Yes. Teaching is a special calling. But yeah, any believer can receive true revelation from God. But a teacher's purpose is to confirm it from more strict analysis of the word : )
Interpreting Romans 6:23 In Context
- Thread starter Hidden In Him
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Yes. Teaching is a special calling. But yeah, any believer can receive true revelation from God. But a teacher's purpose is to confirm it from more strict analysis of the word : )
No. I am not jumping in with any false doctrine. That verse is as plain as day. Eternal life is indeed GOD'S GIFT to the one who repents and believes. So do not try to pervert the Gospel of Grace.
Salvation is a GIFT.
The Holy Spirit is a GIFT.
Christ is a GIFT.
Eternal life is a GIFT.
The inheritance of the saints is a GIFT.
So if you think you can earn any of this then you are self-deceived.
Zachary
Active Member
That's NOT what the verse says!
You are trying to deceive people!
Do we have a wolf in sheep's clothing here, folks?
And, those gifts of yours can be taken back!
IF you refuse to co-operate with God's Plan of Salvation!
Which is NOT only to believe, have faith, etc.
The NT says it is much more than that.
Grace-only, cheap-grace, hyper-grace, easy-believism …
are called antinomianism! This is the notion that a one-time
justification saves … apart from sanctification. But, this is an
incomplete understanding of God’s wonderful free gift of grace.
The problem with easy-believism is that it allows those who
are NOT walking in obedience to live comfortably with >>>
a false sense of assurance … leading to the tragedy described
in Matthew 7:21-23 (for example). It encourages people living
in hypocrisy, disobedience, and sin to have a false assurance!
“… some ungodly people have wormed their way
into your churches, saying that
God’s marvelous grace allows us to live immoral lives” (Jude 4)
.
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@Hidden In Him thanks for the heads up...just love Romans and will be getting back...in the meantime...watching.
Naomi25
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Hi HIH, thanks for the invite. Romans is perhaps the most weighty (I feel) book of the bible, both blessed and amazing, but also...um, how to put this...trying to exegete it brings a considerable responsibility. So, I'll certainly do my best to put forth what I think on the passage, but I feel the need to preface it with the fact that I have not done an in-depth study of it and cannot be dogmatic on my opinion.
15: What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!
I think its important to recognize the verse before this (v 14), says that ' sin has no dominion over you, since you are not under law, but grace.' We start with the understanding that we are already redeemed under God's grace. In fact if we continue to look above, we see that Paul has already covered how we have moved from death into life via the free gift of grace from God through Christ Jesus. It is with this basic foundational understanding, then, that we look at what Paul turns his focus to next; Christian living. And he asks the question....'once we have that free gift of grace, are we then okay to continue sinning because we're not under the law anymore...and therefore the law no longer applies to us. Basically, he's attempting to establish how we should live our lives in this new status we find ourselves in. And he emphatically says that just because we are not beholden to law, we are not free to sin as we want.
16: Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?
Here Paul is attempting to show that that which we give ourselves too becomes our master. It is true that a regenerated person will not loose their salvation, but by become a willing slave to sin, they increasingly loose their joy in God and will find that their sin leads to death. There is also the fact that someone who joyfully engages in obedience to sin is perhaps not truly regenerated at all. As we read below in Vv22, the 'fruit' plays a part here, which we ought to expect, as Paul is speaking of the Christian life; sanctification, rather than justification.
Paul instead encourages and affirms that those who have been ransomed by Christ will feel differently....
17: 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,
And here's how they 'feel differently'. Paul thanks God that those saved by Christ have become 'obedient from the heart'. This, no doubt, is a reference to the new heart Christians received upon regeneration. This new heart now longs to learn more about God and to 'follow the shepherd wherever he goes'.
18: and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.
Having been released from slavery to sin, Paul affirms that in following Christ, we have become slaves instead to righteousness, which, as he tells us below, leads to something infinitely worthwhile.
19: I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.
I think the first part of this verse is rather obvious; Paul has been gifted with both understanding and revelation that most of us just don't have the capacity to grasp! And so in his way he communicates it to us as we can understand it.
Paul goes on to say that just as we were once locked into a cycle of never-ending sin, consequence, frustration and destruction, now we have been given the ability to change that cycle into one of righteousness and sanctification...a cycle that involves growth, good fruit and becoming more like the Saviour who rescued us.
