"Freedom Through Slavery" Romans 6:15–23

Our reading this morning comes from Romans 6, verses 15 to 23.

Romans 6:15–23

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 as 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.

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.

For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.

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.

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.

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

So, here in Ottawa, 2026, we are very far removed from slavery.

In fact, Canada, for all of our troubling historical faux pas,

we are far from a perfect country, not sure if you knew that or not.

We had actually a fantastic track record when it comes to slavery.

Pre-Confederation Canada was very ahead of its time.

Slavery was alive and well, raging in America and the rest of the New World.

The slave trade was active.

And yet, here in Ontario, or at the time Upper Canada,

John Simcoe, the one who founded York, which would later become Toronto,

he was instrumental in outlawing slavery.

He was an early English abolitionist, and he was also the Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, Ontario,

what is now Ontario.

And he signed into law the 1793 Act Against Slavery.

And this was some 40 years before slavery was abolished in Westminster.

It's actually quite remarkable.

Canada also had a very fantastic role that they played in the Underground Railroad.

We should keep our heads held high when it comes to the history of Canada

and the transatlantic slave trade.

So, it's troubling then, if we come to this text as Canadians that know our history

and are proud of it, which we should be,

at least in this area of our history,

we come to a troubling passage where the Apostle Paul is going to liken the Christian life to slavery.

He's going to liken the Christian life to slavery.

And he's going to use it to shed light on the doctrine of grace,

which is very foundational to what it means to be a Christian.

He is a provocative preacher.

He was then, and he continues to be now the Apostle Paul.

But, as we go through chapters of the Bible,

we don't just pick what Daniel wants to pick on a Sunday morning,

because it's easier that way for me.

We go through books of the Bible,

so we come to a potentially difficult text.

We don't walk away from it, we're going to walk towards it this morning.

And we're going to try to grasp what the Apostle Paul is saying,

and we're going to look at two contrasting pairings that he uses

to help articulate what it means to live as Christians.

He's going to contrast slavery and freedom, first and foremost.

And then, secondly, he's going to contrast sanctification and sin.

Very theological, Christian-y words.

Slavery and freedom, sanctification and sin.

So, just two points this morning.

We're going to jump in the text shortly in verse 16.

But first, I think it would help us to take a moment to understand a little bit about slavery.

Because we are, maybe not everybody,

but I would venture to guess the majority of us are understanding slavery through chattel slavery,

the transatlantic slave trade,

the whole abhorrent act of stealing people

and buying and selling them that the new world in many ways was built upon.

But Paul is speaking to a similar but different kind of slavery

that took place in the first century in Rome.

You see, in the ancient world, in the ancient Roman Empire,

it would be unthinkable to live without slaves.

It was so baked into the economy of ancient Rome.

Slaves made up anywhere from 15 to up to 30% of all of the population of the Roman Empire.

In fact, there's some estimates that slaves and former slaves

were actually the majority of the population by the first century.

Slavery, let's be clear, a terrible business.

If you worked in the fields, if you worked in the mines,

you would wish death upon yourself.

But being a household slave could afford somebody a better life.

If you were lower class, a lower class freed person,

you might approach somebody to become a slave.

I mean, you would totally be owned by somebody else,

but you'd have food, you'd have shelter,

you'd have a purpose, you'd have a job.

And in some cases, people could be doctors,

they could be managers, they could be tutors,

they could even own their own slaves as slaves.

Nevertheless, slavery is still not advantageous.

You're still owned by another human being.

It's not great.

You are property, not a human being.

And especially in the church,

slavery would have been very, very obvious.

The church in the early first century was full of slaves,

primarily because the gospel proclaims inequality.

The Apostle Paul will later on,

in a number of different places throughout the New Testament,

will talk about,

in Christ Jesus,

there's neither slave or free,

male or female,

Jew or Greek,

and you'll continue on.

Not that our identities become dissolved,

but just that there's inequality before God.

Why?

Because we are made in God's image.

This is like a foundational aspect of Christianity.

So therefore, the church would be a very welcoming place for slaves.

Therefore, Paul is speaking the vernacular to this group of people.

He is speaking their language.

He is using a metaphor that they would understand.

And by the way,

it's not exactly like Paul is jazzed about this metaphor.

Look with me in verse 19.

It'll be on page 30 if you're using one of these scripture journals.

Paul says this,

I am speaking in human terms because of your natural limitations.

Listen, this is not the best metaphor to use.

Likening Christianity to slavery isn't exactly the best way to promote your faith.

