Are you looking at the title of this day’s lesson and wondering how freedom can come through slavery?
Well, I’ve noticed since God has been changing my heart and food is no longer my master that I’m becoming a happy slave to Jesus, who leads me to eat and exercise daily in a way that is good for me and brings Him glory. It has been a joyous discovery because captivity to Christ is freedom.
For example, my wife and I went out to eat with our daughter and her family yesterday, and I had an average size meal, didn’t finish it all, and it was the only meal I ate all day. It would have gone much differently in years past when I saw eating out as an opportunity to indulge my flesh, but now that I’m becoming a happy captive to Jesus, I can eat what I need and leave what I don't. This is a different way of eating than I did before Jesus was living in me.
The reality is that we are all slaves of someone or something. We are either slaves to our flesh or slaves to Christ, either slaves of sin or slaves to righteousness: “have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness” (Romans 6:18). Slavery to righteousness makes the war against the flesh much less troublesome because sin or our flesh's desires no longer control us.
Let’s read the following passage in Romans chapter 6:
“What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! 16 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey —whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?” Romans 6:15-16 (NIV)
In a previous lesson, we saw how all believers are under grace, meaning that God will only deal with us according to grace, never according to Law. God will only and ever forgive us for sin and never treat us according to our sins but only according to the gift of Jesus’ righteousness, given to us by faith.
Does that mean, then, that we are free to sin? Free to indulge our flesh, since God will only forgive us and continue to count us as holy and righteous?
No, and Romans 6 gives us a specific reason why we should not continue to gratify our flesh with food or other fleshly comforts.
Question 1. According to Romans 6:15-16 NIV, why should believers not continue to sin?
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That’s right! We are slaves of the one we obey. Regarding food, if we repeatedly offer ourselves to it, eating what we crave when we are not hungry, or eating to satisfy emotional needs, we become slaves of food. And this is true of any fleshly indulgence. When we habitually submit to it, we become slaves to it.
The world calls this “addiction,” (which is a false term, a lie), but the Bible uses words like “trapped,” “enslaved,” “captive,” or “imprisoned” to describe what happens when we regularly offer ourselves to a false comforter. Jesus said it like this, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin” (John 8:34).
When I turn to food to comfort myself or for any other reason, it gets much easier to do so again and then again. And soon, I can do nothing BUT turn to it, and I’m held fast in the iron chains of my own making. “Some sat in darkness, in utter darkness, prisoners suffering in iron chains, because they rebelled against God’s commands and despised the plans of the Most High” (Psalm 107:10-11).
But, friend, this principle of slavery is excellent news! Why? Because it works for our good when we are slaves to Christ!
Question 2. According to Romans 6:16 NIV, to what two things can people be slaves?
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