20: For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.
I believe what Paul is saying here is that when people are slaves to sin, they are totally subjugated to sin. They are 'free' of righteousness in the way that a fish is 'free' of the skies.
21: But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.
Being 'free' of righteousness doesn't mean a person is free of sin, however. Rotten fruit and destructive patterns still lead to death, as clear as day.
22: But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.
Paul contrasts us, Christians, with those still stuck in enslavement to sin. We have been removed from that and become 'slaved of God' instead, and the proof we have is in OUR fruit, the desires of our hearts, that leads to the sanctification of our souls, the progressive march towards becoming more holy. And, at the end of this life, lived like this, we see the ultimate fruit; started and won by Christ, and certainly bought to completion by him as well, but again, shared by us in the 'running of the race' that leads to eternal life.
23: For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
I believe here, this verse that can be so often controversial, is Paul circling around to what he began earlier. Sin is death, we all know this, just as we all know we are all sinners. The only way to be free of 'enslavement to sin' is by the 'free gift of God in Christ Jesus'. This is an obvious and stand alone fact, one that Paul goes into in the earlier Chapters and verses. The one we have just considered, however, moves past that fact, and focuses on how we, as Christians, are to look at our lives once this remarkable gift has been bestowed.
Invisibilis
Well-Known Member
Romans 6:15 "What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid."
Paul is saying that we never should sin on purpose because we are under grace.
Romans 6:16 "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey: whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?"
Paul is saying that it is your choice who you take for your master. The choice is between Satan and the destruction that will follow from your obedience that you have given while serving him. The other choice is your obedience to our Heavenly Father and your obedience to His Word and serving His righteousness. When you walk with Christ you have eternal life for your soul.
Christ paid the price that you can even make that choice, and those that know and understand the choice will serve righteousness.
Romans 6:17 "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."
We were servants of sin in the past, before repentance, but now you have the message of faith. Your faith is your taking of God's Word, and acting upon it in confidence, that when you repent, you free yourselves from guilt.
Romans 6:18 "Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness."
You are free from sin only as much as you are in the flesh that causes sin, but on sinning and repentance from the heart before God, you become set free from the gift that God gave to you.
Romans 6:19 "I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your member servants to righteousness unto holiness."
Paul is speaking of the weakness of the human nature that is of the flesh. But when you keep giving in to this weakness and sin over and over again, it requires you to keep seeking forgiveness over and over, and ask our Heavenly Father for righteousness and strength to be holy. As you ask for forgiveness, ask also for guidance, to help you overcome those weaknesses that you have. Remember that flesh brings temptations, and yielding to them brings sin that requires repentance.
Romans 6:20 "For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness."
When you were a servant of sin, then you did not have the rewards of righteousness.
Romans 6:21 "What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death."
When you look back on your life when you were a unrepented sinner, enjoying those sinful acts; What did those things gain you in the end? The fruit of one sin will bear more of the same. One lie leads to another, as one sin leads to another and there is no end to it. The road leads in the opposite direction then eternal life, and that is death of the body, and the soul.
Romans 6:22 "But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life."
The fruit of your holiness is what you have done in this flesh life for God and His righteousness. Your fruit could be in your planting of seeds of truth that leads someone to God, or in your prayer life, or even in giving of materials or money in Jesus name. It is the act of doing something in Jesus name to advance God's kingdom, and bringing others to God's saving grace, and their eternal life. Sometimes even in our falling short, we can use that troubled time to assist others in keeping others from falling into that same sin. It is at repentance that gives us the freedom over our sins.
Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
This is to say that Satan brings us only death and sin into our lives. The law was given to Adam, and Adam was tempted by Satan and broke the law, so we see even in Adam's case that Satan was the root of the sin that entered into the world.
God's law or commandment to Adam was "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Genesis 2:17 The "tree of good and evil" is just one of Satan's many names in the Bible. The sin that was committed was not the eating of anything, but the sexual union between Satan and Eve with Adam, in the Garden, and from it came Cain, Satan's child, who murdered Abel, Adams child.
