Romans 6:19
I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.
English Standard Version (ESV)
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Paul apologizes for using simple "human terms" like "slavery" to explain profound spiritual realities because our understanding can be limited. Notice how the result of sin is repeated ("lawlessness leading to more lawlessness"), implying a self-perpetuating cycle, while the result of righteousness is a process leading towards becoming holy.
Paul is explaining the practical implications of belonging to Christ, moving from the abstract theological truth of being "dead to sin" to concrete action. He uses a common analogy of slavery and masters to make his point relatable, acknowledging that this "human" way of speaking is necessary because their spiritual understanding is still developing. He urges them to actively choose to serve righteousness with the same dedication they once served sin, leading to a life of increasing holiness.
Paul uses a vivid, down-to-earth analogy of slavery. Why does he feel the need to 'speak humanly' to believers who have already tasted heavenly freedom?
Accessible Truths
Paul recognizes that even as believers, we still operate with a "human" understanding, affected by our physical nature and past experiences. The concept of spiritual freedom and our new identity in Christ can be abstract.
The Power of Analogy
To make the profound truth of our transformation clear, Paul uses the familiar, earthly image of slavery. He acknowledges this is a simplified way of speaking, an accommodation to our limited grasp of spiritual realities. This isn't because our new status is like slavery, but because the obligation to serve is so strong, and our past experience of enslaving sin makes the contrast stark and understandable.
Paul contrasts two forms of 'slavery.' What's the fundamental difference between being enslaved to sin and being enslaved to righteousness, and what does this reveal about our choices?
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Two Masters, Two Destinies
The verse presents a stark choice: you were once slaves to impurity and lawlessness, and now you are to be slaves to righteousness.
Understand the original words
mele · Greek Noun
Bodily organs or faculties; the physical body and its parts. In Romans, it refers to the instruments through which human life is expressed, whether toward sin or toward God.
akatharsia · Greek Noun
Moral uncleanness, defilement, or filthiness. It denotes a departure from God's moral purity, particularly regarding sexual immorality or general corruption of character.
anomian · Greek Noun
The state of being without law or against the law. It represents a life lived in contempt of God’s revealed moral standards, resulting in an escalating cycle of rebellion.
hagiasmon · Greek Noun
The process of being made holy or set apart for God's use. It involves the progressive work of the Holy Spirit in conforming the believer to the image of Christ in daily life.
This passage directly parallels the idea of presenting 'members' to serve, contrasting the 'earthly' desires and impurity of the old self with the putting off of those things in the new self.
Galatians 5:19-21This passage lists the 'works of the flesh' which align with the 'impurity and lawlessness' Paul mentions, showing the tangible outcomes of enslaving members to sin.
Jeremiah 4:3-4This prophetic call to 'break up fallow ground' and not sow among thorns directly mirrors the concept of redirecting one's 'members' from sinful practices to the cultivation of righteousness and holiness.
Romans 12:1-2This passage speaks of presenting our 'bodies' as living sacrifices, a concept deeply connected to the willing surrender of our 'members' to God's service that Paul discusses here.
1 Peter 1:13-16This passage calls believers to prepare their minds for action and be holy because God is holy, directly reflecting the 'righteousness leading to sanctification' that is the outcome of yielding oneself to God.
henryRomans 6:16-20: "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?"
6:16-20 Every man is the servant of the master to whose commands he yields himself; whether it be the sinful dispositions of his heart, in actions which lead to death, or the new and spiritual obedience implanted by regeneration. The apostle rejoiced now they obeyed from the heart the gospel, into which they were de…
cambridgeRomans 6:19: "I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness."
19 . after the manner of men ] More lit., humanly . He apologizes, so to speak, for using the peculiarly earthly image of the slave-market to enforce a truth of the most exalted spiritual dignity; namely, the necessary conformity of the wills of the…
Paul apologizes for using simple "human terms" like "slavery" to explain profound spiritual realities because our understanding can be limited. Notice how the result of sin is repeated ("lawlessness leading to more lawlessness"), implying a self-perpetuating cycle, while the result of righteousness is a process leading towards becoming holy.
Paul is explaining the practical implications of belonging to Christ, moving from the abstract theological truth of being "dead to sin" to concrete action. He uses a common analogy of slavery and masters to make his point relatable, acknowledging that this "human" way of speaking is necessary because their spiritual understanding is still developing. He urges them to actively choose to serve righteousness with the same dedication they once served sin, leading to a life of increasing holiness.
Paul is explaining the practical implications of belonging to Christ, moving from the abstract theological truth of being "dead to sin" to concrete action. He uses a common analogy of slavery and masters to make his point relatable, acknowledging that this "human" way of speaking is necessary because their spiritual understanding is still developing. He urges them to actively choose to serve righteousness with the same dedication they once served sin, leading to a life of increasing holiness.
"I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness lea…" — Paul apologizes for using simple "human terms" like "slavery" to explain profound spiritual realities because our understanding can be limited. Notice how the result of sin is repeated ("lawlessnes…
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