Servants of Sin or Servants of God? A Meditation on True Freedom

Fr. Scott Haynes

Meditation on Romans 6:19–23

"I speak after the manner of men, because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as you have yielded your members to serve uncleanness and iniquity unto iniquity, so now yield your members to serve justice, unto sanctification. For when you were the servants of sin, you were free from justice. What fruit therefore had you then in those things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of them is death. But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, you have your fruit unto sanctification, and the end life everlasting. For the wages of sin is death. But the grace of God, life everlasting, in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Rom 6:19–23)

I. Introduction: Two Paths, Two Masters

The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Romans, sets before us a stark and sobering contrast: two ways of life, two masters, and two ultimate destinies. On one side is sin, which offers the illusion of freedom but ultimately pays its servants with death. On the other side is God, who calls us into His service and crowns His servants with eternal life through Christ Jesus. This passage, brief though it may be, contains the essence of the Christian moral struggle: the necessity of leaving behind the tyranny of sin and embracing the liberating service of God.

Paul acknowledges the “infirmity of your flesh” (v. 19), that human weakness which often resists God’s law. Yet, he insists that the grace we have received obliges us to live a radically different life. The imagery he uses—yielding our members as instruments of righteousness rather than sin—echoes the language of warfare and worship, as if to remind us that the Christian life is both a battle and a liturgy, a contest and an offering.

II. The Infirmity of the Flesh: Why Paul Speaks “After the Manner of Men”

Paul begins this section with an almost apologetic tone: “I speak after the manner of men, because of the infirmity of your flesh.” He condescends to human weakness, using the analogy of slavery to make his point understood. St. John Chrysostom comments on this verse:

“He does not mean that the things of God are like human things, but that, since they could not yet receive lofty teachings, he brings his instructions down to their level. For slavery to righteousness is liberty, but they could not understand this, so he uses a human image.”¹

In other words, Paul accommodates our limited comprehension. The truth is paradoxical: when we submit ourselves entirely to God, we do not lose freedom; rather, we find it perfected. But for fallen minds accustomed to equating freedom with self-will, this truth is hard to grasp. Thus, Paul uses the language of servitude—familiar to the Roman world—to describe our new relationship to God.

The “infirmity of the flesh” is not merely physical weakness; it is the moral frailty inherited from Adam, that concupiscence which inclines us to sin. St. Augustine remarks:

“The Apostle does not reproach the body but indicates the weakness which arises from the habit of sin. The body is good as God’s creature, but when governed by disordered desire, it becomes the instrument of iniquity.”²

Here we are reminded that sin is not an abstraction but a tyrant that enslaves us through our own faculties when we yield them without resistance.

III. Yielding Our Members: The Question of Dominion

Paul exhorts: “As you have yielded your members to serve uncleanness and iniquity unto iniquity, so now yield your members to serve justice, unto sanctification.” The word members signifies every power of our being—mind, will, senses, even our physical limbs. Once, these were instruments of sin; now they must become instruments of righteousness.

Notice Paul’s phrase “unto iniquity.” Sin begets sin. As St. Gregory the Great observes:

“When sin is not resisted, it grows strong by habit. From small beginnings it advances to great crimes.”³

What begins as a consent of thought may end in a hardened vice. Conversely, the service of righteousness is also progressive: “unto sanctification.” Just as sin moves from disorder to death, so grace moves from justification to holiness, preparing the soul for union with God.

This truth demands an examination of conscience: To whom am I yielding my members today? My eyes—do they gaze with purity or with lust? My tongue—does it bless or curse? My hands—do they serve others or grasp for selfish gain? There is no neutrality; our faculties are never idle. They either advance God’s kingdom or the realm of sin.

IV. The Illusion of Freedom in Sin

Paul then reminds the Romans: “For when you were the servants of sin, you were free from justice.” This is a biting irony. Freedom from righteousness is not liberty; it is a dreadful bondage disguised as autonomy. St. Augustine, reflecting on his own past, writes:

“I was bound, not with iron, but with my own will. The enemy held my will, and from it he made a chain for me. For a perverse will becomes lust, and lust obeyed becomes habit, and habit not resisted becomes necessity.”⁴

What the world calls freedom—casting off the yoke of God’s law—is in reality a deeper servitude. The sinner boasts of liberty while dragging the chains of vice. The so-called “emancipation” from divine commandments leads only to moral disintegration and despair.

