Freedom from the clutches of sin
But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Paul turns to the alternative of things that lead to death. “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.”
It is essential to note the passive verbs here. Paul says, “You have been set free . . . and have become [or, have been made] slaves to God.” The Romans didn’t choose a new master for themselves. The new master chose them—at tremendous cost to himself. He suffered and died to pay for their sins and thus to free them from their slavery of sin so that they might live under him in his kingdom and serve him in everlasting righteousness. Such “slavery” leads to righteous living now and to eternal life in heaven hereafter.
Which is the better alternative? The answer is obvious even before Paul gives his assessment: “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Just as the two outcomes are different, so the ways in which the result is obtained are different. Death is something sinners can earn by themselves. It is the wages they have coming for their many sins. Eternal life, on the other hand, is the gift of God. It’s available only in Christ Jesus our Lord; by faith in him it is an absolutely sure thing, because it is guaranteed by God’s promise. What pathetic folly, therefore, to cast one’s lot with sin, to accept its slavery and suffer death when there is such a glorious and blessed alternative in Christ.