Theology for Everybody: RomansSample

Freedom is not choosing to go down, but God choosing to pull us up. If we choose our own master, then it will drag us down, but if Jesus is the Master, He will then override our decision and pull us up.

Paul says this: “Because of your natural limitations, for just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness” (v. 19). It’s amazing how so much impurity parades as freedom in our day. No, it’s slavery, and we need to be set free. When Americans hear “slavery,” we immediately think about our American history and the original sin of slave trading. It’s sinful, wrong, ungodly, evil, and demonic. The Bible lists slave trading, as was practiced in America, among the most heinous sins (see Exodus 21:16; Deuteronomy 24:7). But let’s go beyond America, back a few thousand years to the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire included approximately 120 million people and grew by conquering other nations. It was military expansion.

At some point in their lives, upward of 50 percent of Roman citizens would be in the legal category of servant or slave. People found themselves in that category in two ways: it was imposed upon them, or they invited it. Let’s say, for example, the Roman army marched in and took the city's people as slaves. Slavery was imposed upon them. Or individuals could give up their freedom in exchange for provisions, such as housing, food, or clothing. This servitude could be for a short or long period. Generally, it wasn’t a lifelong arrangement. We tend to think of servitude as bad, but we still have some forms of this in our military. Soldiers fight for freedom, but they don’t really have any freedom while they are serving.

Here’s the big idea: some of the problems in your life were imposed on you, but many of the problems in your life were invited by you. Oftentimes, the masters that rule over us and enslave us are not “bad” things that defeat us. No, they are good things that we invited. But a good thing, when it is put in God’s place, becomes a bad thing. Sex is good, but it’s a bad god. Money is good, but it’s a bad god. Relationships are good, but they’re bad gods. Success is good, but it’s a bad god. We like to blame everyone and everything. We blame our parents, other people’s choices, the government, and even our personalities. But we truly have no one to blame but ourselves because our master is the master we chose.

The good news is that there is another Master named Jesus. He comes in and defeats the old master. He conquers Satan, sin, and death. Then Jesus liberates us and frees us to live under His grace so we can have life.

Lawlessness leads to more lawlessness. Righteousness leads to sanctification, which means growth and change. Now, when you meet Jesus, you’re not perfect, but you are new. And you are in the process of changing by the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit. God is working to make you more and more and more like Jesus, your new Master. You’re not who you will be when Jesus is done with you, but you’re also not who you were when Jesus started with you.

Sin will lie to you and say it’s willing to be your slave. The truth is sin always demands to be your master. Who’s the slave? You are. Once you choose sin to be your master, you cannot control it—it controls you. You can’t manage it; it manages you. You can’t hide it because, eventually, it exposes you. This is the human story.

Today’s Reflection

Are your biggest problems imposed on you or invited by you?