is that the change that has occurred has also happened in the heart of the believer, as this is not an outward clean-up job or some kind of outward show. No, true change by the power of the gospel and only by the power of the gospel is a change of the heart. And notice (vs 17) Paul does not give thanks to the believer, but he gives thanks to God. Do you notice? Someone once said, “You do not give thanks to God for something that God did not do.” And this is what Paul is thanking God for: though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient. Think of that! Thank You, Lord, that at one time I was a slave to sin, but now I am a slave to the obedience of Christ. In other words, at one time, sin had control of me, but now, obedience has control of me. And this is not a prideful or arrogant understanding by any means, far from it! This is a humbling acknowledgment that somehow God is changing me, and it is something I could have never accomplished by trying to be obedient to a Law.
Think of the children of Israel when they were slaves in Egypt; the opposite understanding here would not be to say thanks to God. Although you were slaves in Egypt, you decided that you are not going to be a slave anymore. Well, that would be ridiculous, as it doesn’t make any sense. How could a slave in Egypt just simply decide he or she would no longer be a slave? No, what would it take for someone to be freed from slavery in Egypt? What would it take? It would take the power of God to free them. This is why Paul chooses the word “slave,” to emphasize that we were powerless to change our predicament, for we had no power to change. As the slave did not just pull up his socks one day and say, “I will no longer serve sin but God.” That would be the most appalling approach to the gospel you could take! That would be like the people of Israel coming out of Egypt and thinking, “Wow! We did it! We did it!” No, it would be that I was once a slave in Egypt, and by the power of God I have been set free.
Do you see the huge difference? This is why Paul is thanking God here for his freedom from the slavery of sin. This is what it means to be a slave: that you cannot free yourself. And Paul’s point in Ephesians 2:1 is even stronger, where he says, “Though you were dead, God made you alive!” Folks, don’t ever believe that this was you, or that you just decided one day to be better than others. No, you were a slave to sin, you were going nowhere, you were on death row, completely sinful as the Law condemned you, but by the power of the gospel—by grace—God freed you.
So, if you are saved today, you need to thank God, that though I was at one time a slave—a slave to sin—I became obedient. And where did that come from? It could not have come from you, as Paul has been really complimentary. In Romans 3, he said, “You are not righteous, not even one of you, you did not understand, you did not seek after God; you became worthless; you did not do any good, not even one of you, and you did not fear God. So that I would become obedient to Christ. Where did that come from? God, to God be the glory, for it is God who has saved you and made you obedient.
And the question is, what kind of obedience reveals the true believer? Answer (vs 17) “obedience from the heart.” And though obedience from our perspective is often seen on the outside, it must come from within the heart, a heart that has changed. This is a difference between knowing truth alone versus passionately knowing truth. This is about your life changing. This is about my life changing. Where we have become a slave of obedience to Christ. Where we, through grace are united with Christ. First Peter 2:7, to those who believe, He (Christ) is precious to us. John Piper said that a person who receives Christ has looked at what Christ has done in his life; he sees all that he is in Christ; he sees all that God has promised to do for him because he is in Christ; and he receives this great gift as the treasure of his life! To you who believe, the assumption from Paul would be that Jesus is precious to you! And therefore, righteousness is precious to you. Folks, this is the only explanation we have of the life-changing power of the gospel, which changes a dead and sinful heart to become obedience to Christ.
And that obedience is obedience (vs 17) to that “pattern of teaching,” as we said two weeks ago, the wonderful gift of the new pattern of teaching that we have received as believers. And that not only includes the pattern of my lifestyle that I must be obedient to, but it must include the whole revelation of God’s grace in how God has given to us His righteousness, and showered us with His love, and the privilege of living for the glory of God. In other words, if that whole package of God’s grace, God’s showering of His love, and God’s glory is not evident to you, there is something missing.
“[A]nd having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.”
Romans 6:18 (LSB)
Notice that phrase, and having been freed from sin. Well, we have already established the truth that being freed from sin was done by the power of God, but when Paul teaches that we have been freed from sin, the assumption is that we were formerly slaves to sin. And here is the burden of being a slave to sin (Rom 3:23), all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. In other words, sin has left everyone short of the righteousness that is required for eternal life. And the Christian, upon belief in the grace of the gospel, is given the righteousness of Jesus Christ. And the term in Scripture is that we have now become slaves of righteousness through Christ. In other words, His freedom has become your freedom, and His righteousness has become your righteousness. So, for all those who are slaves of sin, everyone of them falls short of the glory of God, but all those who by faith believe in Christ are now slaves of righteousness and therefore share in the glory of Christ. Romans 8:17, “so that we may be glorified with Christ.” Paul will write:
“Because those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers; and those whom He predestined, He also called; and those whom He called, He also justified; and those whom He justified, He also glorified.”
