Romans 6:15-19

Slaves to Righteousness [the slave-market analogy]

¹⁵ What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! [The antinomian argument of verse 1 is repeated. To treat grace as an excuse for sinning is a sign that one is not under grace.] 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 [the summary of Christian ethics based on the teachings of Jesus] to which you were committed, ¹⁸ and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. [We are to grow in our love of righteousness and in living according to God’s Word.] ¹⁹ I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. [“I am using a human analogy in case you don’t understand my teaching.] 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. [A master’s authority over a slave ends when the slave dies or when he passes into the ownership of a new master. A Christian has passed to a new master and into the service of God. Our business is to do what pleases God and not what sin dictates.]