YOU ARE NO LONGER A SLAVE OF SIN
“Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.” (Romans 6:6 NKJV)
A slave is “a person legally owned by another and having no freedom of action; a person under the domination of another person or some habit or influence.” (Collins English Dict.).
We all were born as slaves of sin. All men came under the power, control, mastery or domination of sin from the womb!
The Psalmist testifies, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.” (Psa. 51:5 NKJV).
“The wicked are estranged from the womb; They go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies.” (Psa. 58:3 NKJV).
Job queries, “Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? No one!” (Job 14:4 NKJV).
The Lord Jesus also said, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:6 NKJV).
Sin gained mastery or control over the entire mankind through Adam, the first man. Through Adam’s disobedience, we all became sinners.
Paul writes, “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.” (Rom. 5:19 NKJV).
Through the disobedience of the first man the entire human race became slaves of sin, sold under sin.
Paul testifies, “For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.” (Rom. 7:14 NKJV).
This is the true spiritual status or condition of every man in Adam!
In Adam, all men became dead in trespasses and sins, walking according to the course of this world and the prince of the power of the air, conducting themselves in the lusts of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and by nature we all became the children of wrath (Eph. 2:1-3).
Paul writes, “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.” (Rom. 5:12 NKJV).
“For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.” (1 Cor. 15:21-22 NKJV).
As slaves of sin, we cannot practice the good we love or desire to do. Neither can we stop doing the evil we hate to do (Rom. 7:19).
Although the law God gave men through Moses was good, spiritual, holy, and just; yet it could not give life or deliver men from slavery to sin (Rom. 7:9-13). Why?
Because that was not the purpose of the law, or the reason why God gave the law!
The law was not given to save men from sin, but to strengthen the hold of sin over men!
Paul reveals, “The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.” (1 Cor. 15:56 NKJV).
It is therefore useless seeking or striving to earn salvation through the keeping of the law!
The purpose of the law is not to save, deliver or redeem us from the dominion of sin, but to reveal the sin in us and make sin become exceedingly sinful (Rom. 7:7-13).
The law was given to expose our true spiritual condition, moral corruption or bankruptcy. If God did not give us the law, we would not know that we were slaves of sin, living under the power of sin from the womb.
Without the law, there is no way we would have known that sin dwells within us and that we have natural inclinations to do evil.
Paul writes, “Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.” (Rom. 7:20 NKJV).
The law exposes our utter sinfulness, wretchedness, helplessness and hopelessness. It humbles us to seek for and cry out for a deliverer and a saviour to deliver, save or redeem us from slavery to sin.
This is why Paul explains that “the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” (Gal. 3:24 NKJV).
Christ came to do what the law could not do for us – to save, deliver or redeem us from the domination of sin!
Paul writes, “For what the law couldn’t do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God did, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh.” (Rom. 8:3 WEB).
Through the physical or natural birth, we inherited a nature which has sin firmly engrafted or embedded in it. It is this nature that makes us sinners or slaves of sin. The sin implanted in our nature cannot be separated by any means except by death. Unless we die, we cannot be free from sin.
It is only a dead man who is free from sin!
The Scripture states, “For he who has died is freed from sin.” (Rom. 6:7 RSV).
The death that we needed to experience in order to be free from sin is what Christ tasted or experienced for us on the cross (Rom. 7:4-6, Heb. 2:9). That is why Christ came and died in the likeness of our sinful flesh. He became a perfect substitute for us!
Paul writes, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Cor. 5:21 NKJV).
In a way we might never comprehend fully in this life, God has placed the believers in Christ before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4).
Therefore, not only did Christ die for our sins on the cross; we also died with Him and were buried with Him and rose up with Him when He resurrected from the dead (Rom. 6:3-4).
The result is the birth of “a new creation” with God’s holy nature (2 Cor. 5:17, 1 John 3:9, 2 Pet. 1:4)!
The new creation no longer possesses the nature of sin inherited from Adam. Therefore, the born-again believers are no longer slaves of sin, or living under the dominion of sin. They are permanently free to serve God without fear, in holiness and righteousness all the days of their life (Luke 1:74-75)!
Apostle Paul aptly attests to this truth in his epistle to the Romans.
Romans 7:
4 Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another–to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God.
5 For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death.
6 But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter. (NKJV).
Romans 6:
6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. (NKJV).
Beloved, if you are born again through faith in Christ, you have become dead to the law and sin through the body of Christ. Therefore, sin no longer has any legal dominion, control or influence over you. Why?
“For he who has died is freed from sin.” (Rom. 6:7 RSV).
“For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” (Col. 3:3 NKJV).
“For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” (Rom. 6:14 NKJV).
“And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” (Gal. 5:24 NKJV).
As a born-again believer, your daily victory over sin lies in you reckoning yourself to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus (Rom. 6:11)!
Until you know and walk in the revelation knowledge of the truth that you are already dead to sin through the body of Christ and thus free from slavery to sin; sin will continue to exert its power or influence over you.
Although you are no longer a slave of sin, yet if you allow it, sin will continue to reign in your life even though it has no more legal right to do so.
That is why the Scripture commands, “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.” (Rom. 6:12 NKJV).
Does being dead to sin imply that believers can never sin, or that they are incapable of sinning?
Certainly not!
But it does imply that believers now sin by choice and no longer by force as slaves of sin!
When it comes to temptations to sin, the born-again believers have a choice; they can either yield to temptations or refuse to yield to temptations.
Paul admonishes, “And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.” (Rom. 6:13 NKJV).
Sadly, many believers today are yielding to temptations to sin because of their erroneous or wrong belief and thinking that sin still has power or control over them.
As a believer, you are no longer a slave to sin; you have become dead to sin through the body of Christ. Regardless of the pressure, enticement or temptation to sin; you have the right and power to say “NO” to sin.
You can overcome every temptation to sin!
Friend, if you have become born-again through faith in the person and finished work of Jesus Christ, you have been perfectly and permanently redeemed and set free from the slavery, mastery or dominion of sin.
Sin is no longer your master, and you no longer have a sin nature. Rather, in Christ, you are now a new creation with a new, divine, holy and loving nature of God and thus a slave of righteousness (Rom. 6:20)!
Therefore, stop living as a slave of sin, but begin to walk and live as a slave of righteousness, yielding your members as instruments of righteousness to God.
Heed Paul’s admonition today and begin to present your body as a slave of righteousness to work holiness.
Romans 6:
17 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.
18 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.
19 I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness. (NKJV).
Prayer: My Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for sending Jesus Christ to set me free from the bondage, slavery or mastery of sin. I renounce today my alliance and allegiance to sin. I declare today that I am no longer a slave of sin, but a slave of righteousness, in Jesus’ name. Amen.