Lesson 15 Washing at the Cross: Bond-Slaves of Jesus
Questions 1, 2 and 3
Welcome back to Setting Captives Free.
Let’s begin today by looking at this passage of Scripture:
Romans 6:17-18 ESV 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.
Question 1. According to Romans 6:17, what did those in Rome, to whom Paul was writing, used to be?
The Bible tells us that all Christians used to be “slaves of sin.” I remember so well being captive to “the pleasures of sin”; to pornography and sexual impurity, to gratifying my flesh. Maybe you do, too. It was truly slavery, right?
If my “master,” Impurity, told me to do something to gratify the lusts of my flesh I had to obey. I had to turn on my computer and go to that website. I could try to resist, but as a slave, I was powerless to do so for any length of time over about three weeks to a month at the very most, usually less. I was a slave of sin.
Question 2. Romans 6:18 states that those in Rome had been “set free from sin,” but Romans 6:17 tells us how. How were they set free from sin?
Yes, they “became obedient from the heart” to the “standard of teaching” to which they were committed. Paul had taught them the gospel, and God gave them faith to believe it. The grace of God changed their hearts. As a result, they began to obey and apply the gospel from their hearts willingly, and this set them free from slavery to sin.