Free from Sin, Slaves of Righteousness, Part 2

Message by John Piper Scripture: Romans 6:1419

Series: Romans: The Greatest Letter Ever Written

Topic: The Grace of God

For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under
grace. 15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under
grace? May it never be! 16 Do you not know that when you present
yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one
whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in
righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin,
you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you
were committed, 18 and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of
righteousness. 19 I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of
your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and
to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your
members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification.
Last week we tried to answer the question raised by verse 14: What does it
mean to be "under grace" but not "under law"? My answer was that being
"under law" means that we are bound to make lawkeeping the righteousness
by which God justifies us. "Under law" means that justifying righteousness
comes from our own lawkeeping. On the other hand, being "under grace"
means that our justification is a gift of grace on the basis of Christ's
righteousness, Christ's lawkeeping, Christ's perfect obedience of faith
(including his atoning death). (See the 11-26-00 sermon.)

Don't Let Sin Master You, Because Sin Is not Going to Master You

Now today's question is: Why does being "under grace" guarantee that sin
will not master us? Notice the logic of verse 14: "Sin shall not be master over
you, for you are not under law but under grace." This is a promise: "Sin shall
not be master over you." It is not a command like "Thou shalt not kill." It is a
promise of what must be and will be for all who are under grace. We can tell
this because verse 14 is given as the basis of a command in verse 13: "Do
not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of
unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead,
and your members as instruments of righteousness to God." That's a
command. Now verse 14 adds the reason: "For sin shall not be master over
you."

This is the striking way that New Testament ethics is structured. "Don't let sin
master you, because sin is not going to master you." If that strikes us as
strange, which it does at first, it's because we come to the Bible with our
man-centered bias toward self-determination. In other words, we come with
the bias that if the Bible tells us to make a choice (like "don't present your
members to sin"), then in the moment of that choice we, not God, have the
final say. And if you come with that bias that genuine, responsible choice
means ultimate self-determination the connection between verse 13 and
verse 14 will probably make no sense. Don't yield to sin (verse 13) because
sin will not be master over you (verse 14).

But if you learn from Scripture to see the sovereignty of God and the real
responsibility of man in such a way that God is ultimate and decisive, then
this is the way you will learn to talk about the choices of the Christian life: I
choose not to let sin reign in my body, because God is at work in me and will
not let sin reign in my body (see Philippians 2:12-13; 3:12; 1 Corinthians 5:7).

Now keep in mind that we have seen this same way of thinking already in
verses 1-2. Romans 6:1-2: "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin
so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin
still live in it?" Do you see how Paul argues? You can't go on living in sin,
because when you were united to Christ by faith, you died with Christ to sin.
And so, since you can't go on living in sin, therefore don't continue to sin that
grace may increase. You see the reasoning: Your death with Christ ensures
that sin will not be master over you. Therefore, don't let it be master over
you. O may the Lord give us grace to adjust our thinking in line with Biblical
thinking!

"Under Grace," so Sin Is not Your Master

So the question today is: Why does being "under grace" ensure guarantee
that sin will not be master over those who are under grace? Verse 14: "Sin
shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace."
What is it about being under grace that guarantees that sin will not be master
over us?

I will mention three things, two from the wider context of Romans, one from
the immediate context.

1. When we are under grace the wrath of God is entirely removed from us, so
that all God's action toward us is saving action.
All his power flows in the service of his mercy, and not the service of his
wrath or punishment. He is for us and not against us. Therefore our chief
enemy, sin, will not defeat us.

Romans 8:1 says, "There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ
Jesus" that is, for those who are "under grace." And what does this imply
about our future? Let Romans 8:31-32 answer: "If God is for us, who is against
us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how
will He not also with Him freely give us all things?" In other words, if God did
the hardest thing in justifying us putting us under grace at the cost of his
Son, then he will do everything necessary to save us, including not letting sin
be master over us.

Being "under grace" means being out from under wrath. And when we are out
from under the wrath of God, all his power stands in the service of his mercy
to help do whatever it takes to get us to glory (Romans 8:30). So the first
answer is: being under grace guarantees that sin will not be master over us
because being under grace means being out from under wrath, and having all
the power of God on our side and not against us.

2. Second, when we are "under grace," paralyzing guilt that makes us

hopeless in the fight with sin is taken away.
This was my argument from Romans 6:6b-7. So I will not dig into it again
here. Notice the last phrase in verse 6: ". . . so that we would no longer be
slaves to sin." That's the goal we are after in this chapter: real freedom from
sinning. Then comes the foundation of this liberty in verse 7: "For he who has
died is freed [literally: "justified"] from sin." Which is the same as saying, "For
he is under grace, not under law."