Romans 8:29-30 (LSB)
And so, until anyone comes to Christ in faith, they are a slave to sin. But when they do come to Christ in faith, they are a slave to righteousness. And you might say, well, Mark, I am sort of in between, as I am at times obedient and other times, I still sin. Yet the passage does not say anything about being in between; if someone has been freed from sin, they are now a slave of righteousness. Why? Well, three reasons. One, you are now a slave to righteousness because you are no longer under a Law that condemns you. Two, Paul says, (vs 17) thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin. Remember, this freedom was not done by you. No, this freedom has been done by God; this has been accomplished by the power of God. You might say, “I can’t believe it!” Well, precisely, because it is a miraculous change in you, because God has to do to it, not you! And three, you are now a slave of righteousness, not your righteousness, but Christ’s. Paul said that he had a righteousness which was not his own (Phil 3:9), being found in Christ, not having a righteousness of my own.
Do you actually think that your righteousness qualifies for eternal life? Because if your righteousness qualifies for eternal life, then your righteousness must be perfect, and you might say, well, my righteousness will never be perfect. Well, then it will never qualify for eternal life. Don’t forget what we have been learning (Rom 4:16), the gracious gift of Christ resulted in your justification, and then the very next verse (Rom 4:17), that gift is called the gift of righteousness. We have already been through this. If that righteousness was attainable by us, or if that righteousness could be earned through law-keeping, it could no longer be called the gift of righteousness. Don’t believe that you have received this gift of righteousness, and then at the same time believe that your own righteousness has something to do with your acceptance before God. It is one or the other. You are either a slave to sin through Law-keeping, or you are a slave to righteousness through Christ. And being a slave to sin comes through unbelief in the gospel, and being a slave to righteousness comes through faith in what Christ has done. There is no half and half! Now, in closing, I want to look at (vs 19) and how we are becoming more and more like Christ.
“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, leading to further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, leading to sanctification … But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you have your benefit, leading to sanctification, and the end, eternal life.”
Romans 6:19, 22 (LSB)
Paul uses the term, which will help us understand, “leading to sanctification,” as this is the battle that we understand in life, isn’t it? Yes, we are free from sin as it no longer has power over us, as we are no longer slaves to it, for being a slave to sin leads to death. That is not who we are in Christ. We are slaves to righteousness, for we possess the righteousness of Christ , which leads to life, eternal life. But Paul is very direct here, saying that our newfound faith through grace not only leads to eternal life, but (vs 19) it leads to sanctification. What is sanctification? This is the spiritual growth of the new believer, that as we still possess our old, sinful hearts, we are changing into the likeness of Christ. And though we strive and work, this too is by the grace of God. And Paul, in his directness, gives us warnings in this passage of the great consequences of sin, and of course, the greatest is death, which we are freed from. But he also will remind us in this passage of two other warnings in our practical living for Christ and in our walk in sanctification as we battle against sin. One is this: Sin leads to further sin. It’s right in the text (vs 19), for just as you represented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, leading to further lawlessness. And though we have been freed from the ultimate penalty of sin, death, sin in this life, for the Christian, if not guarded, will lead to more sin. Rick Reed said that sin gets addictive, that it never stays static, but always increases, if not checked. Reed wrote:
“[Sin] has a repetitive quality that becomes habit forming and addictive. You think that you can control it, but it always ends up controlling you.”
Rick Reed
I suppose we could describe this as living like a slave when you are no longer a slave. It is pretty descriptive in the Old Testament when Israel had been freed from Egypt, and yet at times, they wanted to go back to Egypt. They were free, but they did not value their freedom or live like they were free. And when you and I dabble in sin, it is not the end, as it leads to other sins and more sin. The Christian who has forgotten the wonderful grace extended to him will not remain neutral, but will always drift back toward sin, which leads to more sin. So, yes, sin leads to further sin. But also look at (vs 21):
“Therefore what benefit were you then having from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.”
Romans 6:21 (LSB)
Secondly: Sin brings shame. In our modern-day society, we often try to encourage people to forgive themselves, and this is due to the fact that we have a hard time facing who we truly are, and in Christianity, we do know that we have been completely forgiven by God. But it is interesting that in New Testament times, thinking, at least from a Christian perspective, Paul actually teaches that we will still be ashamed of what we have done in the past. It is good for human beings to look in the mirror and see who we truly are without Christ, for he says, from the things [past sins] from which you are now ashamed. Maybe it is good for us to carry some shame for our past sins, isn’t it? Knowing that they are forgiven, yet the shame actually magnifies the forgiveness, and also gives warning to never go there again.
