Those Who Became Bondservants of Righteousness
12Therefore don’t let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. 13Also, do not present your members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God, as alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14For sin will not have dominion over you. For you are not under law, but under grace. 15What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under law, but under grace? May it never be! 16Don’t you know that when you present yourselves as servants and obey someone, you are the servants of whomever you obey; whether of sin to death, or of obedience to righteousness? 17But thanks be to God, that, whereas you were bondservants of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were delivered. 18Being made free from sin, you became bondservants of righteousness. 19I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh, for as you presented your members as servants to uncleanness and to wickedness upon wickedness, even so now present your members as servants to righteousness for sanctification. 20For when you were servants of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21What fruit then did you have at that time in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22But now, being made free from sin, and having become servants of God, you have your fruit of sanctification, and the result of eternal life. 23For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Salvation was given because Jesus bore the cross. We should be thankful for how remarkable God’s covenant is, the covenant that saves only those who died to sin with Jesus on the cross. Knowing this plan of God, Jesus willingly set aside his throne, took on a human body, and came into the world to complete that covenant. He bore humanity’s sin in his own body and put off that body on the cross, and through Jesus Christ people of faith have been forgiven. Have you believed in Jesus Christ and been saved? Now the way to eternal life lies open for anyone who believes they have been forgiven by the blood of Christ and comes to God. No one could ever make the way of salvation that Jesus Christ made, and even if someone confidently insists there is another way, it is the way of death, and they cannot enter the Kingdom of God. If we believe this, we can bear the fruit of sanctification. So Paul firmly declared that we must not let sin reign in our mortal bodies. Because we died with Jesus on the cross, no sin in the world can rule over our members.
Daniel 3:15-18
15Now if you are ready whenever you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music to fall down and worship the image which I have made, good; but if you don’t worship, you shall be cast the same hour into the middle of a burning fiery furnace. Who is that god that will deliver you out of my hands?” 16Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered the king, “Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17If it happens, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace; and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. 18But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image which you have set up.”
These three men teach us how far our faith must grow. They held fast to the end even when they were threatened into idol worship, and they show us how we are to stay faithful.
Shadrach [Hananiah], Meshach [Mishael], and Abednego [Azariah] were carried off as captives along with Daniel when Babylon invaded Jerusalem. They refused the command to worship the golden image the king of Babylon had set up and were put to the test of the furnace, yet they were heroes of faith who held firm to the end. To commemorate the growth of his power and his conquests, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon commanded everyone to bow down to an image made of gold. Nebuchadnezzar had ordered that whoever did not fall down and worship the golden image be thrown at once into the burning fiery furnace, so anyone who refused to bow faced being burned alive. Who could defy so terrible a command from the king?
When all the instruments sounded, the officials and the people, every last one of them, fell down and worshiped the golden image Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Then certain Chaldeans who held great power came to the king and accused the Jews Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego of refusing to bow to the golden image. Enraged, the king ordered them brought before him. He rebuked them sternly, demanding to know why they did not serve his gods or worship the golden image he had set up; yet because he genuinely cared for these men, part of him wanted to save them. So he offered them another chance: when they heard the sound of the instruments, they were to bow down, and if they refused, he would throw them into the furnace. He was giving them one more opportunity. When he asked who the god was that could deliver them out of his hand once he had cast them into the burning fiery furnace, he was flatly declaring that no god was greater than the gods of Babylon he trusted. Even so, they answered that they could not obey the king. They already stood as dead men toward the god Babylon worshiped, and so they were saying that they had no members with which to worship an idol. Their faith was the same as ours: having died to sin in our bodies with Jesus on the cross, we no longer have members with which to sin. The three men said that they now faced death for refusing idolatry, but that even if God did not save them, they would never bow to the golden image, though it cost them their lives. Facing certain death, how many of us could boldly say that we will not worship an idol?
Nebuchadnezzar had always regarded these three with favor, and so he gave them a chance; but because they refused him in front of all the people, he was publicly humiliated, and even the king could not easily forgive them. Furious at men who would not submit to him, Nebuchadnezzar ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter and the three thrown in. When the furnace was heated seven times hotter, the men who had seized the three to throw them in were themselves burned to death first. Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah had only two choices, to become servants of righteousness or servants of sin, and they resolved that they would not use their members as instruments of unrighteousness to betray God.
