Romans 6:18 - Printer Friendly

ESV: and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.

NIV: You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

NASB: and after being freed from sin, you became slaves to righteousness.

CSB: and having been set free from sin, you became enslaved to righteousness.

NLT: Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living.

KJV: Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

NKJV: And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.

Paul is thanking God for the change that has taken place in the lives of the Christians in Rome, to whom he is writing. They were once slaves to their sinful desires, as we all once were. Now, though, they have become obedient from their hearts and committed to obey the teaching of God's truth. In fact, Paul now writes, they have become the slaves of righteousness.

By this, Paul means that the Roman Christians are presenting themselves—their bodies and minds—to God to be used to accomplish His righteous purposes. It sounds odd to the modern mind, that Paul would describe this commitment to be used by God for righteous purposes as "slavery." And yet, Paul began this letter by describing himself as a "slave" of Christ, using the Greek word doulos: a bond-servant. His terminology in this verse uses the same root word. Still, Paul seems to say in the following verses that even this version of "slavery" is not the best concept to describe this commitment to serve God's righteousness. Instead, he uses this "human term" because of our limited ability to fully understand this change in our allegiance.

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.