Romans 6

The thing about SIN is that it satisfies for a season, usually a very short season. Then we need to sin again to get the same satisfaction. It then becomes an endless cycle, a cycle in which it must be done in even shorter increments until it is a habit that we find ourselves locked into—an addiction—a lifestyle. I’m not just talking about alcohol or drugs but anything that takes over one’s life to the point of harming relationships, emotionally or even physically, for the sake of self-satisfaction. This is what Paul means by “becoming slaves to unrighteousness (6:13 & 19).”

Several times in this chapter he uses the word “members” by which he is referring to our bodies; our hands, eyes, feet, ears, minds, etc. When we let our body (our flesh) and its cravings rule our lives we find ourselves eventually in a mess. For instance, if we give in to ‘taste’ in what seems every moment of the day, we find ourselves eating every time we turn around—this becomes a habit, an addiction—SIN—an early grave. Remember, Satan’s major goal for every person’s life is death as soon as possible (Jn. 10:10a). Once we are dead we can no longer affect this world for the cause of Christ, helping Him rescue as many as possible “from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God (Acts 26:18).”

The GOOD NEWS (the Gospel) is that Jesus died to break these death-cycles and empower us to live above the cravings of the flesh, freeing us from the power of SIN to “become slaves to righteousness (6:18)”—that ability to DO THE NEXT RIGHT THING!