Romans

6:15-23

First rebuttal argument, 6:1-8:39

2. Freedom from slavery, 6:15-23

Set free from the slavery of sin

In his first rebuttal argument against the nomist's critique that grace, without law, promotes sin / libertarianism, 6:1, 15, Paul argues that a person can only live in one of two domains, either the domain of sin resulting in death, or the domain of righteousness resulting in holiness, and eternal life. When it comes to the practical implications for the righteous in Christ, Paul's view is that justification, by its very nature, promotes right-living, not careless-living.

In v1-14 Paul has used the image of a believer being "united with" Christ in his death and resurrection, which union shapes a life lived to God. Now in v15-23, in response to the absurd claim that a person under grace, apart from the law, is inclined to live in sin, Paul explains that we either dwell in / submit to the realm of sin against God resulting in death, or the realm of righteousness under God resulting in new life. We were all once "slaves to sin" which promoted an "ever-increasing wickedness" leading "to death", but now we are free from the "slavery" (power and curse) of sin. Believers are now "slaves to God" resulting in "holiness" and "eternal life."

In 7:1-6 Paul will go on to explain how slavery to sin is broken by our having been discharged from the authority of the law.

i] Context: See 6:1-14.

ii] Background: The Nomist heresy 1:8-15.

iii] Structure: Slaves of righteousness set free from sin:

iv] Thesis: See 3:21-31.

v] Interpretation:

vi] Exposition: A simple exposition of this passage may be found in the linked pew-level Sermon Notes.

Freedom from the slavery of sin to slaves of righteousness, v15-23: i] Rhetorical question, as per v1. The question reflects the view of nomist believers who hold that sin is promoted when law is devalued. For nomist believers, law promotes purity / holiness and thus the full appropriation of God's promised blessings. For Paul, grace, through faith, of itself, provides purity / holiness and thus the full appropriation of God's promised blessings, and this apart from the law.

It's important to note that the argument of Paul's opponents is not focused on conversion, it's not over how a person becomes a Christian. The argument is over the Christian life and the part the law plays in the business of living for Christ. In simple terms, we might say, it's an argument over sanctification. Paul argues that a believer's standing wholly rests on the covenant faithfulness of God (it is a "gift", a "grace" of God, of "promise") out of faith (Christ's + ours). Although sin is irrelevant when it comes to our standing before God, it does not "abound" because it is irrelevant. Paul's argument is that a believer, standing right in the presence of God, will be motivated toward right living, rather than sinfulness, and this apart from the law.

tiv oun "what then?" - what then? Possibly, "what shall we say", BDF argues for an ellipsis. Introducing a similar false inference to that of v1, an inference used by Paul's nomist brothers to counter the notion that the Christian life is lived by grace through faith rather than by a faithful adherence to the law, "what inference are we to draw?", v1, Barclay. The inference is that if salvation is all of grace, then sin doesn't matter, but we all know that sin does matter to God, so obviously the "all of grace" theory is flawed.

aJmarthswmen (aJmartanw) aor. sub. "shall we sin" - may we sin. A deliberative subjunctive. Aorist is constative, indicating "sin in general", Harvey; "seeing we are saved by grace, what's one sin here or there?"

oJti "because" - because. Here causal, introducing a causal clause.

uJpo + acc. "under [law]" - [we are not] under [law]. Expressing subordination; "ruled by law", CEV; "slaves", Williams; "under the authority of", Weymouth... is a bit too strong, but "guided by law" is a touch weak.

alla "but" - but. Adversative standing in a counterpoint construction.

uJpo + acc. "under" - under [grace. may it never be]. Again, the preposition expresses subordination. For Paul, a believer is released from the dominion of sin and death, and thus the dominion of the law, because they have been incorporated through faith (Christ's faithfulness and our faith response) into the dominion of grace / of God's righteous reign, his setting everything right.