Even for the most kind of upper class slaves, so to speak,

you're still property.

It's not the greatest situation.

Nevertheless, it's an apt metaphor

because the majority of the people would,

potentially the majority of the people would be slaves,

but everybody would understand what slavery was in the first century.

So, with that as a bit of a primer, so to speak,

on what the Apostle Paul is talking about,

let's read verses 16 to 19.

Nisa has read it already, but we'll read it again.

Starting in verse 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?

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.

Again, we reference this.

I'm 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.

There's a lot there.

I'm going to point out two important things

that I want to draw your attention to.

The first is this.

Paul assumes that all human beings are slaves.

And not just that all human beings in the first century are slaves,

that all human beings in every place and every time are slaves.

In fact, this room, the Apostle Paul would say,

is full of slaves.

And he is making this case because

we've seen in chapter 5,

if you were here a couple weeks ago,

that all human beings are connected in a very deep way to Adam.

Adam, the character in the first two,

the first three chapters of Genesis,

where sin entered the world through Adam.

That because of that,

we all became slaves,

and slaves from our birth.

No one is truly free

in the sense of being completely and fully autonomous.

Everybody serves something.

Either we will serve death and sin,

oftentimes it takes the form of us serving our appetites,

our affections,

our desire to be respected

and loved,

our pleasure,

our money,

our exhilaration,

our desire for exhilaration.

We have a young man in our house

that I think that will be his besetting desire,

the thing that he pursues his whole life.

Comfort, status,

you name it.

We serve something.

We will go after something.

We are not fully autonomous.

We are governed

by the things we are pursuing.

The scripture repeatedly calls this pursuit

that is separated,

unhinged,

uncoupled from God,

he calls it sin.

The scriptures call it sin.

The apostle Paul calls it sin.

We're good things,

very good things.

Pleasure is a good thing.

Exhilaration can be a very good thing.

Money,

a wonderful tool.

But when they become ultimate things,

they are disordered

and abused

and tainted.

Gifts are elevated above

the one who gives the gifts.

It's a huge problem.

And the apostle Paul

says that we are slaves.

We serve such things.

Verses 18 and 19,

he will say that

such slavery

is actually a slavery

to impurity

and lawlessness.

But when we are saved by God,

when he extends to us

this incredible gift of grace,

salvation,

and we receive it by faith in Christ,

the apostle Paul says that we actually have a new master.

So it's not that we cease to serve

or cease to be a slave of something.

We are rather serving someone else.

We are a slave of someone else.

We have a new master.

This master is God.

That is the first important consideration for us

that I want to draw your attention to

from this verses 16 to 19.

The second part

is that Paul states emphatically

that we cannot have two masters.

So on one hand,

we cannot not have a master.

On the other hand,

we can only have one.

We see this in verses 16 and 19.

We can either serve sin

or we can serve God.

We can either serve things that lead to death

or things that lead to life.

Jesus, likewise,

teaches the same thing

in his Sermon on the Mount,

Matthew 5 to 7.

In it,

he makes clear that we can

only serve one master.

Why?

Because we will only love one.

And it will be at the expense of the other.

We'll hate the other one.

And in that case,

he's speaking on money.

He ends that section of teaching

by saying,

you cannot serve both God and mammon.

You cannot serve both God and money.

Very apt for us

here in our affluent day.

There is

a very clear point that Paul is making.

There's only two camps

and you can only be in one of them.

So this life of faith

that Paul is then putting forward.

It's not a life

that we get to just enjoy

whatever we want,

but it's actually

a life of surrender.

It's a life of slavery.

And this is, again,

where we have to wrestle

through with what

Paul is saying.

Because he is going to say

that

we have to present

our whole selves.

He talks about members

and in the original language,

it's literally like

your limbs,

but it carries with it

this idea that

it's not just your bodies,

but it is your desires,

it's your mind,

it's your affection,

your affections.

It means we have to present

our whole selves to God

in response to what God

has done for us.

Paul will write

to the Corinthian church

and tell us

what God has done for us.

And what is that?

He says in chapter 6

of 1 Corinthians

that we are not our own,

but that we were bought

with a price.

And that price is

the shed blood

of Christ himself.

So the big question

that Paul wants to remind

and exhort his listeners,

and those listeners

are us here this morning,

what he wants to remind us

of is a question.

And here's the question.

Who are you obedient to?

Not if you are obedient

to something or someone,

but who are you obedient to?

Is it any of the things

I named just a minute

or two ago?

Or is it Christ himself?

A bit of an objection.

