Romans 6:12-23 (WEB)
Therefore don't let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.
Also, do not present your members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God, as alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.
For sin will not have dominion over you. For you are not under law, but under grace.
What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under law, but under grace? May it never be!
Don't you know that when you present yourselves as servants and obey someone, you are the servants of whomever you obey; whether of sin to death, or of obedience to righteousness?
But thanks be to God, that, whereas you were bondservants of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were delivered.
Being made free from sin, you became bondservants of righteousness.
I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh, for as you presented your members as servants to uncleanness and to wickedness upon wickedness, even so now present your members as servants to righteousness for sanctification.
For when you were servants of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.
What fruit then did you have at that time in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.
But now, being made free from sin, and having become servants of God, you have your fruit of sanctification, and the result of eternal life.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
🔑 Key Points
1. A paradox of freedom and slavery
Paul calls those set free from sin 'slaves of righteousness' — true freedom is found not in independence but in being captured by a better Master.
2. Present yourselves as instruments of God
Just as we once offered our members to sin, we now offer them to God as instruments of righteousness — a deliberate, daily choice of whom we serve.
3. Not under law, but under grace
Grace is not a license to sin ('May it never be!'). Being out from under the law means sin no longer has legal dominion over you, so obedience flows from grace, not fear of law.
4. Two masters, two wages
Sin's wages are death; God's gift is eternal life. The old life bore fruit you are now ashamed of; the new life bears fruit of sanctification and eternal life.
5. Joyful obedience
Sproul emphasizes that God's people are motivated to joyfully obey — we serve a new and better Master out of gratitude, not compulsion.
💬 Discussion Questions
What are the two 'wages' Paul contrasts in verse 23, and how does that contrast shape your daily choices?
Paul says you are a slave to whomever you obey. In practical terms, where do you actually offer your 'members' (time, hands, words) — to sin or to God?
How does 'not under law, but under grace' change your motivation for obedience compared to living under the law?
You serve a new and better Master — today, choose to offer your life to Him as an instrument of righteousness.