ii] Four responses to the rhetorical question exposing the incomparability of law and grace v16-22: a) Everyone is a slave either to the dominion of sin, or the dominion of grace, v16. In this verse Paul states a known fact; we all know that a person is either a servant of sin leading to death (death to God and death to the body), or a servant of obedience (doing what God requires) leading to a state of righteousness / covenant compliance (and thus eternal life, v22, 23).

ouk oidate perf. "don't you know" - do you not know. The negation indicates an answer to the question in the affirmative. A statement may be clearer; "you know well enough", NEB.

oJti "that" - that. Here introducing a dependent statement of perception expressing what they should know.

w|/ dat. pro. "when ....... to someone" - to whom. The dative is adverbial, either temporal, as NIV, or conditional, "if you present yourselves", ESV.

paristanete (paristhmi) pres. "you offer" - you present, offer (in the sense of place beside such as in a sacrifice). Customary present tense. The idea is not of being enslaved, but of our offering ourselves as a slave to one of two masters. "Surrender yourselves", TEV.

doulouV (oV) "slaves" - [yourselves] slaves. Accusative complement of the direct object "yourselves", standing in a double accusative construction and stating a fact about the object "yourselves"; "offer yourselves as slaves."

eiV + acc. "to [obey] / as [obedient slaves]" - to / for [obedience]. Expressing end-view / purpose; "for obedience / with a view to obedience." "Obedience" in the sense of "being subject to". The two masters we may belong to are either the realm of sin, or the realm of obedience, under which masters we either end up dead to God or righteous and thus alive to God. "You belong to the power you choose to obey", Phillips.

w|/ dat. pro. "of the one [you obey]" - [you are slaves] to whom [you obey]. The pronoun introduces a nominal phrase, dative of indirect object, possessive; "slaves you are of him whom you are obeying."

htoi "whether" - whether. Here used with the disjunctive h] to establish a correlative construction implying that there are only two alternatives to choose from; "whether slaves of sin into = resulting in death, or slaves of obedience into = resulting in righteousness."

aJmartiaV (a) gen. "you are slaves to sin" - of sin. The genitive is usually treated as verbal, objective, as NIV, although adjectival, possessive, is also possible, where the slave / servant belongs to either the realm of sin, or the realm of obedience. There is no article present so the whole power of sin over the human race, ie., capital "S", so Moffatt.

eiV + acc. "which leads to" - to / into. Here consecutive, expressing result; "resulting in death."

qanaton (oV) "death" - death. Paul probably has in mind spiritual death, a death to God.

uJakohV (h) gen. "[or] to obedience" - [or] of obedience. The genitive as for "sin". What does it mean to be "a slave of obedience", to belong to the realm of obedience, to have chosen to be subject to obedience? Both realms, that of sin and that of obedience, are incompatible. One realm is in rebellion against God, and the other in submission to God. One realm leads to death, and the other to life. Paul's thesis is, of course, that for humanity subject to the realm of sin, it is possible to find obedience before God in the one obedient man, Christ. Incorporation in Christ, through faith, entails incorporation in the realm of obedience, and thus righteousness before God, and ultimately life.

dikaiosunhn (h) "righteousness" - [to, into] righteousness. Paul's use of the word here is unclear. There is much to support "results in being put right with God", TEV, ie., justification, or more particularly, within the present context, "the sphere of right standing before God in which believers now serve", Dumbrell. See dikaiosunh above. Moo suggests that "righteousness" here is "moral righteousness, conduct pleasing to God"; possible, but unlikely.

b) A believer is inclined to right-living because they have been freed from sin and enslaved to righteousness, v17-19. Prior to our union with Christ, we served the dominion of sin, a slave to ever-increasing wickedness, but now we serve the dominion of righteousness, the dominion of God's saving grace leading to holiness, the dominion of "the gracious power of God which claims and sustains the believer and reaches its final expression in eternal life", Dunn - a state of purity before God expressing itself in purity of life. To this end, Paul encourages his readers to be what they are v19.

de "but" - but/and. Transitional, indicating a step in the argument.

