Shall We Sin?

This message is part of a sermon series. For the rest of the sermon series go to Dead to Sin

Romans 6:15-23
“What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?  But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.  I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.  For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God, is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (NKJV)

We have in the first fourteen verses been considering the fact that the believer is dead to the principle of sin. In principle we are dead and buried to sin but raised unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. That is one half of the story. We now turn our attention to the practice of sin. Paul in the next few verses wants to prove that the believer is also dead to the practice of sin.

Paul asks concerning the occasional sin in the absence of the life of sin. Shall we sin even occasionally in the future, since there is no law against it? Not living under the law Is not licence nor “no law”. Grace is higher than law, Law can make prohibitions but it  - cannot prohibit. Law penalizes the transgressor, grace prevents their being transgressors. Law warns of the danger, grace bridges the chasm. Law could convict, grace keeps the believer from the guilt. To break the law is not to supersede it nor is the one under the law free from it; and to live in sin is not to live under grace. Grace perfects and supersedes law. The liberty in grace is not licence to sin, but freedom from sin.

Paul from now on advances the argument that no man can serve two masters. He will either sin or he will serve righteousness. He will either serve Satan or he will serve God. We are therefore to choose a new master  out of the two who our new master would be – either Satan or God.

Then we come to the second word – this occurs eight times in this section. It is the word “SERVANT”. That is the key word of the passage. Paul starts with verse 16:  “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey”  In other words “if you start to obey sin, you are thereby admitting the lordship or “mastership” of sin, and your very confession of Christ said: “You are My Lord and Master” You cannot, therefore, if you are a Christian, start to obey sin without first saying; “Christ is not my Master any more, sin is now my master”

It is simply a development of Christ’s own words: “No man can serve two masters” (Matthew 6:24) Notice what Paul says in verses 17-18: “But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness”  “Having been set free from sin” How were we set free from sin? We died to it. Therefore, sin is no longer our master.

We have not only died, but we have risen from the dead and now live a new life and have a new master. That master is Christ and righteousness. So he says: “You have become the servant of righteousness” Somebody might say; “Is Christianity slavery?” Paul says “I speak after the manner of man because of the infirmity of your flesh.” That is “Christianity is not really slavery, but I have used that term in order that you might understand”

Verse 20 declares:  “For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.” There was a time in your life when you were a servant of sin, and righteousness had nothing to do with you. Now turn it around. Once you are free from sin, just the opposite is true. When you are the servant of righteousness, you have nothing to do with sin. You are free from it. No doubt the righteousness under reference here is the righteousness of God, and not of man; imputed and not personal or achieved.

In verse 21 Paul so skillfully words his question that it admits no answer. He asks: “What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed?”  What are the values of the past life that so embarrass you now? Paul put the fruit in the past but he recognizes that the shame is ever present. God forgives us but we never forgive ourselves. God freely forgives all sins unto the utmost, but the believer ever bears in his own consciousness the shame of his evil past. The embarrassment from past shame is one evidence of salvation. The wicked glory in their shame. (Philippians 3:18) but the redeemed glory only in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Galatians 6:14) Paul did not list their past sins but made reference to them in order to heighten their remorse but increase their joys in the Lord. Such deeds should not be mentioned since “the end of those things is death”.

Verse 22 goes further and insists: “you have your fruit”.  You have something else also namely “The end”. It is wonderful that we can have the end before we get there. The old way was explained this way; “If you are good, holy  and do not fall, someday, when you come to the end, God will give you eternal life” But Paul says “if you die with Christ, if you reckon it to be so, you not only have the fruit unto holiness (righteousness), but you have the end right now. Paul has shown us how to deal with sin in our lives. We are first to know that we died with Christ; Second, we are to reckon that thing to be so, never surrendering for a moment. Third, we are to yield our members. Then we are to remember that no man can serve two masters.

These great facts will grip the heart of a true believer and lead him in the paths of righteousness. But there may be among the professed people of God some that are not born of God. There are always some people who  have never  really bowed the knee to Jesus Christ; people who profess to be His but who have never obeyed Him and thus have never been born of God.

While all these truths may work in the lives of those who are truly saved, there may be some who are merely professed Christians who say “Oh, we are saved, and it does not matter what we do” So Paul closes with a very solemn warning: “For the wages of sin is death” (6:23) let no man take the grace of God and turn it into license. Let no man go on in sin (and, by the way, the true Christian cannot continue in sin). Therefore, should some man who is professing to be a Christian continue in sin, let him remember that the wages of sin is death and that there has been no reduction in those wages. It is not subject to negotiation.

But for such a man there is hope “But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (6:23b) There are two servitudes. If you serve sin, you will be paid wages. You will get exactly what is coming to you – death. If you serve God; He cannot pay you any wages. You do not deserve any. But he does have a gift – that of everlasting life. Sin pays according to justice; God gives according to grace.

Shall we then continue to sin? God forbid! Certainly not!  Shall we then sin even for a moment? God forbid! Certainly not! The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life. May the Lord Jesus Christ who Himself paid the penalty for our sin on the Cross help us to Know, Reckon, and Yield our members servants of God unto righteousness. His grace is sufficient for all of our needs.

God bless you all.

This message is part of a sermon series. For the rest of the sermon series go to Dead to Sin