When you take Christ into your heart, and by believing in Him and repenting to the Father in Jesus name, He will forgive your sins, and give you eternal life. Remember that the only way to the Father is through His Son, for when you come in the name of the Son, Jesus Christ, you then recognize that Jesus' blood on the cross was shed for you. You are then accepting that gift that the Father is offering to you of His grace, unmerited favor, and telling the Father that you accept Christ's sacrifice for yourself.
romans6
Paul is saying that we never should sin on purpose because we are under grace.
Romans 6:16 "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey: whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?"
Paul is saying that it is your choice who you take for your master. The choice is between Satan and the destruction that will follow from your obedience that you have given while serving him. The other choice is your obedience to our Heavenly Father and your obedience to His Word and serving His righteousness. When you walk with Christ you have eternal life for your soul.
Christ paid the price that you can even make that choice, and those that know and understand the choice will serve righteousness.
Romans 6:17 "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."
We were servants of sin in the past, before repentance, but now you have the message of faith. Your faith is your taking of God's Word, and acting upon it in confidence, that when you repent, you free yourselves from guilt.
Romans 6:18 "Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness."
You are free from sin only as much as you are in the flesh that causes sin, but on sinning and repentance from the heart before God, you become set free from the gift that God gave to you.
Romans 6:19 "I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your member servants to righteousness unto holiness."
Paul is speaking of the weakness of the human nature that is of the flesh. But when you keep giving in to this weakness and sin over and over again, it requires you to keep seeking forgiveness over and over, and ask our Heavenly Father for righteousness and strength to be holy. As you ask for forgiveness, ask also for guidance, to help you overcome those weaknesses that you have. Remember that flesh brings temptations, and yielding to them brings sin that requires repentance.
Romans 6:20 "For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness."
When you were a servant of sin, then you did not have the rewards of righteousness.
Romans 6:21 "What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death."
When you look back on your life when you were a unrepented sinner, enjoying those sinful acts; What did those things gain you in the end? The fruit of one sin will bear more of the same. One lie leads to another, as one sin leads to another and there is no end to it. The road leads in the opposite direction then eternal life, and that is death of the body, and the soul.
Romans 6:22 "But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life."
The fruit of your holiness is what you have done in this flesh life for God and His righteousness. Your fruit could be in your planting of seeds of truth that leads someone to God, or in your prayer life, or even in giving of materials or money in Jesus name. It is the act of doing something in Jesus name to advance God's kingdom, and bringing others to God's saving grace, and their eternal life. Sometimes even in our falling short, we can use that troubled time to assist others in keeping others from falling into that same sin. It is at repentance that gives us the freedom over our sins.
Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
This is to say that Satan brings us only death and sin into our lives. The law was given to Adam, and Adam was tempted by Satan and broke the law, so we see even in Adam's case that Satan was the root of the sin that entered into the world.
God's law or commandment to Adam was "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Genesis 2:17 The "tree of good and evil" is just one of Satan's many names in the Bible. The sin that was committed was not the eating of anything, but the sexual union between Satan and Eve with Adam, in the Garden, and from it came Cain, Satan's child, who murdered Abel, Adams child.
When you take Christ into your heart, and by believing in Him and repenting to the Father in Jesus name, He will forgive your sins, and give you eternal life. Remember that the only way to the Father is through His Son, for when you come in the name of the Son, Jesus Christ, you then recognize that Jesus' blood on the cross was shed for you. You are then accepting that gift that the Father is offering to you of His grace, unmerited favor, and telling the Father that you accept Christ's sacrifice for yourself.
romans6
Prayer Warrior
Well-Known Member
WADR, you're the one sounding a tad ravenous here. Who said anything about grace allowing us to live immoral lives??
Do you not believe that when a person is saved he is transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of God's beloved Son? Or do you think that believers are in the process of being transferred?
Col 1:13--He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son He loves.
.
Zachary
Active Member
What kind of death dost thou envision here?
Does Jesus go around killing believers who remain slaves to sin?
NO! ... Paul is saying: Believers who are sinning habitually
(i.e. without repentance) are headed for eternal death!
Folks, forget what you have been deceived with ...
and forget all of your false doctrines, wrong biases, etc.!
You need to start over ... believing ONLY what your Bible says!
.
Zachary
Active Member
FYI, Colossians was written to "the faithful" saints/brethren (1:2)
... it was NOT written to the unfaithful.