tw/ qew/ (oV) dat. "to God" - [grace, favour = thanks, gratitude] to god. A hortatory subjunctive is assumed, "let us give thanks to God", with "to God" a dative of indirect object. Paul can express thanks at this point for he knows that his readers have indeed been released from the dominion of sin and are presently experiencing life in the dominion of righteousness through the power of the indwelling Spirit of Christ, and this because of their allegiance to Jesus.

oJti "that" - that. Introducing a dependent statement of indirect speech expressing the content of the thanksgiving.

hte (eimi) imperf. "though you used to be" - you used to be. Customary imperfect underlining what was the case; "were then but no longer", Blass. The concessive sense of the clause is assumed, but supported by many translations and commentators.

thV aJmartiaV (a) gen. "to sin" - [slaves] of sin. The genitive may be classified as verbal, subjective.

de "but" - but/and. Transitional, indicating a step in the argument, here to a contrasting point; "you were once slaves of sin but now you have obeyed from the heart ..."

uJphkousate (uJpakouw) aor. "you .. obeyed / you have come to obey" - you obeyed. Aorist pointing to a decisive act of believing the gospel, turning to Christ; possibly ingressive, as TNIV. Usually followed by a dative of direct object, ie., tw/ tupw/, although here accusative tupon; "you sincerely obeyed the teaching pattern / the gospel ...."

ek kardiaV (a) "wholeheartedly / from your heart" - from heart. The prepositional phrase is best treated adverbially; "voluntary and sincere", Hodge, "without reservation", JB.

tupon (oV) "form / pattern" - to the form, pattern, type. Accusative by attraction; a dative of direct object after the verb "to obey." The gospel, the Christian teaching concerning Christ, "the pattern of teaching", NEB = the gospel.

didachV (h) gen. "of teaching" - of teaching. The genitive is adjectival, attributive / idiomatic; "the form / pattern which was revealed in / derived from the teaching / gospel which was handed over to you", ie., the genitive "described the source from which the model is derived", Harvey.

eiV + acc. "to" - to, into [which]. Spatial, here expressing arrival at; "into which you were initiated", Pilcher.

paredoqhte (paradidwmi) aor. pas. "you were entrusted / [that] has now claimed your allegiance" - you were committed / delivered over to. Ingressive aorist; the divine passive indicating the stress upon God's action in delivering the readers over to the teaching, although an active sense reads better, "that you received", Goodspeed.

In what sense is a believer "set free" from the dominion of sin? Some commentators stress the moral sense, so "set free from the power of sin." It is certainly true that since a believer is no longer under the law, sin has lost its power to control us. The law empowers sin, makes it more sinful, so without the law, and in partnership with the indwelling compelling of the Spirit of Christ, sin's power is reduced. Other commentators argue that Paul has in mind a legal sense, "set free from the condemnation of sin", a condemnation that ends in spiritual death. It is more than likely that both ideas are present. The transfer from one dominion to another has both legal and moral consequences. See 6:1-14 where this issue is covered in more detail.

de "-" - but/and. Transitional, indicating a step in the argument, possibly copulative serving to introduce a conclusion / summary.

eleuqerwqenteV (eleuqerow) aor. pas. part. "you have been set free" - having been set free, released. Probably an attendant circumstance participle identifying action accompanying the main verb "you were enslaved", although possibly temporal, "when you were set free ...."

apo + gen. "from" - from [sin]. Expressing separation; "away from"

th/ dikaiosunh/ (h) dat. "to righteousness" - [you were enslaved] to the righteousness, justice. The dative is possessive, as above; "slaves of righteousness", ESV. See "Issues" above.

