Redeemed Slaves to Righteousness and to God Sanctified
CHAPTER 4 - 2.1
In Romans 6, Paul exhorts those who have received grace, sanctification, and a new life in Christ to enslave themselves to God and to righteousness itself. This chapter explores what sanctified living in Christ “looks like.” Slaves of Christ are imperatively exhorted to sanctified living through Christ, which is enabled by the indicative grace given through salvation. In other words, imperative exhortations for sanctified Christian living are only possible by the indicative Word of grace in the Good News that freely justifies sinners on account of Christ. Saints of God are slaves of righteousness––slaves of Christ, the “Righteous One” (Isa 53:11; Acts 7:52; 22:14). Therefore, the saints of God serve as slaves to righteousness. Paul most clearly uses slavery language in the latter half of Romans 6:12-23.
Slaves of righteousness live on account of Christ in His Kingdom in repentant faith through the means of grace. Those Baptized into Christ respond to exhortations to live holy lives in righteousness and sanctification. Paul exhorts saints of God with imperatives to righteous living as saints of God, living a new life set apart and enslaved to God and to righteousness. Saints of God are also, at the same time, righteous (just) and sinners––simul iustus et peccator. Therefore they are exhorted to resist “the reign of sin” (Rom 6:12) and evil, and to present themselves to God as slaves of righteousness (cf. Rom 6:18, 19). Redeemed slaves of God under grace present their bodily members as instruments of righteousness, responding appropriately to God’s imperatives as slaves of righteousness “leading to sanctification” (Rom 6:19). Slavery to righteousness in Christ is living sanctified lives under grace in Christ’s Kingdom.
One’s initial reaction to the suggestion that being bound to God in Christ leads to good slavery is probably, “Really? Why and how?” Being bound to God is a form of good slavery which leads to salvation, through faith, in the Good News. Good slavery comes from God’s gift of life everlasting through faith in Jesus Christ, crucified and risen. Sinners are released from eternal captivity to sin. Slavery to sin is bad slavery. After being freed from slavery to sin, they live under grace as slaves to God and righteousness, “having fruit for sanctification” (Rom 6:22). The slave to God is fruitful in good works produced from faith in Christ.[1] The sanctified fruit produced by the slaves of Christ is from God, is good, “and the outcome is life eternal” (Rom 6:22).
Essentially, good slavery is being enslaved to righteousness, and living to God in Christ. Therefore, good slavery is living out Christ’s righteousness. Redeemed slaves to righteousness and God respond thankfully to the indicative grace promised in the Good News of Jesus.
Baptism and Sanctification
The promised Messiah frees and justifies unrighteous sinners from sin through Baptism and into sanctified Christian living as slaves of God, responsive to righteous exhortations. A look at Baptism and sanctification should help explain how the Christian lives under grace as a slave to God and righteousness.
The slave of God is sanctified and joyful in faith possessing life everlasting by grace. Grothe comments, “God is sanctifying. And so the Christian person, under grace, kept in faith, is freed–to serve (6:18) and to rejoice (5:11). Such is the happy life of the one who lets himself be made a slave of the God who justifies the ungodly and graciously gives the gift of eternal life (6:23).”[2] Eternal life is the declarative grace of Christ’s life given for sinners’ justification. God's gracious gift is bestowed in Baptism.
Paul speaks explicitly of life’s renewal (cf. Rom 6:4) in Christ already now. The one who is “dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Rom 6:11) becomes a slave to God and righteousness as a result of being buried with Christ through Baptism and raised with Him to new life (cf. Rom 6:3, 4). Pieper writes,
Also, sanctification, the death of the old man and the resurrection to a new life, is not only typified by Baptism, but actually effected. In Rom. 6:1-11 Paul teaches that the Christians are dead unto sin, but alive unto God. This, however, is an effect of Baptism (διὰ τοῦ βαπτίσματος). Sanctification according to both its negative (dead unto sin) and its positive side (alive unto God in Christ Jesus) is a status quo created through Baptism.[3]
This sanctification received from the indicative grace in Baptism results in the ability to “walk in life’s renewal” (Rom 6:4).[4]
These indicatives are followed by imperative instructions for Christians. Christian living is explicitly for slaves of righteousness. The slave of righteousness is the slave of Christ. In other words, without indicative grace, faith and Baptism into Christ, all imperatives lead to worthless and fruitless evil deeds. But, united with Christ, slaves of righteousness are enabled to resist sin because they are under the dominion of grace and no longer under the Law (6:14).
