Servants Of Sin

“For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.” (Romans 6:20)

I don’t think anyone will have a difficult time imagining being a servant of sin. We have all exercised our sinful self. What may be difficult to imagine is when Paul states being, “free from righteousness”.

Let’s look at its opposite. John in his third epistle writes, “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” (1 John 3:9).

That’s somewhat mind boggling, isn’t it? We can either be void of righteousness completely, which means we are nothing but sin, or we can be sin free!

How are either possible? Especially the “doth not commit sin” statement by John. After all, nobody is perfect, right?

We must look at the spirit within, what it is, and the intent and motivation of that spirit and not necessarily the deed itself. This is what Jesus was talking about during His Sermon on the Mound.

“Ye have heard that it was said of them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.” (Matthew 521-22)

It is our spirit not the act that is the source of sin. The sin is with, “whosoever is angry…without a cause”. In Aristotelian terms, the spirit is the first mover, the agent or efficient "cause" of sin, not the act. The act of sin is the manifestation of the existing sin within the spirit.

While the Jews looked only at the act, Jesus showed that we need to take a step back and look at the spirit that caused the sin to be born. Hence the Aristotelian idea of the spirit being the first mover. The spirit moved the body to perform the sin that existed within.

For example, A kills B. If A killed B because A was angry at B or wanted to rob him, then A sinned. But if A killed B because B was attacking A with malice aforethought, then A didn’t sin. In either case A kills B. But in the first scenario A does so because of an unrighteous spirit. In the second scenario A killed from a just and righteous heart in self-defense.  

The act of sin doesn’t have to occur for us to sin since it is our spirit with its intent and motivation that is the source or efficient cause of sin. Jesus continues in His sermon by giving examples of reconciling with a brother before giving a gift at the altar, to settle with an adversary, and not to look at another woman in lust.

The changed heart, the righteous spirit, the one that cannot commit sin is the heart and soul that has accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. Many things occur when this happens.

Two become one. The Spirit of Christ is in us, and we in Him. Our nature changes, which in turn changes our thought, emotions, sentiments and will. We have put on the new man.

“And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all. Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.” (Colossians 3:10-17)

Accepting Jesus Christ within changes our spirit. Unrighteousness leaves, and our righteous self is born a new. We don’t sin because sin is no longer our desire, God’s will is. And since, “Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.” (Romans 13:10)

God is love. Love is the fulfillment of the law.

Jesus nailed every sin we ever did or ever will do to the cross for those that believe in Him. Our nature changes when we have faith and belief in Christ so our desire to sin is gone. But while we are still on this earth, man will always be burdened with original sin.  Although our nature has changed and our need, lust and will for sin is gone, we still are not yet perfected. Sin still has sway over us.

Here’s something to understand about sin. There are, what we’ll call, the overt sins. These are the sins that the Ten Commandments lists out. They are obvious no-no’s like murder, theft, and adultery. We are consciously aware of these sins and for the most part can manhandle our own sinful will and not do them.

(As a side note, is it not a great testimony to the depravity of man that he had to be told not to murder, not to steal, not to commit adultery, etc.?)

There are also the subtle sins that influence the way we think and rationalize. It’s called the noetic effect of sin. “Noetic” coming from the Greek word “nous” which means the mind. What it addresses is more than our thoughts being impure and sinful, but the true noetic effect is the influence sin has on us that we are unaware of, that we are blind to.

Paul speaks of this to the Corinthians. “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not” (2 Corinthians 4:4b).

To the Ephesians Paul warns, “Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart” (Ephesians 4:18)

John reminds us that God warned Isaiah what would happen to those who don’t believe.

“Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again, He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.” (John 12:39-40).

One off the purposes of the Ten Commandments was to bring sin to the attention of man. It worked well for the “big” overt sins. But man discovered he couldn’t do them through pure will. This is what Jesus is addressing in His sermon. The spirit of the man must change. To do that he must bring Christ into his heart. His sins will be forgiven, and his sin nature changed to righteousness.

“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile” (Psalm 32:1-2)

The stumbles in life are forgiven to those who repent of their sins. Remember, Jesus has already paid the price for our sins, but we still must redeem ourselves. Think coupon. The cents off has already been taken off that box of laundry detergent, but you still must redeem your coupon at the register for the discount to go into effect.

Only those with a changed heart will repent. This is very important to understand. The fruit of the tree is on display not only for our righteousness, but for our repentance as well. The unrighteous, unchanged heart (spirit) won’t repent. Hide and deny, yes, but repent of their sins, no. Keep in mind what repentance means. Not only is repentance asking for forgiveness from a sincere and sorrowful heart, but it is also an understanding of that sin and the desire to never do it again.

Never forget that the tree of righteousness bears many kinds of fruit that testify of its roots in Jesus. The tree of righteousness bears such fruit as love, forgiveness, patience, forbearance and also that of repentance.

Because of original sin being present, man will continuously sin. Which means he must continuously repent. Consider it a winnowing out process. Because if the spirit isn’t secure in Jesus, at some point in time that man will stumble, fall but won’t get back up. The spirit will refuse to repent.

“But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” (Matthew 24:13).

Losing your salvation will fly against the face of many. Yes, it is true, the Bible says that whomever God has called and drawn to Jesus, that none shall be taken from His hand. But remember the parable of the sower. Most of the seed had already taken root first and started to grow before the devil and the world killed them off.

“For many are called, but few are chosen.” (Matthew 22:14)

Many respond to the gospel call of God, but few will endure that call to the end. Those who do are the chosen, the elect of God. Most folks think this backwards. They think that if they can hang on and “do” the righteous things of God then they will be saved. But this runs counter to everything we’ve been talking about here. The endurance isn’t about the doing of righteousness, it’s about being righteous. The doing flows naturally from the being.

How do you know if you are chosen? Again, we must be sure we aren’t hyper-focused on the doing. This by the way is why many religions are so heavily into rites, rituals, and ceremonies. The doing makes them feel holy, feel righteous and feel saved. The doing comforts their minds and tries to set at ease an unsettled spirit.

Jesus said, “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:63)

It is the spirit, not the body with its deeds, that brings eternal life. The word will awaken and enliven your spirit. In Jesus, “we live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 17:28). We do because we want to do. We are by nature, not by deed. We must focus on the spirit and what it is, not on the body and what it does.

Stop looking for signs and wonders and works and deeds. “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16)

The spirit is inside of you. It quickens and profits. It is life. It is where God dwells. How do you know if you are the chosen of God? Look inside.

Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin. His nature has changed so that his will to sin is gone and his desire for God’s will reinforced. The awoke spirit is highly aware of original sin and the battle that the flesh has with it. Even the holiest of men like the Apostle Paul struggled with sin crying, “O wretched man that I am” because of sin that was warring against his mind.

It is with the elect of God, “whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile”. These are the chosen who are born of God and do not sin.

“Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)”

“For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.”

But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions; Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul. (Hebrews 10:22-23,26-27,32-39)

Bill Hitchcock