“Freedom Means Surrender” – Romans 6:18-23, 14:13-19

The 13th Amendment to the US Constitution was passed by the US Senate in 1864, and the House of Representatives in January, 1865. It was ratified and became a part of the Constitution in December, 1865, eight months after the end of the Civil War, a war that was fought over the very idea of slavery and the state’s right to determine who would and would not be a slave.

If you ask most people if slavery was abolished by the 13th Amendment, they would say yes. And they would be wrong. The Amendment says: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” Slavery does exist in the United States, but only for those convicted of a crime.

The Bible tells us that slavery has always existed and exists today. According to the Bible, we are either slaves to sin or slaves to righteousness. When you and I accepted Christ as our Lord and Savior, we were set free from our slavery to sin, and we became slaves to righteousness. That’s what today’s passage tells us.

But what does it mean to be a “slave to righteousness?” The Bible explains that as well.

Background

Today’s passage is a continuation of last week’s passage. Having established that sin and death entered the world through Adam and that righteousness and freedom from sin and death are made possible only through Christ, Paul then tells us the reason we are freed from sin is because we die to sin and live now in Christ (cf. 6:1-14).

Paul writes about the danger that comes with freedom. We talked about that two weeks ago when we spoke of becoming free in Christ. The tendency is to think that, since we are free from sin, we are now free to indulge in sin, knowing that God’s grace will cover it. Paul quickly shoots that idea down. As he writes in v. 16: “Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey them as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?” Paul reaffirms the Romans for their steadfastness in “wholeheartedly” obeying the gospel.

Which leads us to today’s text.

Central Truth: Freedom in Christ is a life of surrender.

We surrender because:

1. we are slaves to righteousness (6:18-23)

“You have been set from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.”

One of the tenets of America is that we have rights. These rights are mentioned in the Declaration of Independence—“that among these are the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”—and guaranteed in the Constitution. We are a people who pride ourselves in our rights, and we celebrate those who fought for and even died to preserve those rights.

In Christ, though, we subjugate our rights to His service and His glory. That’s what this verse is telling us. We have moved our slavery from one realm to another. The old realm resulted in death, but the new realm results in righteousness and life eternal.

When Jesus came into our world, not only did He die for our sins and raise again to give us eternal life, but He also showed us what it is to live in obedience to the Father. Paul’s passage in Philippians 2 speaks to us of Jesus’ willingness to surrender the glory that was rightfully His in order to become a human being, born into poverty and subject to foreign rule and authority. By living out His life in front of us, Jesus demonstrated the true nature of a servant of God.

How did Jesus live? He showed compassion to those in need. He developed relationships with people that society deemed unworthy of relationships—the woman at the well, tax collectors, people identified as sinners. Jesus showed us that true leadership is best demonstrated in service to others. He could have lorded Himself over others; instead, He identified with the Good Shepherd, the One who washed people’s feet and ministered. Through Jesus’ actions and His words, Jesus shows us what it means to be a slave to righteousness.

Jesus taught us that the greatest commandment is to love God completely with our entire being, and to love others as ourselves. He gave us a new commandment, that we love one another in the same way that He loved—unconditionally and selflessly. And He told us that we attain true righteousness in living out the Golden Rule. Jesus taught us through His words and actions that we are to be servants of the Father who seek to bring others into relationship with Him. The way we do that is through creating new relationships with all who are around us.

To be a slave to righteousness is to become Christ-like in all aspects of our lives. It means denying our rights and instead submitting to His calling. We do this because, through Christ, we are made slaves to righteousness.

Our next passage gives a concrete example of what it means to live as a slave to righteousness.

2. our “rights” yield to relationships (14:13-18)

“Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s wa. As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean. If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died. Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.”

After Christ had ascended into heaven, the work of the Holy Spirit began in earnest as He began guiding the apostles and disciples of Jesus who were living in Jerusalem. The Spirit was moving in those early days, and the Church was growing by leaps and bounds. With persecution came the scattering of the church and the spread of the gospel from Jerusalem to Judea, Samaria and into the various regions of the Roman Empire. Inevitably, Gentiles began to hear and respond to the gospel message, and churches began to spring up with a large Gentile membership.

