From Sin’s Slave to Christ’s Servant

Who Rules Your Life?

Who tells you what to do? Most of us have people we must answer to, whether it is a boss, a teacher, or whoever is in charge at the moment. In Romans, Paul explains that before we became a Christian, sin was our boss. Sin actually ruled over us.

When we were tempted we had very little ability to say no. He actually says that we are a "slave to sin." Before we believed in Christ, when presented with a choice to sin or not we usually chose sin. That bondage sets up a simple, urgent choice for every life: who will tell you what to do?

From Sin’s Slave to Christ’s Servant

We live in a world of two choices. We can be ruled by sin with very little will to resist doing wrong or we can be a "slave to Christ" (Romans 1:1, Titus 1:1, James 1:1). Jesus tells the Pharisees that "everyone who commits a sin is a slave to sin" (John 8:34).

As a Christian, we have in reality been bought, paid with a price (1 Corinthians 6:20). The price was the death on the cross of Jesus. We have been bought and now have a new master, God. It is with His power and His alone that we can resist living as habitual sinners. We have a wonderful heritage as servant's of the Lord.

Dying to Sin, Living in Christ

Paul says we have actually "died to sin" (Romans 6:1-23). That old sinful self was buried and resurrected with Christ into a new life. A life capable of being freed from the bondage to sin. Addictions can be defeated, immoral habits can be conquered, and those 'good times' you used to enjoy so much won't be the draw they once were.

Choosing God's way over our own is certainly not always easy. For you to experience victory over sin you have to yield your life to the Holy Spirit. Cooperate with Him, don't resist Him. But yielding is a process, and Scripture honestly recognizes that the struggle continues even for believers.

The Reality of the Struggle

Even Paul says that sin can sometimes be a struggle. The corrupt and wicked world we live in goes on around us and if we aren't careful can influence us in a number of ways. We lie to ourselves when we think our sin won't be found out, because God already knows.

The Devil delights in separating us from doing the will of God, whether by enticing to sin outright or subtly influencing us not to do the good we know we should do. So what do we do when temptation to sin wins?

We can confess our sins, turn from them and now Jesus doesn't condemn us (1 John 1:9, Romans 8:1). God sees the righteousness of Jesus, the One who died for us, and not our sin. Living a life of righteousness is a process we call sanctification.

We grow in righteousness, not by wishful thinking, but through prayer, Bible study, seeking the will of God and working on our obedience. We should desire to be diligent and hard working Christians. The following is just one example of how we can do this.

Make confession regular and relational. Find a trusted Christian who will hold you accountable, pray with you, and remind you whose slave you now are (James 5:16; Hebrews 10:24–25).

We are declared righteous by faith and grow in righteousness through the work of the Holy Spirit. The closer to God we become the easier it will be to not sin. Our whole lives should be spent learning to be a slave to God.

There are things we can do that will make this more difficult. Who do we spend the most time with - believers or unbelievers? If we hang out with people who routinely practice sin we will find ourselves tempted to sin more often. If we immerse ourselves daily in social media this may cause us to focus on fear, worry and anger. It may tempt us to indulge in sexual immorality and lust, as well as envy and covetousness.

Because we have been made holy by God and are His beloved, there are things we should choose. We should:

"put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection" (Colossians 3:12-14).

"Putting on" here means that we deliberately choose to live a transformed life. God doesn't just pour this life into us, He expects us to choose it with the help of the Holy Spirit.

Do we forget sometimes that we have a choice in how we live or want to blame others for our sinful choices? Do we blame our lack of prayer or study on the busy lives that we are required to live? Living as God wants us to can be difficult unless we realize that the Holy Spirit is our helper.

Courage in Scripture: Examples to Follow

The Holy Spirit will give us the strength and courage to live a life for God if we let Him. There are many examples in the Bible of people who courageously did the right thing.

Think of Moses confronting Pharaoh who was literally held up as a god. How about Daniel violating a king's decree and praying to God, which caused him to be thrown into the lion's den (Daniel 6:10)? Paul says to act like men, meaning act with courage (1 Corinthians 16:13). But do you think it was only men who had courage?

