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“Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness..” (Romans 6.16-18; emphasis mine, jb).

Literal slavery has horrific images attached to it. Part of our reaction to this word has to do with the inhumane actions associated with slave traffic and atrocities in our recent past. However, the word is not a dirty word to be abandoned in our vocabulary just because of abuses associated with it. Some slaves make themselves slaves willingly and that to the betterment of themselves and those whom they serve. We will consider some thoughts along this line in today’s devotional.

First and perhaps foremost, consider the wording of the focus text quoted above. We cite a portion of this text for emphasis. Note that Paul wrote, “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves…”. One key to understanding what he is presenting is in the “voice” of the statement. “Voice” can be passive in which someone or something is being acted upon by another. “Voice” can also be active in which the subject is acting upon or for himself. The phrase just cited is in the “active” voice; in other words the slaves in the text became slaves of their own volition. Someone did not make them slaves; they made themselves slaves!

Another key to our understanding is in the tense of the verbs. We have already established that the people involved in this situation made the choice to become slaves; they were not forced or coerced into servitude. To extend the grammatical impact, please note that the subjects of Paul’s text acted in the present tense. They made the choice [past tense], but they were content with that choice. They acted with purpose to become slaves and they continued to willingly make that same choice! They were slaves and did not want it any other way!

They became slaves to obey. In other words, their slavery was to a particular purpose, namely “to obey.” The connecting word to may be used in a variety of ways, but is translated from a Greek word that can generally be translated “with a view toward” or, “in order to.” By substituting the equivalent words, we learn that these believers became servants “with a view toward obedience,” or “in order to obey.” They knew before hand what was to be required of them and yet they gladly subjected themselves to the precondition of servitude that their Master required!

Contrast the intention of the believers to whom Paul wrote with the attitude prevalent today among some professed believes. The Roman believers became Christians with a view toward serving; they did not enter the role of a believer with a primary hope of being served! Mega-churches today frequently distinguish themselves by catering to the “felt needs” of the flock; this attitude becomes the drawing card through which they attract their masses; this is how they become mega-churches. In so doing they play to the wishes of others to be served and not to serve. In so doing, they act in a manner that is diametrically opposite to the attitude of the Roman Christians! If you are a believer, are you a slave? Are you following godly examples or are you being conformed to this world by desiring to be served and not to serve?

Questions:

1. What was different about how these people in Rome became slaves and how we typically think of the process of becoming a slave?

2. Where does slavery to sin lead?

3. Where does slavery to righteousness lead?

4. Knowing these things to be true, what person would choose to serve sin rather than to serve righteousness? Do we have that choice?

"The Way" from Kevin Pauley

A World of One