◄ What Does Romans 6:19 Mean? ►

Either we are in the kingdom of darkness, or the kingdom of light. Either we are children of our father the devil, or we are children of our Father, the Lord God Almighty. Either we are in the old creation in Adam, or we have been born again into the new creation in Christ. Either we are slaves of sin, impurity, and lawlessness, or we are slaves of righteousness, life, and truth, which is the path that leads us into sanctification (the lifelong process of being conformed into the likeness of Christ Jesus our Lord).

Before we were transferred into the kingdom of light with all the wonderful benefits that accompany this glorious gift of grace (which includes life eternal to all who believe in Christ), we were in the kingdom of darkness, children of Satan, slaves of lawlessness, saturated in sin, with no God and no hope in the world.

Paul knew that gaining an understanding of heavenly things is a difficult concept due to our human limitation and finite comprehension, but he wanted to give us a good grasp of the incredible contrast between what we were before we were saved and what we are now that we are saved by grace through faith and positioned in Christ Jesus. So Paul used the everyday analogy of slavery or servanthood to get his point across.

Every unbeliever, whether they know it or not, yields themselves to their old sin nature. Even the good things that they do as well as the evil things are under the influence of the old sin nature. They are SLAVES to SIN, which means that everything they do, whether good or bad, is not acceptable to God. As believers, we have been freed from this slavery to sin, which results in death, for at the moment we are saved, we become a servant of righteousness. We are no longer a slave of sin but a servant of the Lord.

Just as we once presented our members (our bodies) as slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which simply leads to more and more lawlessness, so now as believers we are to present our members as slaves to righteousness, which leads to sanctification.

Let us walk in the freedom we have, being sanctified, refined, and honed each passing day as we grow in maturity, yielding our lives to the Spirit, to the praise and glory of the Lord.

Loving Father, in You is life, and light, and health, and truth. Thank You that I am Your child, and I pray that I may be a servant of righteousness, who honours You in thought, word, and deed. In Jesus' name I pray, AMEN.