In other words, justification by faith alone is the foundation for not being a
slave of sin. Which is another way of saying that being "under grace" is the

foundation for not being a slave of sin. And the point I made some weeks ago
was that one reason that some people are enslaved to sin is that they feel so
hopeless they won't even make the effort to change. That is what the
teaching and the reality of justification by faith alone is meant to overcome.
So the second reason we see that being "under grace" guarantees that sin
will not be master over us is that being under grace means being out from
under the kind of guilt that is so paralyzing and hope-defeating, we don't
even take up the fight with sin.

3. Now, finally, when we are under grace, God is at work in us to will and to
do his good pleasure.
That's a quote from Philippians 2:13, but let me show it to you from the
immediate context of Romans 6:14-19. The key verse on this point is verse
17: "But thanks be to God . . ." Notice that carefully. What is he going to
thank God for? What has God done? "Thanks be to God that though you were
slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to
which you were committed (literally: to which you were handed over)." What
is he thanking God for? He is thanking God for their obedience to the
teaching of the apostles. And it is not mechanical, but "from the heart."

This is what happens under grace. When the wrath of God is removed, and
paralyzing guilt is taken away, the saving work of God is sanctifying work.
That is, God inclines your heart to obey the form of teaching to which the
apostles handed you over. "Thanks be to God that you became obedient"
from the heart!

You see this again in the wording of verse 18. Notice the passive verbs. Who
is doing the acting in these verbs: "And having been freed from sin, you
became slaves of (literally: were enslaved to) righteousness"? Here again it is
God at work. God "freed" you from sin. God "enslaved" you to righteousness.

So there are two supports for this third point. When we are "under grace,"
God works in us to do his will. That is why sin will not be master over us if we
are under grace. We see it first in the words of verse 17: "Thanks be to God
that you became obedient." And we see it secondly in the words of verse 18:
We "were freed" (by God!) from sin and we "were enslaved" (by God!) to
righteousness. This was God's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes.

To sum up, then, we've been asking why being "under grace" guarantees that
sin will not be master over us. Reason one: because under grace, the wrath of
God is entirely removed and the power of God flows to us in saving, helping,
keeping mercy, not punishment. Reason two: because under grace,
paralyzing guilt is taken away and we are given hope that it is worth it to fight
sin. Reason three: because under grace God himself comes into our lives and
inclines our hearts away from sin and toward righteousness.

Exhortations

So let me close with three short exhortations.

1. Do not jump to the conclusion that when Paul says, "Sin will not be master
over us," it means that we will be perfect in this life. Paul makes plain in
Philippians 3:12 that he is not perfect nor has he already attained his goal,
but he presses on. He says that we are being changed from one degree of
glory to another (2 Corinthians 3:18). And when we get to the struggling Paul
of Romans 7, who says, "I do the very thing I do not want to do," we will see
that even though he says sin is the culprit (7:20), he takes responsibility for
his complicity and says, "Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from
the body of this death?" (7:24). We will not be perfect until we are
transformed fully in the presence of Christ (1 John 3:2).

When Paul says that sin will not be our master, he does not mean that the
defeated and dethroned foe is driven from the castle at once, but in stages,
and the Christian life is to fight that fight and to fight it as those whose
victory is sure: "Sin will not sit on this throne."

2. When you hear that God is sovereign and that he has guaranteed that
those under grace will not be defeated by sin, do not jump to the conclusion
that the battle is a charade, and nothing hangs on your choices. Don't say,
"Let us sin that grace may increase" (Romans 6:1). Don't say, "Let us sin
because we are not under law but under grace" (Romans 6:15). In other
words, don't come to the Bible with the assumption: if it does not depend on
what I choose ultimately, it does not depend on what I choose at all. That is

man-centered, unbiblical thinking. Rather say, "Since it depends on God

ultimately, there is hope that I, a dead and hardened sinner, may choose
what is good and live a life pleasing to the Lord. Let the sovereignty of God
make you hopeful that change is possible, not passive as if no change were
necessary.

3. Finally, realize that Paul is teaching us in this chapter how to live for the
glory of God, not the glory of ourselves. That is why God's action is ultimate
and ours is dependent on his. That is why God doesn't say, "Just do it." It is
why he says, "Because you are under grace, do it." And: "Because you have
died with Christ, don't do it." And: "Because you are enslaved to
righteousness by God, do it." "Just do it" is man-centered. Do it because "God
is at work in you to do it" is God-centered. Putting it this way keeps the work
of God front and center in your life. That is where he will get the glory.

I close with the way Peter put it in 1 Peter 4:11, "Whoever serves is to do so
as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things
God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and
dominion forever and ever. Amen.

That's our goal the glory of God through Jesus Christ. So, know that by faith
you are "under grace," not "under law." Therefore, sin will not be master of
you. Fight it by faith because victory is sure