Who's Slave Are You? | Romans 6:15-19

Hello everyone. For those of you who may not have had the chance to meet me or are new, my name is Joshua Pugsley and I’m the youth director here at Wildwood Church. Today we are taking some time to honor our high school graduates and to encourage them in their next chapter of life. Towards the end of the sermon today I'm going to have any of the high school graduates in here come up to receive a gift and to be prayed over. We come to worship God today in song, in praise, and in his word. It is my privilege to be able to open the word of God with you. Please turn with me to Romans chapter 6 verses 15 through 19.

Romans 6:15–19

15 What then? Are we to sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! 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? 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, 18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. 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. - Romans 6:15-19 (Pray after reading)

Romans 6:15–19

Do you all know very much about tigers? Yeah me neither and you're really not going to learn much about them today. But I have a few interesting facts for you. In the Wild tigers generally have a territory that spans 40 square miles, where they roam, hunt and live the good life of a tiger. That’s a pretty large area if you consider how many tigers in captivity live in small confinements. There are more tigers in captivity in the U.S. than there are in their natural habitat. The numbers are somewhere around 5,000 Tigers currently in captivity and about 4,800 remain in the wild. Tigers in captivity, instead of having the freedom to roam around, are confined to a small area where they are not able to live as God intended. Some captive tigers are worse off than others, especially those in the circus. Tigers in circuses have been known to spend a good majority of their life in a 5 by the 8-foot cage. This type of living has profound psychological effects on the tigers causing them to have abnormal behavior. I remember hearing one story about a tiger who lived in a small cage like this, that would pace around all day in its small living quarters, it would just go from one corner to the next corner to the next in a rectangle following the confines of its prison. This tiger was eventually freed from captivity and when they took the cage away, the tiger didn’t run off immediately into the forest as one might expect. Instead, it paced there, following the outline of the cage it once lived in.

That tiger believed that life in the world was defined by a 5-foot by 8-foot space. It could not fathom anything more than what it has been taught to believe from a young age. Sadly it was trapped in its own belief about life not realizing there was so much more awaiting him if he would just walk off 20 more feet into the jungle, the home that he was made for. Instead, he was stuck living no life at all. The tiger was set free and yet it didn’t embrace that freedom.

It’s not the 4th of July yet, but June 4th is close enough to start talking about freedom! In America any day is a day to talk about freedom, we are the land of the free! I mean that’s what we’re taught in history class, we are a nation founded on freedom! People use the word freedom a lot, but I do not think it means what they think it means. Oxford's definition says freedom is the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Thank you oxford, for not clearing up freedom for us whatsoever because based on that definition none of us are really free. None of us has the right or even the power to act without hindrance or restraint. We are restrained in a thousand different ways, by the laws of the land, by our own weaknesses and inabilities, and myriad other things. Thank God for law and order though right I mean how much worse could our world be if everyone could just do as they please without restraint? Even if there was no government restraining you still can’t do whatever you want. I mean I would really like to be able to jump out of a 20-story building and flap my arms and fly, but I’m not an eagle and the law of gravity would be waiting for me down below to wake me up to the truth that I can’t just do whatever I want. The bottom line is people don’t get to do whatever they want therefore based on Oxford’s definition of freedom, no one is free. In fact the only one who gets to do whatever they want is God. God gets to decide everything and there is nothing that can stop him, slow him down or mess up any of his plans. So really I owe oxford dictionary an apology thank you oxford for revealing that only God has the right and ability to do whatever the heck he wants.

So if freedom isn’t the ability to do whatever we want, what is it? What is this freedom we talk about in America? I want to know. Is it simply living in a place of relative peace, and prosperity where you get three square meals and decent healthcare? I don’t think it can be that either because we’ve got prisoners who have these things and in fact some of them live better than people in third-world countries and yet we wouldn’t consider these prisoners free. Maybe freedom is about having the ability to pursue happiness and the American dream; but what happens when your house burns down, your bank account runs dry and your health declines, does that mean you are no longer free? Listen, people are looking for the answers, people want to find freedom and all of the world's definitions of freedom are falling short.