There were those who believed that the gospel should include adherence to the laws of Moses. The problem came to a head when a delegation from Judea came to Antioch and began teaching that a person cannot be saved unless they are circumcised according to the custom taught by Moses (cf. Acts 15:1). This created a debate, and the church in Antioch sent a delegation, including Paul and Barnabas, to go to Jerusalem and get a definitive ruling on the matter.

After hearing both sides on the matter. Peter testified about the ministry he witnessed among the Gentiles, saying, “[The Holy Spirit] made no distinction between us and them for He purified their hearts by faith” (Acts 15:9). Paul and Barnabas testified about the miracles that were being done among the Gentiles. James spoke out, citing scripture and concluding, “It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. Instead, we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood” (Acts 15:19-20). This was agreed upon and the letter was sent out.

Even so, there was no “thus saith the Lord” appointed to the letter, and there were those who insisted that eating meat of any kind was permissible under God’s grace. The matter became so divisive that Paul wrote twice on the matter, once to the Corinthians and here to the Romans.

Paul tells us first we shouldn’t judge on another when it comes to our relationship with God. It would be easy to think, “This person eats meat offered to idols; he doesn’t respect the instructions of the apostles and thumbs his nose at God.” Another person would be thinking, “This person is so caught up in legalism that they won’t eat meat just because it was offered to an ideal. Meat’s meat; what does it matter?” Judgments would be flying across both camps.

Paul’s point is that he personally had come to the conclusion that there was no such thing as unclean food. Nonetheless, he understood that eating some foods might cause a brother or sister to stumble in their walk with God. As a servant of Christ, as a slave to righteousness, Paul instead chose to limit himself rather than cause harm. He sums his belief up in vs. 17-18.

The point that Paul is trying to make is that the one who is a slave to righteousness is beholden no to his or her rights but to building up the brothers and sisters in Christ, and to maintain that the message of the gospel remains unadulterated by opinions and demands that may seem offensive to the world at large. Our goal should be to “serve Christ in a way that is pleasing to God and approved by men.”

Our “rights” must always give way when those rights harm the relationships we have with God and with one another.

3. we seek peace and mutual edification (14:19)

“Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.”

One of my mother’s favorite sayings was, “It takes two to tango.” This was usually said when I tried to justify fighting with my brother by insisting he started it. Mom’s point was that a fight never materializes unless both parties are willing to fight. I finally figured it out when I was in seventh grade. If I didn’t want to fight, I didn’t have to. It’s not easy, but all it takes is walking away from a fight.

If you and I want to avoid conflict in our world—if we want to live as slaves of righteousness—then we have to learn to walk away from conflicts that are almost always of minor issues. To be sure, we must stand firm on the gospel and a true understanding of God’s word. We need to be clear on what we believe and why we believe it, but we must realize that ultimately, our responsibility as a slave of righteousness is to be a minister of reconciliation and of peace. We just learn to turn the other cheek, to go the second mile and to pray for our enemies. We need to recognize that not everyone is going to agree with us, that others can have different opinions and still be someone we can fellowship with. Just because we may disagree on a matter doesn’t mean we have to be disagreeable people.

Paul writes, “Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. . . Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:17-18, 21).

If we love as Christ loves, if we live out the Golden Rule, if we recognize that we are slaves to Christ and to righteousness, then we can find peace and mutual edification.

Conclusion

Rights are important. It is proper that we continue to be vigilant in protecting the rights that are found in the laws of our land. We must be well-informed and involved citizens, because the rights we enjoy are fragile.

But remember, these are rights that are not God-given, only man-made. The true rights that come from God are found in Christ Jesus our Lord. He is the One who shows us how to live by His example and His words.

When we come to Christ, we come surrendering everything to Him, including our rights. We willingly and gladly become slaves to righteousness in order that we may continue to grow in His grace and in our knowledge of the Father and the Son through the power and grace of the Holy Spirit.