The New Allegiance
THE NEW ALLEGIANCE
ROMANS 6:14-18
Who are we serving?
The passage repeats with new urgency what has just been said. Paul is going to expand this thought in the next two chapters but at this point the old difficulty of 3:8 and 6:1 comes to his mind again. It must have been a favorite objection in the hands of legalistic Jews. Therefore, this final repudiation:
6:14 sums up, using again the imagery of 5:12, “For sin shall not be your overlord. For you are under grace not under law.”
6:15. Are we then to sin because we are no longer ruled by regulations, but are bound instead by our debt of love to a pardoning and redeeming God? Banish the very thought!
6:16. Is it not simple and obvious truth, set in an immortal context of words by Jesus himself, that no one can serve two masters (Matthew 6:24)? A slave, in ancient law, was the exclusive property of one master, and his one essential function was simple obedience. There are two masters for humanity—sin or Christ. We can choose. One slavery is a heavy burden and its end is death. The other’s yoke is easy (Matthew 11:30), and its end is life and righteousness. The Greek word translated “either” is an emotive form common enough in Plato, but found only here in the New Testament. It is as though Paul says: “of course there can only be the two alternatives.”
6:17f. Now follows a turn of style which is often characteristic of Paul. It is part of the warmth of his character and to be observed in such passages as Philippians 2:1-18. Paul makes a statement of profound theological truth and ends with the hearty assurance that those whom he addresses know its truth in personal experience, and have chosen obedience and Christ. See also the severe words of 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 followed by the warm confidence of 1 Corinthians 6:11.
The practical challenge which emerges is that both God and sin need servants and tools. God works through people, and sin curses the world through those in whom it dwells.