I want to make it clear I am thankful to God for the many freedoms we do have in America and the constitution that protects the rights of its citizens. My prayer is that America would grow and prosper for the glory of the Lord and that we would be a nation filled with God-honoring believers. The point I’m making is this: no matter what country we live in and no matter how free that country is in human terms, freedom still isn’t what we’ve been taught to think it is. If freedom could be offered by a nation it would be America, but why are so many people enslaved to money, alcohol, and drugs? Why are so many people depressed, full of anxiety, and feeling trapped? Are the American people really free, or are they enslaved to a million different masters that they aren’t even aware of? I think we are all tired of substitute freedoms that don’t do the trick. Praise the Lord we get to find out what true freedom is in our passage today.

It’s seemingly an oxymoron statement, but to understand true biblical freedom we first need to understand slavery. Slavery is a dirty word in our culture and for good reason. America, the land of the free, has a dark past of slavery. Even with this past we still have to talk about slavery today because Paul uses the term “slave” six times in our passage. In fact at the beginning of this letter to the Romans, Paul calls himself a slave of Christ Jesus, chapter one verse one. Turn briefly to Romans 1:1.

Romans 1:1

Paul, a servant (slave) of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, - Romans 1:1

Romans 1:1

Wait, Josh, didn’t you just say that Paul calls himself a slave in this verse, it says servant in my ESV translation. In most translations, it does say servant. But you’ll notice a footnote at the bottom of the page that refers to the original Greek term which was Doulos. Doulos by the way always means slave, it never means anything other than a slave. It doesn’t mean worker, helper, servant, or hired hand, it always means slave, it refers to someone who is owned by a master. So then why did they translate it, servant? There is a lot of stigma surrounding the term slave. It’s an abrasive term in our culture. When we see the wicked effects of slavery on mankind, the great abuses that have taken place, and the violence and destruction, it’s no wonder why people want to avoid that term. I want to make myself very clear here, Slavery when it pertains to one human being taking control of another to abuse and use for their benefit is a vile evil. No person has the right to treat another person as a lesser being, all are created in the image of God and should be treated with love and respect.

But we still have to wrestle with the fact that Paul considers himself a slave of God; he begins many of his letters saying he is a slave of God; and not just him, but James, Peter, Jude, and John all consider themselves as God’s slaves in the introduction of their writings. In our passage today Christians are called slaves of righteousness. Should we soften the language of the bible to make it less abrasive? Or should we sit with the reality that those who call themselves Christians aren’t just servants, they are, but they are not less than slaves of God? Bear with me as we dive into this reality together. My personal belief is that the translators have done a disservice to us by translating the Greek word for slave to servant. The word servant doesn't allow the full weight of our reality before God to set in properly. It’s a good thing to be a slave of God and that may sound strange at first, but you don’t take my word for it, I'll let the word of God speak for itself.

What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!

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? 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, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. - Romans 6:15-18

Romans 6:15–18

Those who have faith in Jesus have been cleansed of all unrighteousness and are no longer bound to the law because Christ fulfilled the law on their behalf. Christians are under grace, all of our sins, past, present, and future have been forgiven. Paul expects that some people when realizing this might think to themselves, well if I’m under grace and all my sins are taken care of, why not just live however I want, why not just sin if it’s all covered anyway? And of course, Paul responds the way Paul does BY NO MEANS!

As Christians we can’t go on sinning like before because we are no longer enslaved to sin, our new master is God and we are enslaved to his righteousness. For a person who claims to follow Jesus to go on sinning as they did before is only evidence that they are still enslaved by sin rather than God. By no means can the Christian continue in sin as we once did. We have been set free to obey God, not sin! More than that we are now enslaved to God and we cannot help but pursue righteousness. This doesn’t mean we won’t still sin, it means that we don’t have to sin and that over time because God is our new master we will sin a lot less than we used to.