Look at the woman Jael, who offered the commander of the Canaanite army, her enemy, hospitality, only to drive a tent peg through his head while he slept and thus subduing the king of Canaan (Judges 4:17-24). Or see the example of Esther who intervened for the Jewish people at the risk of her own life ( Esther 4:14-16).

How could these people have such great courage? They could have chosen the easy road, the one that led to sin, but instead they chose God. Joshua 1:9 says to have courage because God is with us. Isaiah 41:10 reminds us that it is God Himself who strengthens us. Psalm 18:2 explains that God is our rock, fortress, and deliverer. Paul tells us the promises of God are trustworthy and reliable (2 Corinthians 1:20). When He says He will strengthen us, He will.

Jesus even tells the paralyzed man to "take heart" in Matthew 9:2. This implies that courage (taking heart) is something that we can strive for. It is something we can receive. When God asks us to do difficult things we always have a choice to obey or disobey. Does it seem hard? Does it even perhaps cause you to feel unsafe? The Holy Spirit of God will strengthen you to do what He asks.

Some in this world face incredible danger in living a Christian life. Where some of us don't want to go to church because it's too cold or too hot, we could be like the example of the Christians in Nigeria this year. This story illustrates the cost of discipleship that some have had to pay, not to sensationalize. On June 14th of 2025, according to OSV news:

"The advocacy group Save the Persecuted Christians said that overnight between June 13 and 14, “Muslim Fulani militants raided a predominantly Catholic Christian town” outside of the town of Makurdi, “killing hundreds, say early reports from contacts within the Catholic Diocese of Makurdi.” The group said that “infants, toddlers and the elderly are among the butchered and burnt bodies. Fleeing victims were shot and hacked with machetes and thrown back into the fire.”

These people had a choice. They could have kept silent about their faith, but they chose not to. They could have denied Christ, but they chose not to. This is an extreme example obviously, but it makes you wonder. What would happen if persecution came to the United States? Would I have the courage to live and die for Christ? That stark cost of discipleship puts our easier choices into a clearer perspective.

But here and now, thankfully, we can live as Christians for the most part in peace. Our choices are simple compared to our Nigerian brothers and sisters in Christ. Who is our master? Who controls us? Do we love God and others and is that love unconditional?

Choosing God in Everyday Life

When we hear terrible stories like what happened in Nigeria are we filled with hatred for those who killed them or are we praying for them? The murderers of the Nigerians were following their master, Satan. And although most of us don't slaughter the innocent, we too once had the same master (Ephesians 2:1–3; 2 Timothy 2:26).

Paul explains that when we were slaves to sin we did things that we are now ashamed of. So ashamed that we may not even be able to speak about them to anyone. Those things would have one outcome - death. But now, because we have been set free from sin and are slaves to God, we have a different outcome - holiness and life (Romans 6:20-23).

Most of us have been tempted to gossip, especially in the workplace. This is just one example of the choices we have to make every day. We shouldn't repeat or spread gossip or rumors about anyone. The Bible warns against gossip and busybodies. I grew up with the old saying, "Unless you have something good to say, don't say anything at all."

Think about it. How can a person be both alive in Christ and dead in sin at the same time? It is impossible. If we still desire sin habitually it should make us question, in whose camp are we; slaves to God or slaves to sin?

We will still sin because we live in a fallen world that influences us, but we won't desire it nor will we remain in it. We should go to our Father with sincere sorrow and ask for His forgiveness with a repentant heart. Through faith, God transforms us from sin’s slave to Christ’s servant, reshaping our desires and actions.

Dear Father,

We pray that you would give us the strength to surrender to the will of the Holy Spirit in all circumstances.

We pray that you would bring any sin we have committed or any good we have failed to do to our minds so we can repent.

And finally Father, we pray that we would love others as you have loved us.

In your Son's name, Amen

Enjoy "Call Upon the Lord" by Elevation Worship