"But Thanks be to God."

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.” (Romans 6:16-19 ESV)

When we are outside of Christ, living inside the world, it is the sins of the world that enslave us. Sin is like a drug that requires partaking in more and more to remain “satisfied.”  What Paul is telling us is that we are slaves to who or what we submit to. In submitting to the world, we are slaves of the world and its sin. However, if we submit to the authority of God, we are slaves of righteousness; our hearts desire to be righteous and pleasing to God.

In verse 16, it is all about what we do. To whom we yield or surrender. This implies a choice on our part. Yet, in verse 17, Paul praises God and states we have become obedient. This obedience is not apparent in our own actions, but in the Greek translation, Paul uses the word hypēkousate, which means "have become obedient."

 Hypēkousate is an Aorist Indicative Active verb, which means an act completed in the past. As it is an Aorist verb, the action was completed by God on our behalf, and as Paul notes, we have become “obedient from the heart.” A hardened heart which has been changed to flesh (Ezekiel 32:26) by God in our justification.

As God has changed our hearts, we have received His grace to enable our faith, allowing us to be persuaded, recognize the truth found in the word of God, and accept it. Hence, we receive the teachings given to us by ministers and pastors, to which we commit ourselves to following. In other words, we submit to the word of God as truth and adhere to it.

The Greek uses the word paredothēte, which is an Aorist Indicative Passive verb meaning our committing is a factual act of God occurring upon a person. Our “committing” is another act of God, for without His grace, we would be unable to achieve. Paul told us this in Romans 3:23 when he wrote, “For all have sinned and all fall short of the glory of God.” He also wrote “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.” (Romans 3:10 and 11).

Paul used the subject of slavery because it was practiced in Rome and offered an analogy that would be easily understood. For us, it is just as easy to understand, but we can also see these words in the light of submission—our submission to the world, or our submission to the authority of God. My friends, the teachings we have been given are useless without our submission to God.

The world outside of God is chaos. There is no sense, no morality, and slowly but surely, the truth of the gospel is made evil, and the evil of the enemy is made truth.

We are bondservants of Christ, bound to serve Him, voluntarily and by obligation of the saved heart; this is a lifelong commitment. Our submission to God is not only necessary, but can only be done through a renewed heart, renewed by our faith in Christ.

If you do not know Christ, do you see the chaos around you? Do you see the lack of common sense and the discarding of godly morality? Is it frightening to you? Have you heard about this gospel of which I speak, but do not understand what it is? The gospel is this:

Jesus Christ, the Son of the one true living God, came to earth in the incarnation. As a human retaining his deity. He preached of His coming, the coming of God, Immanuel, meaning God with us. He submitted to the will of God the Father and went to the cross. He was beaten and nailed to that cross, shedding His blood and dying a human death. He was buried for three days and emerged from the tomb in a resurrected, eternal body. In doing so, He defeated sin and death as a propitiation, He appeased the wrath of God against all human sin, and for all those who believe in Him and His finished work on the cross, a promise of eternal life. In our faith, we repent of our sins, change our minds about our actions, and turn from sin to Christ. In doing so, we are made righteous before God, able to have a living relationship with Him, and to receive life eternal when we leave this body, and are called to Him.

Do you want this? Do you desire the hope and promise of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ? Seek Him today, for there is no time to wait. Leave the chaos and noise of the world and find peace and certainty in Jesus Christ, knowing He offers eternal life to all who believe.

If you have questions about the gospel or faith through Christ, reach out to In Messiah Ministries, and we can point you to scriptures that reveal the truth of salvation in Christ alone.

Grace and Peace!