So, there are two masters presented in the passage. One is sin and the other is Righteousness or God because to be a slave of righteousness also means you are a slave of God, they go hand in hand. Also, later on in Romans 6:22, it says believers are slaves of God. An important question to consider today is whose slave are you? You don’t get the option to opt-out; there is no neutral ground; you are either a slave of sin or a slave of God. Outside of the saving work of Jesus, everyone is a slave of sin

Romans 6:22

Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. - John 8:34

John 8:34

The people of this world would love to think they are free, but once again based on God’s word the truth is apart from Christ they are slaves to sin. Everyone on planet Earth has rebelled against a perfect and holy God and has chosen sin over him. One might say, I am not enslaved to sin, how could you say that? Why do you allow the numbers in your bank account to make decisions for you then, that sounds like your money has dominion over you, that’s called greed and it’s a sin. Na man Nothing has control over me? Then why do you always go back to that addiction to try and find peace? You don’t know me, I have no master, but myself! If you are your own master why can’t you control your temper or your tongue? Why do you say things you regret and act in ways you wish you had not? You lack self-control and yet you think you are in control? I am free! I can do what I want? Then why are you trapped in the cycle of sin, you say you can walk away but you never do, you may stop one sin, but you quickly pick up another to fill its place. You can’t escape sin, it follows you everywhere it rules over you with tyranny. You walk a path of destruction, relationships crumble around you, and your very life is being sucked dry by the chains of your sin. “Sin will take you farther than you ever intended to go, it will cost you more than you ever expected to pay, and it will keep you longer than you ever intended to stay.” Sin is a harsh and wicked master that will drive you to your grave figuratively and literally. Obey sin and reap death.

The great news is that no one in this room or listening to this sermon has to be a slave of sin any longer! There is another master you can belong to. This master is loving, kind, merciful, and forgiving. He provides life, and righteousness, promises peace & security for all of eternity. He is God. In his presence there is fullness of joy and at his right hand are pleasures forevermore. Even if we suffer in this life for his namesake, we are filled with joy and hope knowing he is worthy of our suffering and that in the end, he will put away all of our suffering. God is a good master; he purchased his people by the precious blood of his son Jesus, they are his now and those who are his are no longer controlled by sin, but controlled by him.

For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. - 2nd Corinthians 5:14-15

By no means can we believers go on sinning like we used to because the love of Christ controls us! Christ died so that we wouldn’t live for ourselves but for him as our new master! Still at this point maybe the idea of being God's slave doesn’t sit well with you, I get it and so does Paul which is why in verse 19 he says.

I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. - Romans 6:19a

When we think of slavery we still think of the whip on the back. We think of the shackles on the feet. We imagine the ball and chain. We think of beatings, mistreatments, and other horrible things. Slavery in the mind of the world is never a good thing because they have no concept of a master like God. Also to God, we are not just slaves, we are his children, we are his priests, we are his ambassadors, we are his ministers, we are his saints, we are his chosen people, we are the apple of his eye, we are precious in his sight, we are beloved, we are cared for. Does he still own us though? You better believe it, did the precious blood of his son not purchase us from the master, death, and sin and transfer us over to a new master? God owns the whole universe. He made everything that exists. God owns your next heartbeat, he owns the oxygen in your blood, and he owns the atoms that you are made up of. Who knit you together in your mother's womb? Who thought of you back in eternity? The ALMIGHTY ALL POWERFUL GOD WHO IS WORTHY OF ALL PRAISE. God is not a wicked and abusive God, he is not Tyrant, and his supreme kingship is only marked by a love so deep that he would sacrifice his only son to set people free who never deserved it. Sin is the wicked and brutal master.

To become a slave of God is to become truly free. How is this possible? Freedom isn’t being able to do whatever you want, freedom isn’t found in a nation. It isn’t found in a full bank account, a great career, good education, or even a happy family. All of these things can be great blessings that we should be thankful for, but they do not make a person free. You can have everything this world offers you and you will still find yourself apart from Christ a slave to sin. Freedom is being under God’s loving and kind rule and being able to say yes to God and no to sin. True freedom is being able to fulfill your ultimate destiny which is to glorify God by enjoying him forever. That is why we were created! We were created by God for God, to glorify God by enjoying him forever. When we get back to this, we are truly free! Anything else we try and worship will just lead us to death.

