¹⁷ But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, ¹⁸ and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.

So what is Paul all excited about in giving thanks to God? He rejoiced in salvation from slavery for his readers, the believers in Rome. At the beginning he spoke highly of them as “called of Jesus Christ,” “beloved of God” and “saints” (1:6-7). That is who they were in Christ. Then he acknowledged what they had done—lived out their faith—and he thanked “God through Jesus Christ for [them] all, because [their] faith [was] being proclaimed throughout the whole world” (1:8). In today’s passage, he focuses on their obedience, the core of the freedom they are now experiencing.

Being freed from the Law of Moses does not mean complete lawlessness, as though obedience were thrown out the window. Remember, the first sin was one of disobedience at its core—Adam chose to “obey” the influence of Satan rather than obeying God’s clear command not to eat of the forbidden tree. Grace does not mean we are free from obeying God. Rather, grace supersedes a simple law-based approach to God’s favor. We refer to the story of Cain and Abel where Cain became angry that God did not accept his offering. His anger reveals the entitlement that animated Cain. In his mind, he deserved to have his offering accepted, just the same as Abel’s (Gen 4:3-4).

Many have tried to understand why God rejected the one and accepted the other. The most common explanation is that Abel brought as his offering from the “firstlings of his flock” (implying the best, and involving taking of life, which may prefigure the sacrificial system of Leviticus and ultimately the offering of Christ’s life as the Lamb of God). But Cain’s offering was simply “an offering to the Lord of the fruit of the ground” (implying not necessarily the best, and not involving taking of a life). However we explain it, we are amiss if we do not see the central issue of grace in contrast to entitlement—the sin that “is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it” (Gen 4:7b). Cain gave way to the self-promoting attitude that he had earned God’s “regard,” that it was his right and he deserved it.

The Roman believers, through Jesus Christ, are freed from being slaves to sin (which is empowered by the law), and instead have become obedient (as slaves) to the teaching Paul had conveyed, a freedom from sin and obedience to righteousness. Only God can bring that about, and for that, Paul is thankful.

Lord, thank You for freeing me from the slavery of sin. I willingly submit to Your righteousness.