Smoodock's Blog

Now there’s a question that modern man balks at. Most Christians find it difficult to deal with as well. “What? Slave? I’m not a slave to anyone—my faith sets me free!” Well, this is true in a sense. As a Christian I am free from the penalty of sin and from its guilt, but what about the power of sin? I probably have more trouble with sin, now that I am a Christian than before I received Jesus. Why? Because before I knew Christ, I wasn’t concerned with sin at all. Nevertheless, afterward sinning became a very prominent problem, or perhaps a better word would be focus, because, before Christ, I simply wasn’t aware of the problem—or didn’t care.

Paul has thus far shown us that we are justified in Christ, that is, in Christ we are set right with God. We have become friends, so to speak. In chapter six of Romans Paul began to write of the thing that separates the religious striver from the trusting believer—namely, sanctification! Don’t let the pious sound of the word fool you; it really has nothing to do with being religious. All it means it we are set apart from others. People in the military are set apart from the everyday citizens to protect the nation from the enemy. People in the law enforcement agencies are set apart from other citizens of the country to enforce the law upon people who don’t like to conform to an orderly society and punish the lawbreakers. We could go on with other examples, but the point is made—simply being set apart for a particular purpose (sanctification) does not make one religious.

The point Paul is making is that simply becoming a Christian doesn’t solve our problems with sin. The fact is the problem of sin is so ever present that some take the attitude: “Well, I can’t be perfect anyway. So what if I sin a little? God will forgive me” and uses 1John 1:9 to support their opinion. Paul deals with this briefly in Romans 6:1, “So what do we do? Keep on sinning so God can keep on forgiving? (The Message), to which Paul replies: “God forbid!” or “I should hope not!” In Christ the power that sin has over us has been broken.

Paul gets into some deep waters in chapter six, but he draws us some pictures to give us an understandable perspective of what he means. Since Paul claims that we have become a part of Christ, then it stands to reason, when Christ died, we also died, if we carry the analogy to its ultimate end. What does it mean when a person dies? Well, for one thing all the things that troubled the person before are over. They have no hold on him any longer, and this is Paul’s point. Moreover, since Jesus rose from the dead, we also have risen with him to a new kind of life. The whole deal is pictured in our baptism. We die to this world and are buried in the symbolic grave of water and then rise out of it, just like Christ did from his grave. Therefore, we are to reckon ourselves dead as far as sin is concerned, but alive as far as Christ is concerned. Religion can’t do this for us. We are not simply following the teachings of our great hero, Jesus. We are involved in a real personal relationship with him (Romans 6:6). Paul is saying that becoming a Christian means that I not only start to follow Christ, but I also identify with him—I become a part of him. “And, just as Christ conquered the power of sin with his death and resurrection, he also stuck a telling blow against the old, sinful nature that is a part of every one of us.” So says Fritz Ridenour in his book, “How to Become a Christian Without Being Religious.”

What it all comes down to is, do I want what Christ has already done work in my favor or would I rather continue to fight my own battles? This is the paradox of the Christian life. Christ doesn’t force his way into our lives. It is all done through our cooperation. Christians aren’t saved robots; choice is always a part of our lives, and every choice we make either turns us toward sin or towards Christ.

We now return to the original question: “Whose slave am I?” I am always changing, never remaining the same. I will become like the one I obey. Serving sin breeds frustration and disillusionment, making me cynical and hardening my heart toward the Gospel. But, if I serve Christ, he molds my life. The one to whom I offer myself as a servant to obey, his servant I become, whether to Christ, who molds me into a righteous person like himself, or to sin that molds me into a servant of death (Romans 6:16). I become like the one to whom I belong. There is no getting around the fact that I am a slave. The difference is, in Christ I always have a choice to back out and do whatever I please. Sin, however, will lord it over me, and I have no power to stop sinning, until I let Christ again take the reins of my life.

Every Christian is sanctified, that is, set apart for God’s use. Nevertheless, we can frustrate God’s work in us as was done by some early Christians (1Corinthians 6:11), but some day the work of sanctification will be complete and we will be like Jesus our Savior through and through (1John 3:1-3). However, in Romans Paul is focusing upon the here and now. Am I letting Christ make the difference in my life today? Here Paul presents us with the proposition of the value of being a willing slave to God, but this implies a choice on my part. Unless I have a choice, I would be like a sanctified computer or robot set apart for God’s use. If God were to force me to do what he wants, Jesus wouldn’t have needed to die. So, God wants Christians who see themselves as dead to sin, but alive to Christ. Does this make me a slave? Yes, but one with the freedom of choice (Romans 6:11). Simply put, I belong to my choice.

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