This is the one-hundred-eighty-first lesson in author and pastor Mel Lawrenz’ How to Live the Bible series. If you know someone or a group who would like to follow along on this journey through Scripture, they can get more info and sign up to receive these essays via email here.

“But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.” Romans 6:17-18

Imagine three friends on a golf course. They get into a conversation in which they let their guard down and begin to open up to each other. One discloses that his biggest temptation in life is drinking too much. That leads another friend to reveal that he has had a significant problem with sexual temptations for a long time. They look at the third man and say, “Okay, we’ve gone pretty far out on a limb. Now it’s your turn. You must have some special temptation, some area of vulnerability.” The man hesitates, and then speaks up: “Yes, I certainly do. My biggest temptation is gossip. And I just can’t wait to get back so I can talk to somebody.”

Sin as a taskmaster is no laughing matter. Lives are torn apart all the time by the compulsive patterns of self-destructive behaviors. So when Jesus said that with his coming there would be release for captives, he was talking about every one of us. It doesn’t come naturally or easily for most people to admit they’re captive. We want to believe we’re the captains of our own destiny.

But just stop and think about the word “captive.” Isn’t it true that every one of us has found something or someone captivating? And that there came a day when we realized that maybe we had in fact relinquished some of our will for some gain of satisfaction.

Scripture says when we go our own way, when we hoard our possessions, when we give in to passion, or get carried away in rage—we’ve succumbed. We’ve become slaves to sin.

Romans 6 tells a different story. God has broken us out of Egypt. He has released us to a Promised Land, though there is wilderness to traverse to get there.

All it takes to begin this journey is to say: “I’d rather have God as my master than myself. I don’t want to live in the cage of my own limited imagination. I want righteousness to be my master and to carry me places I never would go on my own.”

APPLICATION

Take ten minutes today to read Romans 6 through 8. After you do, get on your knees and reflect on ways that you are a slave to sin. Maybe you’re a slave to greed or jealousy, pride or gluttony. As you pray about these things, praise God that he freed you to come under the mastery of righteousness.

[See next – Confession and Forgiveness]

[See previous – What To Do With Freedom]
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Mel Lawrenz (@MelLawrenz) trains an international network of Christian leaders, ministry pioneers, and thought-leaders. He served as senior pastor of Elmbrook Church in Brookfield, Wisconsin, for ten years and now serves as Elmbrook’s teaching pastor. He has a PhD in the history of Christian thought and is on the adjunct faculty of Trinity International University. Mel’s many books include Spiritual Leadership Today: Having Deep Influence in Every Walk of Life (Zondervan, 2016). See more of Mel’s writing at WordWay.