“FREED TO BE A SLAVE” Romans 6:20-23
FBCF – 9/28/25
Jon Daniels
INTRO – When is last time you used an oxymoron? Def: “a figure of speech in which two contradictory words are put side by side to form a phrase.” Some words just don’t seem to go together:
- Jumbo shrimp
- Organized chaos
- Clearly misunderstood
- Sort of pregnant
- Awful good
- Devout atheist
Biblical oxymorons:
- Virgin birth
- Galatians 2:20 - "I have been crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live"
The title of this sermon has an oxymoronic feel to it: “Freed to Be a Slave.” Don’t often see the words “freed” & “slave” used together very often. Slaves don’t see themselves as free, & free people don’t see themselves as slaves.
When we think of the words “slave” or “slavery”, images of the Transatlantic slave trade of the 15th through 19th centuries come to mind. The 1939 movie, “Gone with the Wind” comes to mind. Plantation homes come to mind.
Sadly today, there are approx. 50 million slaves in the world right now. Human trafficking, sex trafficking, forced marriages, forced labor – all are parts of the slavery issues in our world today. Maybe the saddest of all the issues is that 12 million children are enslaved in our world today w/ a great number of them being trafficked, some being forced into marriage, & some forced to fight in wars.
So, it may be hard for us to unhitch those images from our minds & see slavery in a positive way. But let’s dive into the Word & see what it means for us to be “Freed to Be a Slave.”
EXPLANATION – Romans 6:20-23
The theme of freedom & redemption runs throughout the W of G, from the OT to the NT. God is serious about setting His people free & releasing them from bondage. This is a prevalent theme throughout the Bible. And it’s the very reason that He sent Jesus to be our Savior & Redeemer.
Our need for freedom surfaces in the very first pages of the Bible in the Garden of Eden. Once Adam & Eve gave into temptation & sinned, the drama of redemption was set in motion. God’s plan to set us free from the power & slavery of sin is then seen on nearly every page of the OT leading right up to the birth, life, death, burial, resurrection, & ascension of Jesus Christ. God made that abundantly clear there in the Garden when He spoke to the serpent, Satan, & said, “I will put enmity [Heb means “profound hatred & hostility”] between you & the woman, & between your offspring & hers; He will crush your head & you will strike His heel.” (Genesis 3:15). This declaration, known as the protoevangelium, or “first Gospel,” culminated w/ Jesus’ final cry from the cross, “It is finished!”
From that moment in the Garden of Eden, the promise of freedom & redemption was seen throughout the OT:
- Every lamb that was sacrificed in the OT pointed toward the ultimate sacrifice of the “Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” on the cross.
- The blood on the doorposts when the death angel passed over Egypt in Ex. 12, sparing the lives of God’s people, pointed toward the blood that would pour out of Jesus’ body & down that cruel cross.
- When the Red Sea opened up, it was a picture of Jesus opening the way to freedom that God gives to us.
- When Shadrach, Meshach, & Abednego were thrown into the fiery furnace, Jesus met them there & delivered them from the flames – a foreshadowing of the deliverance from death & hell that He would offer to us by His GRACE.
- The kinsman-redeemer, seen in the book of Ruth, was a person who acted to buy back a family member or property that was lost or sold due to debt or injustice. What a beautiful illustration of Jesus as our Redeemer who bought us from sin & death, paying the price w/ His own blood.
- Think about the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53 – Isaiah 53:6 – “All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned, everyone, to our own way. And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” That prophecy would be fulfilled in Jesus. J th B – “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
- Malachi 4:2 – “But for you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy, like calves let out to pasture.” (NLT) – A beautiful prophecy that points toward the Day when Jesus returns for His people & we romp & stomp in the freedom He gives to us by His GRACE!
Songs we sing about our freedom:
- “I’m no longer a slave to fear, I am a child of God.”
- “I just wanna speak the name of Jesus, 'Til every dark addiction starts to break. Declaring there is hope and there is freedom. I speak Jesus.”
- Would you be free from the burden of sin?
There's power in the blood, power in the blood.
Would you o'er evil a victory win?
There's wonderful power in the blood.
It’s true! We no longer have to be a slave to fear! There is freedom in the name of Jesus & in the power of the blood of Jesus!
APPLICATION – In Christ, we are saved & set free to serve the Lord.