Indicative and Imperative
Romans 6 consists of “indicative”[5] declarations of grace followed by “imperative”[6] exhortations for Christian living.[7] Indicative statements of grace chiefly begin Romans 6, followed by further indicatives along with imperatives in order to instruct Christ’s Church to live as slaves of righteousness bearing good fruit. Middendorf states,
The key theological point is that the predominant indicative statements continue to form the basis upon which imperatives are issued and properly received. Jesus Christ has delivered us from sin and death (indicative statements of grace). His salvation, which we receive through Baptism and faith, empowers us to respond to his exhortations (imperatives) to live as freed children of God.[8]
By the indicative, the sinner is a freed child of God who has been declared righteous from slavery to sin (cf. Rom 6:3-5). Thus, empowered to live in Christ’s righteousness, these imperatives instruct sanctified Christians to live as slaves of righteousness. Middendorf writes of the indicative and imperatives in Romans 6, saying, “In 6:1–11, we are, for the most part, depicted as passive recipients of God’s bounty through Baptism into Christ. Similarly in 6:12–23, the dominant actor is God. At the same time, active verbs and imperatives punctuate this latter half of Romans 6.”[9] In other words, the slave to God is passive in receiving Christ in the indicative, and then exhorted to imperatives as an appropriate and active response as slaves.
Slavery to God and righteousness means living in Christ’s righteousness and His Kingdom. Christ’s Kingdom reigns “now,” which is here and now, on earth and in heaven, and “not yet” to come in the new heavens and new earth. The Kingdom of Christ here and now will be fully consummated on the resurrection on the Last Day. Middendorf explains now/not yet in terms of righteousness and sin:
For those who received the righteousness of God through faith in Christ, Paul expresses the present reality ‘now’ with indicative forms. The ongoing negative impacts of sin, the Law, and death, which have ‘not yet’ been resolved by the believers’ resurrection, lead to the need for his imperative exhortations.[10]
Here and now, in the present, sin remains a threat to be extinguished forever on the Last Day. Now/not yet enforces the idea that Christians are slaves of Christ who need to be exhorted to live sanctified lives now and until the Last Day.
Slavery to righteousness is slavery given by the grace of God through faith and Baptism. In other words, this good slavery is passively received on account of Christ’s actions through faith alone for Christ’s sake. Then, slaves of Christ are exhorted to respond appropriately in doing good.
[1] Good slavery is grace, and life that produces only good fruit (good works) is directly opposed to bad slavery of sin and death that produces only bad fruit, which only comes from spiritual slavery to sin; For bad fruit and bad slavery, cf. Chapter 2.
[2] Jonathan F. Grothe, The Justification of the Ungodly: An Interpretation of Romans, 2nd ed. (St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada: 2012), 299.
[3] Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, vol. 3 (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 1953), 270.
[4] “[Jesus] resurrection enables the opportunity of walking “in life’s renewal” (6:4). The indicative realities which exist because of Baptism, as expressed in 6:1–11, are being applied to daily life.” Middendorf, Romans 1–8, 495.
[5] Indicative — “The mood in which the action of the verb or the state of being it describes is presented by the writer as real. It is the mood of assertion, where the writer portrays something as actual (as opposed to possible or contingent on intention). Depending on context, the writer may or may not believe the action is real, but is presenting it as real.” Michael S. Heiser and Vincent M. Setterholm, Glossary of Morpho-Syntactic Database Terminology (Lexham Press, 2013); Douglas Mangum observes, “indicative mood — The verbal mood used for simple declarative statements.” The Lexham Glossary of Theology (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014).
[6] Imperative — “The mood that normally expresses a command, intention, exhortation, or polite request. The imperative mood is therefore not an expression of reality but possibility and volition.” Heiser, Glossary of Morpho-Syntactic Database Terminology; Erwin Lueker interestingly distinguishes the categorical imperative and the hypothetical, “Categorical Imperative. Universal and unconditional moral command or obligation; distinguished from hypothetical imperative, which is conditional and depends e.g., on expediency, practical necessity, or desire.” Erwin Lueker, Lutheran Cyclopedia, (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 1975), 143.
[7] “The eighteen indicative statements which permeate 6:12–23 counter the tendency to view it predominantly as imperative commands, only four of which occur. But it would also obscure Paul’s purpose to exclude the exhortations to continually resist sin and, instead, to present one’s entire self to God in righteousness, which has fruit for sanctified living. To highlight either the indicatives alone or the imperatives alone is a false alternative. The key, of course, is to consider both fully, with proper balance, and in the right order. The indicatives of God come first in 6:1–11, and they also lead throughout 6:12–23. The free gifts of God are passively received through Baptism and in faith. But Paul also calls for, indeed, even commands, a response which entails active resistance against sin, as well as the offering of one’s bodily members in righteous service and for fruitful holy living to God.” Middendorf, Romans 1–8, 509–510.
[8] Ibid., 484.
[9] Ibid., 510; Notably, “Romans 1-11 has 13 imperatives. But aside from the 5 in 6:11-19, Roman 1-10 has only 1, with God as the subject (3:4)! Romans 12-16 has 49 imperatives.” Cf. Middendorf, Romans 9-16, 1193-1202.
[10] Middendorf, Romans 1–8, 441.