Who’s In Control? (Romans 6:12-23)
When I first came to the faith, I needed to change. I didn’t know how much I needed to change, but I definitely needed to change. It wasn’t really until I started studying Romans 6-8 that I came to understand how much I needed to change.
Did you know that sin, and I mean every form of sin (lying, slothfulness, gossipping, lashing out with our tongue, idolatry, etc.) is really a bad habit? It’s a tendency that needs to be broken. How can we overcome these habits? God has given us the solution. Paul wants to help us with this as we study our text this morning. We are going to look at who rules our lives, who rules our hearts, and what will be our reward.
Who Rules Your Life? (12-14)
First, Paul tells us that we have to choose who rules over our lives.
Romans 6:12–14 (ESV) — 12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 13 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. 14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
This text is about a choice we must make. Picture a throne on your heart. Who is sitting on that throne? Who is dictating what you desire and what repulses you? Paul says that sin wants to be on that throne. Until we come to Christ, we want him there, but Christians have kicked him out. We have decided that we want to please God. We have said that the throne of our heart is God’s home. We willingly give Him complete dominion over us and every action that our bodies engage in will be directed by His will, and not sin.
How do we know who is on the throne?
Who Will You Serve? (15-19)
Second, Paul tells us that it’s not enough to say we are serving God. We must show our allegiance to God over sin.
Romans 6:15–19 (ESV) — 15 What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16 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? 17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. 19 I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.
Now, what is Paul really talking about? When we understand the gospel, we understand our slavery. Perhaps you don’t think of sin that way, but have you ever lost control of your anger? Has anxiety or fear over something ever taken over your thoughts? Did you lose something so dear to you that you felt like you had lost your meaning in life? What is it that pushed you over the edge? What is the ultimate thing that caused you to lose control? It was your master.
Paul moves from the picture of a throne on our hearts to a picture of us as obedient slaves, and there are really only two options, serve God or sin. Now, he wants us to demonstrate who our master is by our actions. Every choice we make in life shows who we are really working for. It’s either sin or God. There is no part time work in both houses.
In the Roman time period a slave was considered property, and masters didn’t share property. If a master tried to work for two slaves, they would inevitably run into a conflicting situation where they would be forced to disobey one master to fulfill the request of the other. So, Paul is telling us that we have to choose whom we are going to serve. Then, after we make that choice, we must be all in or expect consequences.
Our choice of the ultimate thing to serve may be different, but it has the same impact and control over us. It is our idol and our master. These idols constantly lead to death. We make good things our ultimate thing instead of God. But they never satisfy or fill us with joy.
What Do You Hope To Receive? (20-23)
Finally, Paul wants us to understand the significance of the choice we are making. When we put sin on the throne there will be consequences. Conversely, when we say we are putting God on the throne, there will be expectations.
Romans 6:20–23 (ESV) — 20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Before Jesus, serving our sinful desires was all we knew. We were trapped in a dead-end job, so to speak, with a cruel boss, racking up debt. We felt nothing but emptiness and shame, and there was no way out. But now God’s grace has set us free. We don’t work for sin anymore. Now we work for God, who is a good master.
Working for God means that we aren’t lifting up empty things as though they are the ultimate things. This obedience to God will lead us to a fruit bearing life that glorifies our Father. The work we do isn’t paying off some debt. All expenses are covered. All sins are forgiven. Paul says, “You have been set free from sin, and have become slaves of God.” That might sound like an awful situation. Wouldn’t we rather be free from serving anyone? But working for God leads to sanctification with eternal life in view. This master comes bearing gifts instead of demanding them. Those who live to serve sin will be given nothing but suffering and death.
Application and Conclusion
What Paul is really saying is that we are removing our own sinful passions like snapping at someone in anger, mindlessly scrolling our phones, or chasing some new idol. We are replacing those passions and desires with desires to suffer to glorify God. We spend hours dwelling on how to teach people God’s word. We devote time to visiting those who are sick or shut in. We let someone who wrongs us off the hook.
Why would we move our sinful desires off the throne to let God rule? Why would we hate those desires and replace them? This is the most difficult thing we will ever do and it takes so long to put these sinful desires behind us. There is only one reason we will do this, continually. Because we know God has moved us out of the realm of sin and death. We are no longer under law, but under grace. Justification in Jesus has removed our requirement to be righteous, but it has created a desire to be righteous because we place God on the throne of our hearts.
We are surrounded by a culture that believes sin can stay on the throne of Christian hearts while God forgives us of all our sins. Paul has made it clear in Chapter 6 that this will not be the case. Those who live to serve sin will receive what sin provides.
When you look at your life, who is on the throne of your heart? Who is in control? Do you decide what you will do based on what feels good to you? Are you driven by your own passions, desires, and impulses? Sin is on the throne.
Or do you spend countless hours pouring yourself into God’s word and pouring yourself out to God in prayer? Do you concern yourself with the wellbeing of those who need your help? We have a lot of people in this congregation who need help, but we don’t have a lot of workers. Disciples of Christ are supposed to be servants of others. Have you been serving anyone but yourself?
I’m sure we have a lot of mothers and fathers in the audience who pour themselves out for their young children. I’m sure we have a lot of members who do serve others. I want you to know that your efforts are the fuel of this congregation. We would be dead without you. But there may be others who want to serve, but you feel unsure about what to do. Please join yourself to someone who is doing the work you want to be involved in. I don’t imagine anyone who is visiting the sick will be upset if you ask if you can go with them. If you want to be more evangelistic, but don’t know how to teach, invite your friend to hear me teach you how to teach them.
I pray that this room is full of men and women who know what that means and have committed their minds and hearts to God. If you are struggling with sin, fighting a spiritual battle against temptations and enduring trials with faith, God is on the throne of your heart and you live to serve Him. Those bad habits will gradually be resolved if you are working to change them. Progress won’t come in a day, but it will be noticed in a month or year. God is working with you and for you. He is forgiving you and training you all along the way as you pray for His help and open His word and study it.
But if you are continuing on in sin without a care in the world, assuming you are under grace, what do you expect your wages to be?