SIN IS AN AWFUL MASTER – V. 20 – Bob Dylan song 1979 – “Gotta Serve Somebody” – “It may be the devil, or it may be the Lord, but you’re gonna have to serve somebody.” Definitely truth in those lyrics.
Whatever you yield to becomes your master. And there are a lot of things that can become our master: food, alcohol, drugs, sex/porn, money, power/prestige, work/career. Paul – 1 Corinthians 6:12 - “’Everything is permissible for me,’ but not everything is beneficial. ‘Everything is permissible for me,’ but I will not be mastered by anything.” (CSB) I can promise you that Satan has studied the game film on your life & he knows which temptations you are most likely to cave to. He know what will most likely master you. And he’s going to put that thing in front of you over & over again. He lies to you, tricks you, leads you to believe that you are stronger than you are & can handle it – “There’s no way that thing will become my master.” But someone once said, “Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, & cost you more than you want to pay.
- James Montgomery Boice: “When individuals rebel against God, they don’t achieve freedom. They fall into bondage, because rebellion is sin, & sin is a tyrant…” (https://gracequotes.org/?s=slave)
IT PRODUCES FRUIT THAT IS SHAMEFUL – V. 21 – Such a penetrating question from Paul!
- “What fruit did you get…”
- “What benefit did you derive…” (CJB)
- “What did you gain by doing those things?” (GW)
- NLT – “And what was the result? You are now ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom.”
In the moment, sin seems right – it feels right – it looks right - & we convince ourselves that the consequences won’t be that bad. Adam & Eve did it in the Garden. David did it on his balcony overlooking Bathsheba. Judas did it in betraying Jesus. The bait is in front of us. It’s shiny. It’s enticing. It’s inviting. So, we take it & Satan sets the hook! And the fruit of shame, guilt, disgrace, embarrassment, humiliation, & pain all come flooding in, leading to death in the end if we don’t turn to Jesus! Which we must do b/c…
GOD IS AN AWESOME MASTER – V. 22 -
Boice: “On the other hand, when men & women submit to God, becoming his slaves, they become truly free. They achieve the ability fully to become the special, unique beings that God created them to be.”
Remember what we said earlier: Whatever you yield to becomes your master. Yield sign – Allow oncoming traffic to overtake you & go in front of you. In a sense, that 18-wheeler or that SUV or even that motorcycle masters you in that moment as you yield to it. Sometimes, road rage will kick in & we will speed up & pass them. Same is true in our Christian life. Our flesh kicks in & we want pass the Lord, get in front of Him, lead the way in our lives & instead letting Him lead.
But Paul tells us that slavery to God results in freedom from sin, growth in sanctification – becoming more like Jesus, & ultimately, an eternal home in heaven!
What an awesome Master who wants to bless us w/ all of these things! He’s not an unfair tyrant. He’s not a cruel taskmaster holding a whip in his hand. He’s not a ruthless boss just waiting for us to mess up & step out of line so he can punish us & make our lives miserable.
He's a loving Master who sets us free to live for Him, free to serve Him, free to enjoy all the incredible blessings of belonging to Him – protected by Him – provided all we need by Him – placed in His powerful hand where we are safely held forever by Him! The God, as Brenna Manning wrote: “…the God of the Gospel of GRACE. A God, who out of love for us, sent the only Son He ever had wrapped in our skin. He learned how to walk, stumbled & fell, cried for His milk, sweated blood in the night, was lashed w/ a whip & showered in spit, was fixed to a cross, & died whispering forgiveness on us all.” (Ragamuffin Gospel, p. 40). And although we will never deserve it or be able to earn it…
HE PROVIDES LIFE THAT IS ABUNDANT & ETERNAL – V. 23 – It’s a FREE GIFT! “Too good to be true. Gotta be a catch to it! Can’t be that good of a gift w/out some strings attached! Gotta be some small print in that contract somewhere!”
NO! There’s no catch, no strings attached, no small print that’s going to come back & bite you. Abundant & eternal life is yours for FREE “in Christ Jesus our Lord” – NOT “in your good works”, NOT “in your church attendance”, NOT “in your trying to keep the 10 commandments”, NOT “in your family history in this church or any church”, NOT “in voting Republican” – but ONLY IN Christ Jesus our Lord & His finished work on the cross!
CONCLUSION – In 1981, worked at Jay’s Dept Store in shoe dept – Minimum wage - $3.35. That’s what my boss paid me.
If sin your boss/master, your wage will be eternal death. If God is your boss/master, your free gift will be eternal life.
Choice is up to you.