The term slave in the Bible is often referred to not only in a negative sense, but also in this positive sense of being a slave to righteousness. But we also see it repeatedly as being a slave of Christ. In the Old Testament, there were times when a slave would have a great love for his earthly master, and therefore, he wished to remain a slave for life (Deut 15):
“And it will be that, if he says to you, ‘I will not go out from you,’ because he loves you and your household, since he fares well with you; then you shall take an awl and pierce it through his ear into the door, and he shall be your servant forever.”
Deuteronomy 15:16-17a (LSB)
We could say that a slave of righteousness really parallels being a slave of Christ. And of course, Paul started this letter by saying that he too was a slave of Jesus Christ. And here we have been slaves of sin, but now purchased by the blood of Christ, so that we now serve a gracious and merciful Master. Charles Spurgeon wrote:
“Every man must serve somebody: we have no choice as to that fact. Those who have no master are slaves to themselves. Depend on it, you either serve Satan or Christ, either self or the Saviour. You will find sin, self, Satan, and the world to be hard masters; but if you wear the livery of Christ [or pledge allegiance to Him], you will find Him so meek and lowly of heart that you will find rest unto your souls.”
Charles Spurgeon
The big picture of Romans 6 is that those who have been freed from sin result in the Christian becoming a slave of righteousness. And in our practical living out as believers, our Christ-like character is revealed in our sanctification. I like what John Piper says about Romans 6, that true justification always brings real sanctification with it, as you cannot have one without the other. And he also notices that the challenge is toward the individual person, as there is nothing in this chapter about inter-relational sin. In other words, there is nothing in Romans 6 that should cause us to read it and then look at someone else and say, “What is your problem?” No, Paul is speaking to each heart, and upon reading it, we should look at ourselves and say, “What is my problem?” As we are confronted with the great need for the Christian to live, strive and work to rid sin in our individual lives. Why? Because this is what sanctification is, and sanctification (vs 22) leads to eternal life. We often highlight the truth in the Bible that justification leads to eternal life, yet we also learn here that our sanctification leads to eternal life. And though this whole process is a complete work of God, yet at the same time, this does not eliminate the energy of the Christian, as Paul’s letter here in Romans would not only teach that if I am not growing spiritually will cause me some heartache in life, but he is also teaching that if I am not growing spiritually, I have every indication that I may not be a Christian.
For this brings us back to our original thought: which side are you on? As Paul makes certain that there is no neutrality here, that from the heart we would desire righteousness. And this has been done by God, as in salvation, I have embraced that, and I treasure that. But I now embrace this in my practical life, as I live out my Christian walk. Look back a few verses to Romans 6:6: “Knowing this [this is a certainty], that our old man was crucified with Him [our association with Christ has caused us to be crucified with Him], in order that our body of sin might be done away with [this is justification, where God has made you right with Himsef], so that we would no longer be slaves to sin [or no longer being in bondage to the result of the slavery to sin, death]. Yet the evidence or revelation that this has happened in our lives as Christians results in the sanctification of the believer. See, there is both the standing we have before God through Christ in salvation, justification, and there is the change in the life of the believer because of that justification, sanctification. John Piper said:
“Justification is necessary for eternal life as the legal ground or basis of it, which we obtain by faith. And sanctification is necessary as evidence that our faith is real.”
John Piper
As the Christian does not become “dead weight” in the battle. The Christian does not stand around at the starting blocks. No, the Christian runs with all his might. Paul explains it like this to young Pastor Timothy:
“Fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”
1 Timothy 6:12 (LSB)
We are not standing still in all this, folks. Elim Bible Chapel will never be all that it could be in Christ until every believer is fighting the good fight. Paul has already said in our passage that sanctification (vs 22) leads to eternal life. But now Paul tells young Timothy to “take hold of that eternal life.” In other words, grab it and run with it, amen? I mean, who wants to be on the team and sit on the bench? Don’t you want to be on the ice, skating your heart out? Yes, we are all different, we all have different gifts, but we all have a role to play, a role that requires everything we have. Let’s pray. Lord, we praise You for the power of the gospel that frees us from the slavery of sin and makes us slaves of righteousness. So, we give you praise for our standing before You this morning in Jesus Christ. But Lord, we also want to be certain of which side we are on and be ready to run the race. That we might grow in Christ and be all that You desire us to be individually and as a church body for Your glory. And all God’s people said, amen.