Freedom and Righteousness

But thanks be to God that you, having once been slaves of sin, have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted, and that you, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. (Romans 6:17-18 NRSV)

Paul’s passage to the Romans above includes a couple of tough words for us to deal with. Cultural context for the concept of slavery means we have a hard time using it in any constructive ways. Slavery is something to be opposed according to our understanding of history (and rightly so).

Except, in this passage, Paul reminds us that we are slaves. We might not be slaves to sin, but we are slaves to righteousness. And that probably doesn't sound right to you. We don’t want to be slaves. We want to be free. We celebrate the fact that we are free from sin, but we have to acknowledge the other side of that equation. If/when we are set free from sin, it is only so we can be free for righteousness. Nothing that we are or have is for our own enjoyment or purpose. It is always for God’s purpose and for the bringing of God’s Kingdom. So we are still slaves - but it is a slavery to joy and righteousness.

Then there’s that word, “righteous.” The only way it seems to be used today is with “self-” on the front of it. Far too many people are focused on their own righteousness at the expense of others. Instead, perhaps we can remember that Paul also said we are all convicted and in need of God’s grace. That “righteousness” we claim is not from anything we have accomplished or for our own benefit. It is God’s gift of right relationship so we can bring the world back to God.

Martin Luther described our life of righteousness this way, “A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none. A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject of all, subject to all.” (Freedom of a Christian) Perhaps you can better relate to the word servant. Perhaps not. But it is an appropriate description of our life of righteousness. We are free from sin so that we are able to serve the world. We are free from our sin so that we can be a slave to God. I don’t like the word slave, but if it means I’m in right relationship with God, I’ll take it.