Romans 6:15-23
Slaves to Right Living
What should we say then? Should we sin because we are not ruled by the law but by God’s grace? Not at all! Don’t you know that when you give yourselves to obey someone you become that person’s slave? If you are slaves of sin, then you will die. But if you are slaves who obey God, then you will live a godly life. You used to be slaves of sin. But thank God that with your whole heart you obeyed the teachings you were given! You have been set free from sin. You have become slaves to right living.
Because you are human, you find this hard to understand. So I am using an everyday example to help you understand. You used to give yourselves to be slaves to unclean living. You were becoming more and more evil. Now give yourselves to be slaves to right living. Then you will become holy. Once you were slaves of sin. At that time right living did not control you. What benefit did you gain from doing the things you are now ashamed of? Those things lead to death! You have been set free from sin. God has made you his slaves. The benefit you gain leads to holy living. And the end result is eternal life. When you sin, the pay you get is death. But God gives you the gift of eternal life. That’s because of what Christ Jesus our Lord has done.
Romans 7:1-6
An Example From Marriage
Brothers and sisters, I am speaking to you who know the law. Don’t you know that the law has authority over someone only as long as they live? For example, by law a married woman remains married as long as her husband lives. But suppose her husband dies. Then the law that joins her to him no longer applies. But suppose that married woman sleeps with another man while her husband is still alive. Then she is called a woman who commits adultery. But suppose her husband dies. Then she is free from that law. She is not guilty of adultery if she marries another man.
My brothers and sisters, when Christ died you also died as far as the law is concerned. Then it became possible for you to belong to him. He was raised from the dead. Now our lives can be useful to God. The power of sin used to control us. The law stirred up sinful desires in us. So the things we did resulted in death. But now we have died to what used to control us. We have been set free from the law. Now we serve in the new way of the Holy Spirit. We no longer serve in the old way of the written law.