Daniel 3:24-25
24Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste. He spoke and said to his counselors, “Didn’t we cast three men bound into the middle of the fire?” They answered the king, “True, O king.” 25He answered, “Look, I see four men loose, walking in the middle of the fire, and they are unharmed. The appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.”
The Septuagint, we are told, gives the word “then” in verse 24 a specific interpretation: “at the time when he heard the three men singing a hymn of deliverance and saw that they were alive.” Nebuchadnezzar took it for granted that Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah had died in a furnace so hot that it had burned to death the men holding them. That is ordinary human common sense. But when he saw them alive in the fire, singing praise with another man, Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and said that the fourth looked like a son of the gods. This scene reveals God’s love in protecting his people. That Nebuchadnezzar, who did not believe in God, spoke of the appearance of a son of the gods shows that the human spirit recognizes Jesus Christ. Some scholars say this figure was an angel, and others say the king was speaking loosely of the god the three believed in; but since God the Son appeared in human form in the Old Testament, I think it may have been Jesus Christ.
When three men visited Abraham, he received them with great care, and they gave him the promise that Sarah would bear a son the following year. When Sarah laughed to herself at this, the Bible records, “Yahweh said to Abraham,” and from this we can tell that it was Jesus Christ, come to this earth in human form. So I believe the one with them in the furnace was Jesus Christ.
Matthew 28:20
20teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
Jesus said that what he had told his disciples was the law, and so they were to teach people to observe it, and he promised to be with all who keep his word always, even to the end of the age. When Jesus says he is with us, he does not mean he will be with us only in good times; it is a promise to be with his children of faith in every circumstance. Because Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah believed that God is almighty and had set their hope on heaven, they held to their faith even if he did not deliver them from the furnace: if we perish, we perish.
People think this world is the end. But whoever has set their hope on heaven gladly chooses the Kingdom of God, even when the king of this world threatens to throw them into the furnace. Seeing them alive in the fire, Nebuchadnezzar called out, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, you servants of the Most High God,” and told them to come out. When they came out, not a hair of their heads was singed and there was no smell of fire on them, and those who had accused them were left speechless. The king praised the power of God and highly commended the faith of these three, who had bowed to no god but their own. Then he decreed that from now on anyone who spoke rashly against the God they served would be cut in pieces and their house made a dunghill. Their faith, ready to perish if it came to that, caused the Gentiles to exalt the name of God and brought honor to their own lives as well. Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah are the very people who showed in real life what it means to present your members to God as instruments of righteousness.
When the apostle Paul tells us to present ourselves to God as alive from the dead, he is telling us to live as these three did. Told that they would be killed if they did not bow to the golden image, they were not afraid of the furnace, because they had already stood before Nebuchadnezzar as dead men. Because they believed that God is living and almighty, their faith had risen above death.
For Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah this event was a trial almost beyond human bearing; but God’s purpose was to use the golden image and the furnace so that these three would make the name of Yahweh known to the Babylonians. Through this event the three were able to show their faith, and Babylon came to know how great God is. Had they feared death and bowed to the music as the king commanded, God’s plan would have been put off. But this we must know for certain: even if it had not been these three, there would have been others who obeyed in faith, and God carries out his plan through such people. We must therefore let go of the thought that everything depends on me. That is because our zeal, as members of Christ, is for taking up the calling given to us; it is not we who bring God’s plan to fulfillment. Threatened with the furnace, they boldly said that even if God did not save them, they could not worship an idol. At the very moment when the name of God had to be exalted before the Babylonians, they showed the faithful trust they had lived by every day.
When God sets to work, some step forward to do evil, like Judas Iscariot, and some step forward to do good, like these three. Some hand over their members as servants of sin and come to death; others become servants of obedience and come to righteousness. So you must discern the spirits carefully. God did not ordain Judas Iscariot to do evil, nor were these three ordained to do good. It is the faith people hold that determines whether they do evil or good; the word, then, must stand at the center of our lives. Because God’s plan becomes human history, he always works together with people. Only when we present our members as instruments of righteousness, with a faith ready to perish if need be, can more people come to meet God.
Romans 6:17-18
17But thanks be to God, that, whereas you were bondservants of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were delivered. 18Being made free from sin, you became bondservants of righteousness.
