Slaves of Sin

[elijah23]

[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. Rom 6:17-18 RSV

 

[Danus]

[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. Rom 6:17-18 RSV

19 I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. 20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (In it's Full context it's even better - Romans 6 19:23 NIV

 

[childeye]

An excellent selection of scripture and on point Danus.

 

[Former Christian]

Elijah23

Ro 6:16 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey— whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?
(NIV)

Why leave this out? This is the whole point.


1Co 7:22 For he who was a slave when he was called by the Lord is the Lord’s freedman; similarly, he who was a free man when he was called is Christ’s slave.
1Co 7:23 You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.
(NIV)

This is why we are slaves of Christ.


Ga 4:7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.
(NIV)

This is what we are in Christ.


2Ti 2:24 And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.
(NIV)

This is our intended relationship to one another as slaves of Christ.


1Pe 2:16 Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God.
(NIV)

This is how we are to live, as the slaves of God, not as slaves to the flesh or to men.

FC

 

[Gazelle]

Interesting thread. I would encourage all to read about slavery in the Bible, versus modern man's concept of slavery. While there were slave owners in more modern times that were caring and thoughtful and treated their "slaves" well, that isn't usually the picture we envision when reading about being a "slave" for Christ.

We tend to think of a type of "chattel" slavery, and this is not the "slavery" we are to have in Christ. We were bought (with a Price of Christ's love) and yet Christ set us free-- our slavery today can be a type mirroring the pure devotion of the NT slaves owned by righteous believers.

 

[elijah23]

Interesting thread. I would encourage all to read about slavery in the Bible, versus modern man's concept of slavery. While there were slave owners in more modern times that were caring and thoughtful and treated their "slaves" well, that isn't usually the picture we envision when reading about being a "slave" for Christ.

We tend to think of a type of "chattel" slavery, and this is not the "slavery" we are to have in Christ. We were bought (with a Price of Christ's love) and yet Christ set us free-- our slavery today can be a type mirroring the pure devotion of the NT slaves owned by righteous believers.

When we repent of our sin, our lives become paradise, right here on earth. Therefore, we become “slaves†to righteousness because we want to hang on to that paradise.

 

[Gazelle]

I guess that is one way to look at it. It doesn't apply to me because my life has been anything but paradise! I look forward to real heaven!

 

[elijah23]

I guess that is one way to look at it. It doesn't apply to me because my life has been anything but paradise! I look forward to real heaven!

Repentance IS heaven, I believe. All our problems disappear.

 

[Gazelle]

Can you explain how you arrive at that? Repentance is an action, heaven is a place. ;)

 

[elijah23]

Can you explain how you arrive at that? Repentance is an action, heaven is a place. ;)

From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Matt 4:17 RSV

You can’t really understand this verse until you do as Jesus said—repent. When you do, your problems will disappear. This is what heaven is, I believe.

When we die, we pass on to the resurrection.

When we repent, we have paradise here on earth—heaven.