Romans 6:17 - Printer Friendly

ESV: But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed,

NIV: But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance.

NASB: But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were entrusted,

CSB: But thank God that, although you used to be slaves of sin, you obeyed from the heart that pattern of teaching to which you were handed over,

NLT: Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you wholeheartedly obey this teaching we have given you.

KJV: But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.

NKJV: 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.

Paul has been warning the Christians in Rome not to volunteer to sin. They have been freed from the authority of and slavery to sin. It is not in command of their bodies any longer, thanks to Christ's death for their sin on the cross and their spiritual death with Him when they were saved.

Now Paul changes his tone and acknowledges that his Christian readers in Rome have become obedient from their hearts, meaning that they have sincerely committed themselves to obeying. Obeying what? They have become obedient to a standard—or pattern—of teaching. This phrase uses the Greek term typon, used of the mark made by a hammer, or the surface used to imprint an image. This is a set of doctrines to which these Roman Christian have been entrusted, or "committed," or "handed over."

What Paul is describing is this: The Roman Christians came to faith in Christ at some point. They became Christians. In that moment, sin lost its true power over them. They stopped being slaves to sin. God—and, in a sense, those who led these new believers to Christ—handed them over to the teaching of God's truth by their leaders. The new Christians became obedient to that teaching instead of living as slaves to sin.

This is the pattern of the church, God's plan for Christians since the very beginning. Acts 2:42 describes the earliest Christians as being devoted to the apostles' teaching. Even today, those who trust in Christ are meant to devote themselves to obeying the teachings of God's Word.

Romans 6:15–23 asks why we should not keep sinning once we have come to faith in Christ and are no longer under the law of Moses. Paul answers that we can continue to lead lives of volunteer slavery to sin if we don't resist it. Instead, we should live as if righteousness was our master, which, in a sense, it is. We should obey righteousness instead of our sinful desires, in part, because we now understand the consequences of sin. Instead of shame and death, we should serve God who gives eternal life as a gift.

In Romans 6, Paul answers the question of whether Christians should continue to sin. His answer is emphatic: we absolutely should not. First, when we came to God by faith in Jesus, we died to sin. We are not slaves to it any more. Second, what did living for sin ever get us? It led to shame and death. The righteousness given to us for free by God in Christ Jesus leads to becoming like Jesus and to eternal life. We should serve righteousness instead of sin.

After comparing Adam and Christ and what their choices brought into the world, Paul now turns to ask if Christians should continue in sin once they have been saved. He gives several reasons why we must not: we died to sin's power over us; we are now servants to righteousness; and what good did sin ever bring to you, anyway? Paul will transition in Romans 7 to a discussion of what it means to be released from the law of Moses.

The book of Romans is the New Testament's longest, most structured, and most detailed description of Christian theology. Paul lays out the core of the gospel message: salvation by grace alone through faith alone. His intent is to explain the good news of Jesus Christ in accurate and clear terms. As part of this effort, Paul addresses the conflicts between law and grace, between Jews and Gentiles, and between sin and righteousness. As is common in his writing, Paul closes out his letter with a series of practical applications.