Here lies the tragedy of sin: it promises life but delivers death. It offers sweetness at the lips but bitterness in the soul. It is like a mirage in the desert: the more we chase it, the more parched we become.

V. What Fruit Had You Then? The Question That Awakens Conscience

Paul pierces the heart with this question: “What fruit therefore had you then in those things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of them is death.” Sin is sterile. It yields no lasting joy, only the bitter harvest of regret. St. Cyril of Jerusalem exhorts catechumens with similar words:

“Do not be like the woman in the Gospel who eats, drinks, and says, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.’ For indeed, tomorrow you die—but not into nothingness, rather to appear before the Judge. Think now: what fruit comes from fornication? What gain from drunkenness? Nothing but shame and punishment.”⁵

Memory confirms this truth. Who among us, reflecting on past sins, does not feel a pang of shame? What seemed delightful in the moment now stings the conscience. This shame is a gift of grace, a medicine for the soul, provided it leads to repentance and not to despair.

VI. The Blessed Exchange: From Servants of Sin to Servants of God

Paul continues: “But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, you have your fruit unto sanctification, and the end life everlasting.” Here is the marvel of grace: the slave is not merely emancipated but ennobled. We do not pass from one cruel master to another; we pass from bondage to glorious liberty, from degradation to dignity. We become servants of God, which is to say, friends and children of God.

St. Leo the Great proclaims:

“O Christian, recognize your dignity! Since you are now made a sharer in the divine nature, do not return to your former baseness by a life unworthy of such grace.”⁶

What fruit springs from this new service? Sanctification—the gradual transformation of the soul into the image of Christ. Unlike the sterile works of sin, the works of grace bear fruit that endures unto eternity. Charity, humility, purity—these are not passing pleasures but everlasting treasures.

VII. Two Wages, Two Destinies

The passage ends with one of the most memorable contrasts in Scripture: “For the wages of sin is death. But the grace of God, life everlasting, in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom 6:23)

Notice the precision of Paul’s language. Sin pays wages; God gives a gift. Death is earned; life is bestowed. No one will ever stand before God and say, “I deserve eternal life.” It is pure grace, unmerited favor flowing from the pierced Heart of Christ.

St. John Chrysostom comments:

“He did not say the wages of righteousness, for even if we do ten thousand good works, we do not pay back what is due for what we have received. Eternal life is not given as payment but as a free gift.”⁷

This truth humbles pride and inflames gratitude. It reminds us that salvation is not a contract but a covenant of love, sealed in the Blood of the Lamb. To persist in sin is to labor for death, to toil for a wage that destroys. To serve God is to receive a gift that no labor could merit.

VIII. Practical Reflections for Daily Life

1. Examine Your Allegiance Daily. Ask: Who is my master today? Sin or God? Neutrality is an illusion. Each choice advances one kingdom or the other.

2. Sanctify Your Members. Offer your eyes to purity, your tongue to truth, your hands to works of mercy. Make your body a living sacrifice (cf. Rom 12:1).

3. Remember the End. When tempted, recall the question: “What fruit had you then?” Project the sin to its outcome: emptiness, shame, death. Then contrast it with the fruit of grace: peace, joy, eternal life.

4. Live in Gratitude. Eternal life is a gift. Receive it with humility and nurture it through prayer, sacraments, and works of charity.

5. Fight Habit with Habit. Vice grows by repetition; so does virtue. Replace old patterns with new disciplines: daily Scripture, frequent confession, acts of kindness.

IX. A Closing Prayer

O Lord Jesus Christ, who hast freed us from the tyranny of sin and called us into the glorious liberty of the children of God, grant that we may yield all our powers to Thee, to serve Thee in holiness and justice all our days. Let us never forget that the wages of sin is death, but Thy gift is life everlasting. Strengthen us by Thy grace, that we may persevere unto the end and behold Thee face to face in glory. Amen.

Footnotes

1. John Chrysostom, Homilies on Romans, Homily 12.

2. Augustine, On Nature and Grace, ch. 67.

3. Gregory the Great, Moralia in Job, Book XXXI, ch. 45.

4. Augustine, Confessions, VIII, 5.

5. Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures, Lecture 4.

6. Leo the Great, Sermon 21 on the Nativity.

7. Chrysostom, Homilies on Romans, Homily 12.