Ditto to the Ephesian "faithful" (1:1).
And Paul reminds even these "faithful" ones
to watch out that ... they don't fall into sin!
.
Yeah, Zachary. I was hoping we could avoid the contentiousness and just stick to having a polite conversation on this thread. That's another reason I asked for an exegesis. Keeps it on more of a cerebral level.
If you can, let's leave the confrontational stuff out of it and just discuss the passage politely together, ok? : )
Prayer Warrior
Well-Known Member
Naomi25
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It's not really a complicated idea. Sin leads to death. In many ways...in all ways. We could start back in the Garden of Eden where God told Adam and Eve that they would surely die if they ate of the fruit. Of course, we see that they did not...immediately. But...that was not really God's meaning, was it. Instantaneous death was not what God was warning them about. He was warning them about separation from him, which was a separation from eternal life. Sin leads away from eternal life and away from God, who is himself, eternal life and goodness.
When people sin they are fundamentally turning away from God and his plan for us...his good plan, and turning towards what Satan would have for us; death. Sometimes this 'death' does not come immediately, like in the garden. But come it does. Some sins lead to heartache, financial ruin, relationship ruin, health ruin....all of it leads to fracturing the soul and hardening it just a bit more against God. And the end of all those things lies death; physical death and then, yes, eternal death.
But, I do not believe the text AT ALL suggests that a believer who sins 'habitually' is bound for eternal destruction. The part of the text that speaks of salvation is already past and done. The part you are now focusing on is speaking of life, of fruit. And, as we know, it is 'by their fruit we can know them'.
Just a quickie:
Any study of Romans 6 has to take account of Romans 5:20-21. Paul has been teaching free grace and it appears that some of his opponents were accusing him of antinomianism, which charge he angrily rejects (Romans 3:8). So having declared that 'where sin abounded, grace did much more abound,' he foresees someone saying, "Oh! This is marvellous! Let's sin all the more so that God's grace will be magnified all the more." And wise teacher that he is, he meets the objection head-on. The Christian is a new creature in Christ Jesus and cannot continue to live in sin. Not that he doesn't sin at all - that's what Romans 7 is about - but he cannot live as he did.
Any study of Romans 6 has to take account of Romans 5:20-21. Paul has been teaching free grace and it appears that some of his opponents were accusing him of antinomianism, which charge he angrily rejects (Romans 3:8). So having declared that 'where sin abounded, grace did much more abound,' he foresees someone saying, "Oh! This is marvellous! Let's sin all the more so that God's grace will be magnified all the more." And wise teacher that he is, he meets the objection head-on. The Christian is a new creature in Christ Jesus and cannot continue to live in sin. Not that he doesn't sin at all - that's what Romans 7 is about - but he cannot live as he did.
Davy
Well-Known Member
1 Tim 4:1-2
4:1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
KJV
We are to keep the Faith (i.e., steadfast in The Gospel of Jesus Christ). Apostle Paul gave many examples of what it means to not remain in the Faith, as above. There are too many to list all of them here.
Jude 3-4
3 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
KJV
Not only are we to remain steadfast in the Faith, but we also are to 'contend' for it. The Greek word for 'contend' actually means to strive or struggle literally, fight. In relation to that idea Paul speaks of who that struggle is against, as with Jude 4 above.
Rev 13:10
10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.
KJV
That is pointing to an idea of keeping the Faith in patience even to the death. This many martyrs in Christ Jesus have done throughout Christian history.
None of that means our Lord Jesus meant for us to walk blindly in these last days, not knowing the dangers to watch out for that are to occur to His Church. He told us in His Word what to watch for all the way leading up to His return when He will gather His faithful. It's only a matter of listening to Him in the simplicity of His written Word instead of relying on men and their religious organizational systems to tell us.
In The New Testament, one of the main warnings for the Church at the end of this world, prior to Christ's return, is the coming of a pseudo-Christ to Jerusalem that will work great signs, wonders, and miracles that will deceive the whole world (excepting Christ's faithful). Because of that event, like our Lord Jesus said in Luke 18:8, when He returns will He find faith on the earth?