Unless we die with Jesus and live with Jesus, we cannot become children of God born again in righteousness and holiness. If someone in Christ knows they are a new creation and yet does not unite with Jesus but keeps their sinful body as it was, they cannot help but become an instrument of unrighteousness. We once lived as Satan’s slaves and let death reign over us, and had no idea what a gift it is to enjoy freedom in the truth. But now, for those whose old self has died with Christ and who have escaped death, there is no condemnation in Jesus, and the freedom they enjoy in the truth is not like the freedom the world gives.
Now our bodies have become a new creation, members of Christ, and holy temples where the Holy Spirit dwells. If people made so holy abandon good works and are used as instruments of unrighteousness, God will cast them off without hesitation. Christ gave his own life for us when we had fallen into death; how foolish, then, to hand ourselves over for sin to rule as it pleases. If we use such precious bodies as instruments of unrighteousness and live for what perishes, God will no longer protect us from sin and Satan. You must now see to it that sin does not rule over your body. We are no longer under law but under grace. This word is treasured by the church; it sums up the whole Bible in a single line.
God does not judge those under grace by the law; he judges them by faith, in the truth. If we lived under the law, everything would be judged by the law and sin would rule, but now Jesus Christ, who fulfilled the law, will protect us by grace. We need to know the law to live rightly, but we must also recognize that we are sinners who cannot keep the whole law, and look to Jesus Christ alone.
Jesus Christ, who loves us so deeply, made known to the seven churches in the book of Revelation what authority he holds. Christ has power so immense that no human being could begin to imagine it. Read what he said to the seven churches, and you will see clearly how special a grace it is that Christ died for people as insignificant as we are. And what we must grasp through the seven churches is the sins those churches committed and the grace of God who forgave them. The forgiveness of original sin is the greatest grace we have received, but it is also grace that he guides us through life so that we do not stray from the way of salvation.
He told the church in Ephesus that it had left its first love and must repent and do the first works, and he promised to give the one who overcomes the tree of life in Paradise. To the church in Smyrna he said that the devil was about to throw some of them into prison to test them, and that if they were faithful to death he would give them the crown of life; the one who overcomes, he said, would not be harmed by the second death. Of the church in Pergamum he said that it had held fast to the faith even when Antipas was killed where Satan dwells, but that some there held to the teaching of Balaam, and he called them to repent. To the one who overcomes he promised the hidden manna and a white stone, and a new name written on that stone. Of the church in Thyatira he said that he had given those who commit adultery with Jezebel a chance to repent, but they had not repented of their sexual immorality. The one who overcomes will receive authority, he said, and will rule them with a rod of iron, shattering them like clay pots, just as he himself had received authority from his Father; and to those who stayed faithful to the end he promised the morning star. Of the church in Sardis he said that its works were not complete before God; he knew their works, and though they had a name for being alive, they were dead, and so they must repent. The one who overcomes will be dressed in white garments, he said, and he would never blot that name out of the book of life but would confess it before his Father and before his angels. Of the church in Philadelphia he said that with little power it had kept his word and had not denied his name, and because it had kept his word with perseverance, he would keep it from the hour of testing that is coming on the whole world to test those who dwell on the earth. The one who overcomes he would make a pillar in the temple of God, and on them he would write the name of God, the name of the city of God, the new Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven from my God, and his own new name. To the church in Laodicea he said that because it was lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, he would vomit it out of his mouth; he counseled it to buy gold refined by fire so as to become rich, to buy white garments to wear so that the shame of its nakedness would not be seen, and to buy eye salve to put on its eyes. To the one who overcomes he promised a seat with him on his throne, just as he himself overcame and sat down with his Father on his throne. What he said to the seven churches shows that Jesus Christ holds the power of life and death over every person. We can see, too, that every reward given to those who overcome is Jesus Christ himself. The gift given to those who strive to keep the words of Jesus Christ is salvation itself, a perfect blessing that leaves nothing to envy.
If you hold fast to the faith as Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah did, your reward will be eternal life, and you will live as citizens of God’s beautiful kingdom. That is why the apostle Paul declared that now, having been set free from sin and having become servants of God, you have your fruit of sanctification, and the result is eternal life. To give us this eternal life as a gift, Jesus paid the wages of sin with his own body, and to give us life he conquered death and rose again. Who else could love like this? If we abide in grace with thankful hearts in all things, the Holy Spirit will walk with us to the end and lead us into the Kingdom of God. If you offer a thankful heart and an obedient faith, you will enjoy peace and rest in Jesus Christ and be able to give glory to God. May you always receive love and grace from God.