At this point Paul qualifies his use of the slavery image. A Christian's relationship to God is not at all unjust, humiliating and degrading, as is slavery; it is a service of perfect freedom - liberation. So, as free men and women, Paul reminds his readers that as they once served the domain of sin to ever-increasing wickedness, they should now serve the domain of God's saving grace leading to holiness - a state of purity before God expressing itself in purity of life. Willy-nilly sinning is not the fruit of grace.

anqrwpinon adj. "in human terms" - humanly [i speak because]. The adjective is being used as an adverb of manner. It is usually understood that Paul makes the point that he is using images that are human and therefore limited; I speak "as people do in daily life", BAGD. Dumbrell may well be right when he suggests that the limitation concerns the starkness of the alternatives posed by Paul. It is necessary, dia, "because of" (causal) the human struggle to understand eternal verities, to present those verities in a black and white contrast, but of course, truth is inevitably more subtle / shaded.

thV sarkoV (x koV) gen. "[weak] in [your] natural selves / [your] human [limitations]" - [weak] of the flesh [of you]. The genitive is adjectival, attributive, "fleshly limitations" = "your natural limitations", ESV - the difficulty of grasping the significance of what Paul is saying. Other less likely possibilities include, moral weakness, and the weakness of their pre-Christian state.

gar "-" - for. Here more reason than cause, explanatory; "I know that the stark nature of what I have just said is difficult to grasp so let me put it as simply as I can, ......"

w{sper ..... "just as" - just as. Along with ou{twV nun, this conjunction, "as, just", introduces a coordinate comparative construction; "just as you once offered yourselves as slaves to the dominion of sin and lawlessness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to the dominion of righteousness."

paresthste (paristhmi) aor. "offered" - you presented. Aorist indicates the completeness of the action, so "wholeheartedly offered."

doula adj. "as slaves" - [the body, members of you] slaves. The adjective serves as a substantive, accusative complement of the direct object "the members", of the verb "to present", standing in a double accusative construction and stating a fact about the object "members". The "member" is not quite parts, but rather an individual member or part which represents the whole. Therefore "body" is better, or even just "yourself" - "just as you offered yourselves in slavery to impurity."

th/ akaqarsia/ (a) dat. "to impurity" - to uncleanness. Dative of indirect object. This is a state of sinfulness, sometimes referring to degenerate sexual sinfulness, although not here. This state of sinfulness / uncleanness produces "ever-increasing wickedness."

eiV + acc. "[and] to [ever-increasing wickedness]" - [and to lawlessness] to, for = resulting in [lawlessness]. Expressing purpose / end-view, "with a view to/ for", or result, "resulting in"; "wickedness for wicked purposes", TEV. The preposition may serve to express a doubling of lawlessness = lawlessness on top of lawlessness.

aJgiasmon (oV) "[leading to] holiness" - [so now present the members of you slaves to for] holiness, consecration. "Present your members as slaves to righteous, the consequence of which is holiness." The phrase parallels the idea of offering our members to the domain of impurity / sinfulness, the consequence of which is "ever increasing wickedness." Holiness is the consequence of offering ourselves to the domain of righteousness. As noted above, "righteousness" is that sphere of grace, of right-standing before God, in which believers participate in Christ. One slavery leads to "impurity and ever-increasing wickedness", the other to "holiness" - the state of holiness and the moral inclination toward, but not here with a view to a final eschatological holiness, so Moo. The NIV "holiness", consecration, is unclear, but none-the-less, is better than "sanctification"; see aJgiasmon in v22.

c) Inclusion in the sphere of sin results in a death to God, v20-21. When a person serves the domain of sin they can't live a righteous life and thus their end is death - a death to God, death eternal.

oJte "when" - [for] when. Temporal conjunction.

thV aJmartiaV (a) gen. "[slaves] of sin" - [you were slaves] of sin. The genitive is adjectival, possessive, "slaves belonging to the realm of sin", or verbal, subjective.

eleuqeroi adj. "free" - [you were] free ones. The adjective serves as a substantive; lit. "free-ones to righteousness."

hn/ dikaiosunh/ (h) dat. "from the control of righteousness" - to righteousness. The dative may express reference / respect; "free with regard to", Moule = "free from." Yet, it seems again that the dative is possessive; "free from possessing the sphere of righteousness." "You were not covered by God's grace", better than the moral sense, "you were free so far as doing right was concerned", Williams, or "you were under no obligation to do what God required", TH.

