Can We Sin Now That We Are Not Under Law But Under Grace? (Part 2)

Romans 6:15-18 says,

“What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law, but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that when you offer yourselves as obedient slaves, you are slaves to the one you obey, whether you are slaves to sin leading to death, or to obedience leading to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you once were slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were committed. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.”

In Romans 6, Paul is addressing a specific group of people who are considering sinning all the more since the more they sin the more grace they get and since they are not under law, but under grace.

In Romans 6:1-14, he addresses the issue of sinning more in order to get more grace, which we studied in earlier teachings on Romans.

In Romans 6:15-23, he addresses the issue of sinning more since they were not under law but under grace.

In the previous teaching, we began studying Romans 6:15-23.

In this teaching, we will continue this study.

Paul’s response to this group of people in Romans 6:15-23 mirrors his response in Romans 6:1-14.

In Romans 6:15, Paul asks, “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law, but under grace?”

He emphatically answers, “By no means!”

In the original Greek, his answer is “May it never be!”

Paul, in the remainder of Romans 6, explains why it should never be that people should sin more because they are not under law but grace.

He begins his response by asking another question:

“Do you not know that when you offer yourselves as obedient slaves, you are slaves to the one you obey, whether you are slaves to sin leading to death, or to obedience leading to righteousness?”

Paul uses the word “you” six times in this question.

The “you” is referring to the group of believers who were considering sinning more since they were not under law but under grace.

We must remember, Romans 6 is not written to believers to instruct them about how not to sin.

It is written to believers who are considering abusing grace by sinning more because of grace.

Paul is writing to correct an incorrect belief system among this specific group of believers.

He is writing to change what they think about grace and sin.

He is posing this question to them to get them to think deeply about what they believe.

In the question, he is telling them that whatever they offer themselves to will control (slaves) them and produce certain results in their lives.

They can offer themselves to sin which will leads to death or they can offer themselves to obedience, leading to righteousness.

The obedience he is referring to is not one of behavior but one of belief in the form of teaching to which they were committed (see verse 17).

The form of teaching Paul is referring to is his teaching of the gospel of grace, which he teaches in his letter to the Romans.

Obedience to the gospel of grace is an obedience of faith, trusting, and believing in all that God had done for them in Jesus.

It was not an obedience to the law, which required behavior.

Rather, it was being obedient to the teaching of grace, which required belief.

This group of people had been in bondage to obedience to the law since birth.

This group was much like a dog who lived fenced in every day, all day.

Once the gate is open, the dog goes wild.

This group of people saw grace as an open gate, an opportunity to escape the law.

Yet, they were escaping into a lifestyle of sinful living, rather than into the embrace of a loving God.

Paul delivered to them the good news of grace, which they believed, but they then saw grace as an opportunity to go wild (sinful, immoral living, impurity and ever increasing wickedness - see verse 19).

Paul writes to correct their response to grace by telling them they have been set free from sin and are now slaves to (under the power and control) righteousness.

Previously, the law (the Ten Commandments) enslaved them to sin.

They were chained to the law, which aroused the sin in them, thus enslaving them.

Paul provides instruction and an example of this in Romans 7:1-25.

Through faith in Jesus, they have been set free from sin because they had been set free from the law.

Jesus didn’t set them free from the law (the Ten Commandments) to sin more but to free them from sin's control and destruction.

He set them free so God’s righteousness would flow through them.

CLICK HERE to read Part Three.