(Article for publication week of 6-17-2009 AD)
“For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law but under grace.” (Romans 6:14).
In Romans chapter six, Paul explains why free grace does not lead to antinomianism. Christians are dead judicially to sin because they are united to Christ Who died to put away their sins and so they cannot continue in sin. In verse fourteen, he says that we are not under the dominion of sin any longer.
I will illustrate it like this. Let us go back in our minds to the time that domestic servitude was practiced in our country. Suppose a slave was owned by a very cruel master. His master overworks him, gives him scanty rations and whips him for the slightest infraction. This is a good picture of what it is like to be lost and under the dominion of sin. Sin is cruel and pays scanty rations. Now suppose this slave is purchased by a kind and good master. He works him moderately, provides for all his needs, and never would whip him. This is a picture of Christ purchasing us in salvation. Now suppose our imaginary slave goes to town and encounters his old master. The old master begins to threaten him. The slave may at first cringe at the sight of the cruel one and in his mind goes back to the days when he was under such cruel dominion. But the old master no longer has dominion over him, and our imaginary slave has every right to tell his old master that he does not belong to him any more. This is the way it is with a Christian. He no longer belongs to the devil, he now belongs to Christ. But the devil may threaten us and even try to get us back into his service. But we have every right to tell him we do not belong to him any more. This is what Paul is teaching us to do in Romans six. We are to remember that we are not under the dominion of sin, but under the dominion of Christ. We are to live like who we are.
Christians are no longer dominated by sin. Sin still vexes us and we have to mortify sin (Romans 8:13), but sin does not dominate us any longer. We are under a completely different dominion, the dominion of grace. Grace is what dominates, controls and motivates a believer. To be saved by grace is to be free from the dominion of sin. We have true liberty being under the dominion of Christ.
To be saved by grace in no way makes a person a libertine. We are under the mastery of Christ and we must do his bidding. To be a Christian is to be a slave to Christ. This is the way the Apostle Paul describes himself in the first verse of Romans, “a servant of Jesus Christ.” The Greek word that is translated “servant“ in Romans 1:1 and most places in the New Testament is “doulos” which more literally means “slave.”
The fact is, all of us are slaves. We are either slaves to sin, the world and the devil, or we are slaves of Jesus Christ. Whose slave are you?
“For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law but under grace.” (Romans 6:14).
In Romans chapter six, Paul explains why free grace does not lead to antinomianism. Christians are dead judicially to sin because they are united to Christ Who died to put away their sins and so they cannot continue in sin. In verse fourteen, he says that we are not under the dominion of sin any longer.
I will illustrate it like this. Let us go back in our minds to the time that domestic servitude was practiced in our country. Suppose a slave was owned by a very cruel master. His master overworks him, gives him scanty rations and whips him for the slightest infraction. This is a good picture of what it is like to be lost and under the dominion of sin. Sin is cruel and pays scanty rations. Now suppose this slave is purchased by a kind and good master. He works him moderately, provides for all his needs, and never would whip him. This is a picture of Christ purchasing us in salvation. Now suppose our imaginary slave goes to town and encounters his old master. The old master begins to threaten him. The slave may at first cringe at the sight of the cruel one and in his mind goes back to the days when he was under such cruel dominion. But the old master no longer has dominion over him, and our imaginary slave has every right to tell his old master that he does not belong to him any more. This is the way it is with a Christian. He no longer belongs to the devil, he now belongs to Christ. But the devil may threaten us and even try to get us back into his service. But we have every right to tell him we do not belong to him any more. This is what Paul is teaching us to do in Romans six. We are to remember that we are not under the dominion of sin, but under the dominion of Christ. We are to live like who we are.
Christians are no longer dominated by sin. Sin still vexes us and we have to mortify sin (Romans 8:13), but sin does not dominate us any longer. We are under a completely different dominion, the dominion of grace. Grace is what dominates, controls and motivates a believer. To be saved by grace is to be free from the dominion of sin. We have true liberty being under the dominion of Christ.
To be saved by grace in no way makes a person a libertine. We are under the mastery of Christ and we must do his bidding. To be a Christian is to be a slave to Christ. This is the way the Apostle Paul describes himself in the first verse of Romans, “a servant of Jesus Christ.” The Greek word that is translated “servant“ in Romans 1:1 and most places in the New Testament is “doulos” which more literally means “slave.”
The fact is, all of us are slaves. We are either slaves to sin, the world and the devil, or we are slaves of Jesus Christ. Whose slave are you?
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