S10P4 – Righteous slavery: once dead but now alive

Romans 6:20-21
When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness [you had no desire to conform to God’s will]. So what benefit did you get at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? [None!] For the outcome of those things is death!

Just as being a slave to righteousness frees one from sin, being a slave to sin frees one from righteousness. This is not freedom in the sense of liberation but in the sense of separation. This separation from righteousness and the desire to conform to God’s will brings no freedom but a guarantee of death. But if those who are slaves to sin have no desire to conform to God, how does one ever come to a saving knowledge of Christ?

The Father draws us to the Son through His mercy and love [John 6:44]. Without God-given revelation of who Jesus Christ is, separation from righteousness is indeed hopeless. But through God’s drawing us to Him, life invades death. Those things that once brought us no benefit but much shame are loosed from us along with their guarantee of death. Now we are convicted but not condemned, living instead of dying.

When we remain slaves to sin, life is on its way to ending. Every moment lived is withdrawn from the storehouse of time, lowering our balance as the days go by. When we become slaves to righteousness, life merely continues. We go from having less and less time to seeing our days being added to for eternity. Father, thank you that You have drawn us near to You and taken us from death to life, and keep us committed to serving You righteously.