slaves to righteousness
you can stop sinning
I'm sure you've had that feeling before. You're at work and suddenly your temper gets the better of you. You completely lose it with one of your coworkers, letting loose a torrent of words which, later on, you regret you ever said. Even worse, your workmates know you're a Christian; what must they be thinking of you now? What must they be thinking about Christ? “Sorry Lord,” you pray as you get into bed that night. “I'll do better tomorrow.” But when tomorrow comes, it all happens again.
All right. It may not be anger. It may be lust. Or jealousy. Or a penchant for gossip. Or all of the above. Whatever it is, you know you've got problems with it and it tears you up inside. Every morning you pray to God for forgiveness but everyday you are increasingly aware of how much more you sin ... and how much more you've failed as an ambassador for Christ.
In a way, it's not that surprising that we are so helpless to do anything about our sin. As the Bible puts it, we are all slaves to sin. In John 8:34 Jesus says, “[E]veryone who commits sin is a slave to sin.” Paul writes, “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?” (Romans 6:16). Because we obey the urges of our sinful nature, sin is our master and rules over us.
However, for Christians, the situation is different. We know Jesus came to earth to save us from our sins (Matthew 1:21) and that he paid the ransom to free us. On Sundays we sing with great gusto, “My chains fell off / My heart was free / I rose, went forth and followed thee.” And yet it is a different kind of freedom.
Consider the Israelites. Enslaved to the Egyptians for four hundred years, it was God who rescued them out of the “house of bondage" with a great many signs and mighty works. However, the Israelites were not freed by God so that they could go off to the Promised Land and do their own thing; they were redeemed for the purpose of becoming his people—his nation—and he in turn would be their God. If the Israelites were to become God's people, they had to change some of the ways in which they lived. They had to obey God's commands instead of rebelling against him or ignoring him. They had to uphold his laws and teach his ways to their children. In fact, the Lord even commanded his people to “bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” (Deuteronomy 6:8-9) so that they would remember.
In short, the Israelites were to be God's slaves and slaves to no other. Even if an Israelite became impoverished and had to be sold as a slave, according to God's law he had to be freed in the seventh year, “For they are my servants, who I brought out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as slaves.”
It is the same with us who call ourselves Christians. Paul writes, “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) and describes us as having become “slaves of God” (Romans 6:22). Like the Israelites, it is God we serve and no other.
But the concept of slavery doesn't sit very comfortably on our twenty-first century shoulders. Perhaps it's because we've been brought up in a culture which views any form of slavery as shocking and politically incorrect. In addition, the values and ideologies of our society have led us to believe that we are the emancipated generation who are as free as Vodaphone. Surely, we think, slavery involves chains, whips, degradation and oppression. What's so good about being a “slave” to God?
Paul says that we have received much more than that. He writes,
[A]ll who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs - heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
So even though we are slaves of God, we are also sons of God, and have the great privilege of being his children, heirs with his son Jesus, in future glory after present suffering. Being enslaved in this manner is a kind of freedom—the best freedom that we can ever enjoy in Christ.
In addition, in being sons and no longer objects of God's wrath, we enjoy the “gift” (Ephesians 2:8) of God's grace. That is, we are the recipients of God's unmerited favour. We do not deserve it but he bestows it upon us anyway. Within this grace is contained great power—the power of God to do great things, especially in the area of sin. When Paul asks God to remove the thorn in his flesh in 2 Corinthians 12, the Lord says, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (verse 9). Here, God's grace or unmerited favour is deemed sufficient to live out the Christian life. Furthermore, we find this grace “[trains] us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearance of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ.” (Titus 2:12-13). In other translations verse 12 reads, “[God's grace] teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions.” (NIV). This echoes James' instruction to “[s]ubmit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7) because “God ... gives grace to the humble.” (verse 6). Being in God's favour frees us from the mastery of sin and trains us to resist re-enslavement as we grow as sons to be more like his son.
This seems like a small point but it is an important one. Many Christians still think that they can't help but sin. They know that it's bad that they lose their temper every now and then but they trust in the fact that God has forgiven them through Jesus in the past, the present and the future. Yet it would be grievous to ignore the fact that God has set us free from sin to be his sons, and that the grace which he gives us teaches us to say “no” to sin and trains us to live a godly life. Paul continually exhorts us to live this way, saying, “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions.” (Romans 6:12). To submit oneself again to sin as one's master is foolish; it is like putting manacles on your ankles again after you've been set free.
This is not to say that we, as Christians, cannot sin. If Christians cannot sin, Paul would not have had to rebuke Peter for leading the Gentiles astray in Galatians 2. We do sin and we struggle with sin every day. However, unlike our unbelieving counterparts, we have got the choice not to sin: Whereas they are unable to free themselves from the slavery of sin, we, having been freed into the Lord's service, are no longer under sin's dominion, and therefore can do otherwise. And Paul exhorts us to do otherwise, saying “Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.” (Romans 6:13).
So remember this the next time you feel yourself on the brink of an outbreak of temper while you're at work. You are no longer a slave to sin but a slave to God, and not just a slave to God but a son. And as God's son, you have been given his grace to enable you not to sin anymore. Say “no” to sin and give your anger over to God. Do not become enslaved again to that old and horrible master. “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” (Galatians 5:1).
Karen Beilharz can stop sinning because of God's kindness to her.
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