And I think it might be

a good one.

Here's the objection.

It's not one of the big reasons

we have the strife

we have in the world

because we have

more religious fanatics,

not less.

I mean,

we have

an ongoing war

in the Middle East

right now

because of

an entire regime

that is

religiously

hell-bent

on the destruction

of the West.

Isn't that the problem?

Religious fanaticism.

Don't we want

more people

to be balanced,

to be regular?

Whatever that regular is,

by the way.

Regular.

Surely we need people

who enjoy,

yeah,

good church service

here and there,

but aren't given over

to a zealousness

that may make them,

you know,

maybe not very respectable.

I want to,

hypothetically,

whoever is

offering that objection,

I would reply to them

with a question.

Are you sure

that the secular person

isn't actually

the truly zealous one,

the zealous fanatic?

What do I mean?

I do enjoy history.

Obviously,

talking about

John Simcoe,

I really love

the history of Canada

and the history

in general.

But the more

I read about history,

the more I'm very happy

to live in the 21st century.

All right?

I like a refrigerator

that I can open

and get preserved food

and enjoy

whenever I want,

probably too often,

but nevertheless,

I enjoy a flush toilet,

I enjoy a combustion engine.

Okay?

I love the modern world

that we live in.

I do.

I do not want to go back

to horse and buggy

no matter how idealistic

it might seem

when we read children's books

or watch movies.

I don't want it.

Okay?

I like my creature comforts.

But one thing

I do not like

in our 21st century,

and it's precisely

because I am so

infected with it,

is

the religion

of our age.

What do I,

what am I referring to?

The one thing

that has marked

the modern world

and especially

the post-modern world,

the moment we live in,

is something called

expressive individualism.

What do I mean?

It's not a term

that I coined.

I'm okay

in my intellect

but not terribly smart.

Carl Truman,

he's a philosopher

and a professor

and a pastor.

He wrote a big book

on just this very thing.

And he defines

expressive individualism

as meaning,

quote,

that each of us

finds our meaning

by giving expression

to our own feelings

and desires.

And he continues on

anything that gets

in the way of that,

it is that

we have,

sorry,

let me try that again.

Anything that gets

in the way of that,

however,

it is that

that we have defined it

is an offense

to our very person.

That which hinders

my outward expression

of my inner feelings,

that which challenges

or attempts

to falsify

my psychological beliefs

about myself

and thus to disturb

my sense of inner well-being

is by definition harmful

and to be rejected.

And that means

that traditional institutions

must be transformed

to conform

to the psychological self,

not vice versa.

what he is essentially

saying is

we get to decide

what makes us us.

What makes us

have true meaning,

the purpose in life.

It is not

an outside reality

that is put upon us,

but it is an inner reality

that we force the world,

individuals or institutions,

to conform to.

Does this not capture

our current cultural moment?

Is this not the prevailing

religious structure

of our time,

the thing people

are most passionate about,

which is oftentimes themselves?

Is it something

that rings true for you?

It rings true for me.

I hate to admit it,

it does.

I'm a very selfish person.

I like things going my way.

And if things get in the way

of the way I have

curated it to be in my mind,

it's frustrating.

My initial reaction isn't,

I should change.

That needs to change.

You see,

the lie of expressive individualism

is that it is the only way

we can truly be free.

That is what it sells us.

But the fact is,

it is a form of slavery.

In fact,

I would put forward to you

that it is the form of slavery.

For it is a slavery of the mind.

Okay?

The mind.

Okay?

We become beholden

to our desires

and our appetites.

We have no power

to truly think about

the well-being of others.

We are totally obsessed

with the self.

Even when we do charity

or show kindness

to a neighbor,

it is done with an air

of self-satisfaction.

We feel good about ourselves.

That's kind of why

we do it in the end.

And by the way,

it is really good

to help people out

even if your motives

aren't great.

Give money,

give food to the food bank.

They do not care

what your motives are.

Okay?

It's still great to do it.

Nevertheless,

if we're talking about

true charity,

true love,

true selflessness,

forgiveness,

even in our self-giving,

we find that

we are self-absorbed.

It's a problem.

We find ourselves

overindulging.

We often treat others

as the means

to our ends.

We also end up

living with a whole

boatload of shame.

And oftentimes

we experience

emotional and relational

and a kind of

spiritual death.

In fact,

the only freedom

that this expressive

individualism offers

is a freedom

from freedom.

A freedom

from righteousness.

Paul says that

in verse 20.

But consider

a life in Christ.

Slavery to Christ

as Paul calls it.

