Grace, Freedom, and Slavery: A likely approximation of what my Father's Day sermon might possibly look like

First and foremost, I am going to ask that you read Romans 5:18-7:6. I would copy and paste it, but it would take a lot of space, and I need to get these thoughts out before they run away tonight. If you don't have a Bible handy, I suggest using blueletterbible.com for an alternative. You can choose to your preferred version (I use the ESV, so all quoted texts will be from it).

In chapter 5, Paul writes to the Roman church that Christ is the New Man. He makes several parallels between Adam and Christ. Where Christ is so much more than Adam was. Look, for instance, in verse 15. "For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift, by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ, abounded for many." This is a good summation of what Paul is trying to say. Adam's singular sin brought sin into the world for all men. Christ's righteous life, death, and resurrection likewise brought life for all men. Even more, we deserve our fate because we sin as Adam sinned, but we can still receive the gift of grace though we never live a truly righteous life.

Paul concludes by saying wherever sin is, grace is even more abundant because grace covers sin. He then asks a question that sets off on of my favorite discussions in all of Scripture: "Shall we continue in sin so that grace may increase?"

In other words, should we keep on sinning so that we can receive even more grace than we had before? The answer is an emphatic no! As verses 2-11 of chapter 6 says, we died to sin because we are joined in Christ's death and life! Sin should have no reign in our lives because of this very fact. In 6:14 Paul makes one of the most beautiful statements in Scripture: "For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace."

This brings us to a second question: "Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace?" At first glance, this may seem like the same question, but it's totally different. With the first it was asking if we should sin so that we could receive more grace. This is asking if we should sin since there is nothing keeping us accountable any longer.

Again, the answer is an empatic no! Paul, then, begins to lay the groundwork for what is called slave theology. This says how we were once slaves to sin, owned by it and controlled by it. All we could do is sin's bidding (v. 20). However, through Christ, we are set free from sin because He paid the price. A companion verse to this is found in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. In the 1st Cor passage, Paul is speaking about fleeing sexual immorality because our body houses the Holy Spirit. He goes on to say that "you are not your own, for you were bought with a price."

In other words, we are owned by Christ since He payed for us with His blood. In context with his question, though, Paul is saying that our new accountability no longer lies with the law, but with our new master, Jesus Christ. Paul has been careful to outline in Romans that none are righteous (3:10-16) and everyone has sinned (3:23). Therefore, he laid the foundation for the understanding that Christ is OUR righteousness. So, when he says that we have "been set free from sin, [and] have become slaves to righteousness," that is, Christ.

Some may have a problem with the imagery of slavery because all we Americans are conscious of is the slave trade from the 18th and 19th centuries. This is not the same as slavery during 1st century Rome. There is a story from the reign of Augustus Caesar. A rich man, Vedius Pollio, was a cruel slavemaster. He had a tank of flesh-eating fish and would routinely feed his slaves to them whenever he would get cross with one. The story says that one day, Pollio was entertaining Augustus and a slave accidently broke a crystal vase. Pollio became so enraged, he ordered the slave to be fed to the fish. Augustus, outraged by the treatment of this slave, ordered, instead, that all of Pollio's crystal be broken in front of him and thrown into the tank instead. This story shows how rare the mistreatment of slaves was in those times, and what was expected of slavemasters by Rome's emporer. Laws were even written to protect slaves from harsh and inhumane treatment.

The Roman church would know what slavery is like, so they would understand this comparison easily. Becuase, here is the reality: we have been freed from having to follow the letter of the law as perscribed in the books of the Law (Genesis through Deuteronomy), but we are now held to the standard of our Master, Jesus Christ. This doesn't give us allowance to do everything we want, but it does mean that if we mess up, we aren't fed to the flesh-eating fish. Peter emphasizes this point in 1 Peter 2:16: "Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as slaves of God."

Yes, we now live according to the spirit of the Law, which is the Spirit of God ("All Scripture is inspired by God..." 1 Timothy 3:16). This is the truth that we have to understand if we are to live for God. We are His slaves because He paid for us. We are no longer held accountable to the law, but, now, according to the righteousness that is Jesus Christ.