OzSpen
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HIH,
What Enoch gave you was not 'verse by verse exegesis'. He quoted verses and gave no exegesis. What is the meaning of exegesis? See: What is the difference between exegesis and eisegesis? | GotQuestions.org
@Enoch111, @Deborah_, @Davy, @brakelite, @Naomi25, @Invisibilis, @n2thelight :
Thanks for all the responses. I'm pleased we have so many at such a small forum capable of braking down an entire passage : )
I deliberately waited to read everyone's work until after I had posted my own interpretation, so beginning today I will be going back and taking a look at what everyone presented. Blessings in advance to everyone for putting in the work. I pray we all have a good conversation discussing it from here forward : )
Now before presenting mine, let me first cut right to the chase and present the crux of my interpretation, which is as follows:
Given the symbolism of masters and slaves used in this passage, v.23 suggests that while eternal life is indeed a free gift of God, receiving it will depend upon whether we gave ourselves to serving Him as Lord or not. Those who fail to do so will not inherit eternal life.
My explanation of v.23 will explain it in more detail. Feel free to comment on my work, and I look forward to reading and commenting on yours.
Hidden
Romans 6:15-23:
_______________________________
15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? God forbid.
- Paul here insists that God's grace is not a license to sin, and that all will still be held accountable to walk in righteousness.
16 Do you not know that to whom you yield yourselves slaves to obey, his slaves you are to whom you obey; whether [as a slave] of sin unto death, or [as a slave] of obedience unto righteousness?
- He uses the analogy of slavery here to make the point that whoever a Christian serves is who they are the slave to. If they walk as slaves to sin, the end result will be death. But if they walk in as slaves to obedience, the end result will be that righteousness becomes manifest in their lives.
17 But God be thanked, that you were the slaves of sin, but you have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
- Paul now mentions the change that has taken place in the lives of his readers as a result of receiving the teachings of the apostles. These teachings they faithfully obeyed after they were delivered to them.
18 Being then made free from sin, you became the slaves of righteousness.
- Again the analogy of slavery, and how, as a result of being redeemed from sin through Christ Jesus, they have instead now become slaves to righteousness.
19 I speak after the manner of men because of the weakness of your flesh: for as you have yielded your members slaves to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members slaves to righteousness unto holiness.
- Before coming to Christ, they submitted to the weakness of their flesh and yielded their members to walking in spiritual uncleanness and iniquity. But now that they had been purchased through His blood, they were to submit themselves as slaves unto righteousness, for it would lead to holiness being developed in their lives.
20 For when you were the slaves of sin, you were free from righteousness.
- Again the slavery analogy, and how, before coming to Christ, they were beholden only to sin. Sin was their spiritual master.
21 What fruit then did you have in those things whereof you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.
- Now he brings to their minds what submitting to sin like a slave produced in their lives. The word "uncleanness" was often used in reference to sexual sin, and sins like adultery and sex while denying the woman marriage defied covenant-principles and often produce great strife in relationships with others. Instead of the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, etc., such actions produced the fruit of anger, bitterness, resentment, spitefulness, vengefulness, etc. Such sins also made them ashamed of themselves, hence Paul's language here.
22 But now being made free from sin and having become slaves to God, you have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
- Having instead become slaves to God, they were now producing different spiritual fruit, i.e. love, kindness, [bodily] self-control, etc., and it was instead producing holiness, with the end result that they would be inheriting eternal life.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
- Now notice the language here. He now references the two distinct ends for those who serve these two masters. The end for those serving sin will be death, whereas the end for those who serve God, righteousness, and obedience (v.22, v.18-19, v.16), will be to receive the gift of God, i.e. eternal life through Christ Jesus. It will not be earned through works because it is a gift of God that can only be received through grace. But it will only be given to those who made themselves slaves of righteousness and walked as such. Those who called Him "Lord" but did not serve Him will not receive the gift of eternal life when all is said and done. They proved in this life that they preferred serving sin and disobedience rather than God.
Thanks for all the responses. I'm pleased we have so many at such a small forum capable of braking down an entire passage : )
I deliberately waited to read everyone's work until after I had posted my own interpretation, so beginning today I will be going back and taking a look at what everyone presented. Blessings in advance to everyone for putting in the work. I pray we all have a good conversation discussing it from here forward : )
Now before presenting mine, let me first cut right to the chase and present the crux of my interpretation, which is as follows:
Given the symbolism of masters and slaves used in this passage, v.23 suggests that while eternal life is indeed a free gift of God, receiving it will depend upon whether we gave ourselves to serving Him as Lord or not. Those who fail to do so will not inherit eternal life.