What does it result in?

Verse 16.

Righteousness.

Which is to say

a right way

of living.

Freedom from sin.

Verse 18.

And then ultimately

it leads to

eternal life.

Verse 22.

So we have a paradox

on our hands here.

We have freedom

from God

being very clearly

Paul shows it

that it's very clearly

slavery to sin

and to death.

While slavery

slavery to God

is freedom

from impurity

lawlessness

and sin.

Bit of a paradox here.

So returning

to Paul's opening

question in

verse 15.

Let me read it for us.

What then?

Are we to sin

because we are not

under law

but under grace?

By no means.

Returning to Paul's

opening question.

Since we are free

from the law

and under grace

are we to sin?

we find ourselves

with a question

that is not asked

from a truly free person

but from somebody

seeking license

to do what he

or she knows

is wrong.

And I would say

license to do

something is a whole

lot different

than freedom

to do something.

Such a question

comes from a heart

not set free

from the law

by grace

but one deeply

enslaved to sin.

It also reflects

the presumption

upon the grace

of God

which fails

to understand

the gloriousness

of God's grace

of his kindness

of his undeserved

merit towards us.

The grace of God

indeed makes us free

but here's the

million dollar question

what does it

make us free to do?

How should we live

in light of that freedom?

This leads us

to the second point

sanctification

and sin.

We need to first

recognize that our

origin story

is one of sin.

We talked about that

in our first point.

We

you who were

once slaves

we were

once slaves

it is our origin story.

The slavery

that we

have

is deep

it's in our bones

it goes to the very

core of

who we are.

But again

at conversion

we become something

different.

Verse 17

I'll read this again.

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.

We have

become something

different.

So we are born

a certain way

but then

we have become

something different.

This becoming

is a result of

what does Paul say?

An obedience

from the heart

to the standard

of teaching to which

you were committed.

A lot of

ink spilt

on how to

translate this.

I just go by

the smartest

person I read

and I think

it boils down

to basically

this.

Paul says

you have

received the

gospel.

The proclamation

that Christ

Jesus has died

on your behalf

he has died

in your place

for your sins

you have been

united to him

given new life

in him

you have heard

the gospel

you have believed

it in your heart

and that this

new belief

has led to

a commitment

to an ongoing

belief

and then action.

We now have

a new master

we are under

new management

new management.