karpon (oV) "[what] benefit" - [what sort of] fruit. Accusative object of the verb "to have." The shorter question is to be preferred, "and what gain did that bring you? Things that now make you ashamed, for their end is death", REB, cf. NAB, JB.

oun "-" - therefore [had you then (at that time)]? Drawing a logical conclusion; "Therefore, what fruit had you then?"

ef (epi) + dat. "from" - upon [which things you are now ashamed]. Probably expressing base / cause; "on the basis of the things of which you are now ashamed."

gar "-" - for. More reason than cause, explanatory; explaining the worthless benefit of being a slave of the realm of sin.

ekeinwn gen. pro. "those things" - [the end, goal] of those things. The pronoun serves as a substantive. The genitive is adjectival, of definition / epexegetic; "the end which consists of these things, or idiomatic / production, "the end brought about by those things", Harvey. "For these things cannot end in anything but death", Barclay.

qanatoV (oV) "death" - is death. Predicate nominative. "Moral and spiritual death", Pilcher, better than "death itself", Cassirer.

d) Inclusion in the sphere of righteousness results in holiness and life eternal, v22. But now, set free from the dominion of sin and death and incorporated into the dominion of God's righteousness and grace, the fruit that flourishes is holiness. The end of sin is greater and greater iniquity leading to death, the end of grace is holiness leading to life eternal.

nuni de "but now" - but/and now. Temporal contrast; the present is now contrasted with the past.

eleuqerwqenteV (eleuqerow) aor. pas. part. "you have been set free" - having been freed. Along with "having been enslaved", the participle is adverbial, best treated as temporal, even causal. The aorist indicates a decisive act. "Now that you are set free from the realm of sin (the unregenerate state) and enslaved to the realm of righteousness under God, you have the fruit holiness, and its end, eternal life."

tw/ qew/ (oV) dat. "[have become slaves] to God / of God" - [having been enslaved] to god. The dative is possibly possessive, as TNIV, or reference / respect. Pauline short-talk here requires expansion; "enslaved to God's righteous reign." "Bound to the service of God", REB; "employed by God", Phillips.

uJmwn gen. pro. "[the benefit] you [reap]" - [you are having the fruit] of you. The genitive is adjectival, possessive; "you are having your fruit" = "the good you derive (from enslavement to righteousness under God) leads to holiness", Berkeley

eiV "leads to" - to. Expressing purpose / end-view, "with a view to / for", or result, "results in."

aJgiasmon (oV) "holiness" - holiness, consecration [but/and the end eternal life]. See Issues above. Inevitably "holiness" is a state of purity / consecration which a believer possesses in Christ and is at the same time an orientation lived out in life, a state both realised and inaugurated.

iii] Conclusion. So far Paul has made the point that submission to the realm of righteousness results in spiritual life / holiness, whereas submission to the realm of sin results in spiritual death. He now adds the big-picture result, namely, eternal life, and explains how this works. Submission to the realm of sin results in physical death, as well as spiritual death, whereas submission to the realm of righteousness results in eternal life, as well as spiritual life / holiness.

gar "for" - for. More reason than cause, explanatory, and so best left untranslated.

thV aJmartiaV (a) gen. "of sin" - [the wages, soldier's pay] of sin. The genitive is usually treated as verbal, subjective, "wages which sin pays", Cranfield. Presumably the presence of the article indicates "the realm of sin", rather than a specific personal sin.

qanatoV (oV) "is death" - is death. Predicate nominative. Physical death, as noted above.

de "but" - but/and. Transitional, indicating a step in the argument, here to a contrasting point.

carisma (a) "the gift" - the gift. Nominative subject of an assumed verb to-be. "A gift (freely and graciously given)", BAGD. Eternal life is given not earned.

tou qeou (oV) gen. "of God" - of god. The genitive is ablative, source / origin; "from God."

en + dat. "in [Christ Jesus our Lord]" - [is life eternal] in [jesus the lord of us]. Local, expressing space / sphere; "in union with". Sometimes Paul uses the preposition "through", either way, Jesus is the source of life eternal.

Romans Introduction

Exposition

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