If you come here today in bondage to sin and slavery, you have come to the right place. Jesus who is God in the flesh decided that he was willing to die on behalf of messed-up people like you and me. In fact, Jesus is our great example of what it means to submit to God. Jesus humbled himself and became like a slave.

but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. - Philippians 2:7-8

Philippians 2:7–8

Jesus was all about being obedient to his heavenly father. He said himself in John 6 that he came not to do his own will but the will of the one who sent him. He also in the garden of Gethsemane before he was about to die for sins asked that the Lord let this cup pass from him, but then he said, not my will but yours be done. Incredible obedience led him straight to a horrific death where the just wrath of God was placed upon him. Then he rose again three days later and he now holds the keys to death and hell and is ready to take off your chains. The only thing you need to do is confess that Jesus is Lord and believe in his work on the cross.

because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. - Romans 10:9

Romans 10:9

The Greek word for Lord here is Kyrion and it means Lord or Master. Are you ready to confess Jesus as your master and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, if you are you will be saved. You will be set free from sin and find yourself under a new master who will give you everlasting life full of joy and peace.

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. - John 8:36

John 8:36

Freedom is in Christ and Christ alone! My brothers and sisters in Christ we have been set free from sin, we can say no to it. It doesn’t have power over us anymore. We have a new master that we need to learn to submit to. Fortunately, this new master is patient and longsuffering, he takes us by the hand and leads us along, and when we stumble and fall he picks us up again. Our call is to present ourselves to God with each new day as a living sacrifice and to say God you are in control I am your slave.

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. - Romans 6:19b

We used to present ourselves to impurity and lawlessness which just led to deeper levels of lawlessness and brokenness in our lives. Now because we are free from sin and slaves to God we can present ourselves to righteousness which will lead to us over time becoming more pure, holy, and more like our master.

Remember the tiger. He got released and didn’t know what to do with his newfound freedom. He was so stuck in his old life that he couldn’t enjoy his new life. The 5 by 8-foot box was all he could imagine, it was all he knew. There was so much more waiting for him though if he only realized that he was no longer in his cage. Sin is a cage you don’t ever have to go back to and you don’t even want to go back to. So keep presenting your members as slaves to God and you will see the cage disappear in the background. Practically I want to encourage you all to daily surrender your life to God, when you wake up you say to God this is your day, you open your word daily and say Lord guide me by your word you know best my Father and my master. When tempted by sin you say to sin I don’t have to follow you anymore, you are not in control and you say Lord I live to obey you because I love you! And if you feel weak and frail and like your love for God is dwindling you run to the Lord of all creation and you say Lord your child is weak and poor and tempted to go back to the pit please give me the strength to carry on and a heart to believe all that you have taught me, keep me on your righteous path oh Lord, and guess what your almighty, all-powerful God will keep you tethered to him because he is a good shepherd of your soul and he cares for you greatly even when you lack faith. You see God will never leave you, he freed you from a bondage you could never escape by paying a price you could never afford. Do you think God will let you be lost after his son's blood-bought you? No, he cares too much for you and he proved it on the cross.

Brothers and sisters, you are not a slave to sin anymore. You are free. Walk in your freedom and guess what I know you will walk in it even more because God is keeping you on his path. Stop trying to do everything on your own and just fall into the strong arms of the Lord and let him empower you.

I want to welcome the band back to the stage at this point as well as any high school graduates who are here today, I have some gifts for you and I also want to speak these last words over you and pray for you.

Graduates. The world is going to try and put you in a box. It’s going to try and drag you back into a cage and force you to live under your old master, sin. Satan is going to throw a million lies at you and try to convince you that you live in a 5 by 8-foot rectangle and that it’s a good place to be. There is so much more to life than what the world will ever tell you of or offer you. Don’t believe the lies. Follow Jesus and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. There is only one God, there is only one master, and there is only one person worthy of our full obedience. The question is whose slave are you?