You know

management matters

it does

it matters in

our own lives

it matters in

the world

that we inhabit

years and

years and

years ago

when I was

home from

university

basically

worked like

a dog

Thursday

doing landscaping

Thursday would

come and

we play

basketball

in the evening

and then we

go to this

pub called

the Mad Hatter

and it was

awesome

because my

metabolism was

unbelievable

I would eat

big giant

poutine

and have a

Guinness

like a giant

blender of

chemicals in

my belly

and we had

a great time

we had great

friends

everything was

great

and then one

summer I came

back

and the

Hatter

became an

oyster bar

gross

and it

wasn't fun

and everything

was ruined

and within

like two or

three years

it was changed

back to the

Mad Hatter

but the ship

had sailed

management

matters

it does

the scriptures

make it clear

Paul is making

it clear that

we have come

under new

management

we are no

longer enslaved

to our

previous

slave master

which is sin

but now

enslaved to

Christ

we have

been made

holy

in God's

sight

however

the process

of growing

into what

we are

is ongoing

and requires

his empowerment

even though

we are in

Christ

again

no longer

in Adam

you can read

about that

chapter 5

and therefore

we are

free to live

righteously

we often

don't

we struggle

the apostle

Paul will

really dive

into this

in chapter 7

when he says

that we do

the things

that we do

not want

to do

and we

don't do

the things

we do

want to

do

nevertheless

there's a

growth

in what

we are

right

God has

made us

holy

but then

we have

to grow

in holiness

and the

apostle Paul

will call

this

sanctification

we see

this in

verses 19

and 22

let me read

them for

you

verse 19

verse 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

three important

things to consider

before we wrap up

the first

is that action

begets more

action

verse 19

if you look

at it

our behavior

has a dynamic

nature to it

as we engage

with either

lawlessness

or righteousness

that behavior

will grow

conversely

if we starve

that behavior

it will begin

to shrink

having a fire

where we

stoke it

with wood

and it

continues to

grow and

grow and

grow but

we remove

the heat

source or

the fuel

source or

the heat

the oxygen

the fire

triangle is

broken

that fire

will begin

to dissipate

there's momentum

with our

actions

this is

a big

plug for

spiritual

disciplines

that help

us to

get in the

habit of

doing what

is right

according to

what God

has commanded

us

but it's not

an overnight

thing

it takes

time

it is like

a muscle

that you

have to

work

therefore

the apostle

Paul

is saying

that there

is hope

for victory

over sin

and for

growth

in our

ability

to live

selflessly

to love

God

with all

our

heart

soul

mind

and

strength

and

often

what we'll

see

the most

of

is to

love our

neighbor

as

ourselves

to love

selflessly

like Christ

to serve

others

and be

used by

God

to bring

his

peace

and

blessing

to our

homes

and our

work

and it

will

soon

we'll

find

become

a joy

and not

a burden

the second

thing

is that

we must

consciously

choose to

walk in

this

righteous

life

again

verse 19

Paul says

that we are

to present

our members

our entire

selves

our appetites

our desires

everything that

makes us

us

we need to

present these

to our new

master

and it's an

ongoing action

that we need

to do

thirdly

such action

finds its

end

or its

telos

or its

ultimate

objective

in heaven

which means

that the

things

we do

for christ

the righteous

actions

that we

embrace

the things

we say

yes to

that are

holy

and good

that turn

the turning

from sin

and the

turning

to god

it has

eternal

significance

we spend

our time

in this

life

working

to curate

the best

possible

life

that we

can have

to have

the best

experiences

the best

enjoyment

but this

life is

fleeting

i said

in the

early

service

earlier

this

morning

i'm not

sure my

children know

my grandfather's

name

i don't think

they do

and the

likelihood is

in four

generations

they might

not know

your name

your children

your nieces

your nephews

the next

generation

life is

fleeting

okay

life is

fleeting

it's here

today

it's gone

tomorrow

and yet

we spend

all of

this time

in it

paul is

saying that

it's actually

the life

to come

is what

we need

to think

about

because

the

things

that we

say yes

to the

righteous

life

will pour

into

eternity

just consider

this for a

moment

in christ

a new

reality

has been

given

to us

that frees

us from

a life

of selfish

ambition

and conceit

a life

in which

god

himself

gives us

strength

to grow

in holiness

and righteousness

so that

what we

do

in this

fleeting

life

will have

eternal

significance

is this

not what

we're

after

expressive

individualism

promises it

but it

never delivers

no amount

of money

or job

security

style

prestige

a self

curated

identity

can deliver

eternal

life

eternal

happiness

you see

that kind

of freedom

is indeed

slavery

and it's

an anti

sanctifying

slavery

it does

not make

us more

holy

but less

we do

not become

useful

to god

or a

blessing

to others

rather we

become a

hindrance

and a

liability

let's end

with this

sin will

cost us

everything

if we

continue to

engage in

it

it promises

us

significance

but it

robs us

of the

opportunity

for eternal

significance

we are

duped into

thinking we

will be

useful

and necessary

and we

end up

using others

to bolster

our sense

of worth

it promises

a free

reward

but pays

us a

wage

of death

and friends

sin

always

pays

on time

and in

full

but consider

slavery to

Christ

on the

other

hand

we have

this

wonderful

offer

of being

enslaved

to

Christ

but it's

very clear

here that

Paul says

it is

freedom

it leads

to

sanctification

it leads

to our

growth

and righteousness

and holiness

and ultimately

leads to

eternal life

and it

cannot be

enjoyed

apart from

Christ

okay

we find

that the

promise

is not

linked to

an idea

but to

a person

and that

person

has gone

before us

and we

will be

with him

forever

and ever

and ever

he is the

one who

purifies us

so that we

become

in this

life

what we

will be

for eternity

it's quite the

offer

and it's all

because what

we've seen in

the previous

chapter

is that God

in Christ

unites himself

to us

he doesn't

say hey

listen

climb

the endless

ladder

to heaven

and then

you can

be united

with me

he comes

down

and he

scoops us

up into

himself

and all

of this

friends

is a

gift

it is

grace

itself

let's read

this last

verse

verse 23

for the wages

of sin is

death

but the

free gift

of God

is eternal

life

in Christ

Jesus

our Lord

it is

a gift

that God

gives

and it is

a gift

given

because

of love

for love's

sake

it is a

source of

truth and

goodness

and the

very soil

upon which

beauty can

be planted

and grown

there could

be

no clearer

choice

no clear

dichotomy

to choose

from

so friends

come to

Christ

and present

your whole

selves to

him

as servants

as slaves

and then

enjoy

freedom

not just

in this

life

but for

eternity

so