My explanation of v.23 will explain it in more detail. Feel free to comment on my work, and I look forward to reading and commenting on yours.
Hidden
Romans 6:15-23:
_______________________________
15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? God forbid.
- Paul here insists that God's grace is not a license to sin, and that all will still be held accountable to walk in righteousness.
16 Do you not know that to whom you yield yourselves slaves to obey, his slaves you are to whom you obey; whether [as a slave] of sin unto death, or [as a slave] of obedience unto righteousness?
- He uses the analogy of slavery here to make the point that whoever a Christian serves is who they are the slave to. If they walk as slaves to sin, the end result will be death. But if they walk in as slaves to obedience, the end result will be that righteousness becomes manifest in their lives.
17 But God be thanked, that you were the slaves of sin, but you have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
- Paul now mentions the change that has taken place in the lives of his readers as a result of receiving the teachings of the apostles. These teachings they faithfully obeyed after they were delivered to them.
18 Being then made free from sin, you became the slaves of righteousness.
- Again the analogy of slavery, and how, as a result of being redeemed from sin through Christ Jesus, they have instead now become slaves to righteousness.
19 I speak after the manner of men because of the weakness of your flesh: for as you have yielded your members slaves to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members slaves to righteousness unto holiness.
- Before coming to Christ, they submitted to the weakness of their flesh and yielded their members to walking in spiritual uncleanness and iniquity. But now that they had been purchased through His blood, they were to submit themselves as slaves unto righteousness, for it would lead to holiness being developed in their lives.
20 For when you were the slaves of sin, you were free from righteousness.
- Again the slavery analogy, and how, before coming to Christ, they were beholden only to sin. Sin was their spiritual master.
21 What fruit then did you have in those things whereof you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.
- Now he brings to their minds what submitting to sin like a slave produced in their lives. The word "uncleanness" was often used in reference to sexual sin, and sins like adultery and sex while denying the woman marriage defied covenant-principles and often produce great strife in relationships with others. Instead of the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, etc., such actions produced the fruit of anger, bitterness, resentment, spitefulness, vengefulness, etc. Such sins also made them ashamed of themselves, hence Paul's language here.
22 But now being made free from sin and having become slaves to God, you have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
- Having instead become slaves to God, they were now producing different spiritual fruit, i.e. love, kindness, [bodily] self-control, etc., and it was instead producing holiness, with the end result that they would be inheriting eternal life.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
- Now notice the language here. He now references the two distinct ends for those who serve these two masters. The end for those serving sin will be death, whereas the end for those who serve God, righteousness, and obedience (v.22, v.18-19, v.16), will be to receive the gift of God, i.e. eternal life through Christ Jesus. It will not be earned through works because it is a gift of God that can only be received through grace. But it will only be given to those who made themselves slaves of righteousness and walked as such. Those who called Him "Lord" but did not serve Him will not receive the gift of eternal life when all is said and done. They proved in this life that they preferred serving sin and disobedience rather than God.
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That video was very well done. I have yet to begin reading the responses, but I will say that the inclination to "read [things] into" a text is a temptation for nearly all Christians, even those without any formal or church background, as even an unchurched Christian cannot escape hearing sermons on various issues, especially issues related to salvation.
But yes, letting the text lead us to where IT wants to go is indeed the proper method : )
Decided to forego presented something, Spencer? I would be curious to read what the common Catholic interpretation of this passage is (though I'm sure I could look it up).
Thank you, Deborah! If I'm not mistaken, you and I are in agreement : )
But please read my interpretation in Post #37. I'd like to know if I am understanding you correctly, or if we are somehow in disagreement.
Blessings in Christ, and hope you are having a wonderful Sunday.
I understand your point, of course : ) But now, if you read my interpretation in Post #37, the gift spoken of there is actually bodily immortality at the moment of regeneration, yes? I would actually say that is something that is received my through Him or from Him than in Him. But I'm getting nitpick with you, LoL.
Hope you have a great Sunday, brother, and thanks for posting!
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