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‘But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
Rom_6:22
(a) It speaks of those who are free from sin. ‘But now being made free from sin.’ Is this the possible condition of any one who carries about with him a sinful nature, and whose daily lot is cast in a world lying in wickedness? But the words are plain and express; of whom, then, is this spoken? In answering the question, observe the force of the emphatic ‘Now.’ It is a note of time; it declares a conclusion; it expresses a result. The man, says the Apostle, who has apprehended the justifying righteousness of Christ, who has repented of his sin, left the service of Satan, and united himself in Christ to the living God, has been brought into this state, and is now in this condition. And so it must be, because God in His Holy Word assures us of it. What is the Gospel felt in the heart, but freedom from the tyranny of sin? ‘Sin,’ says the Apostle, ‘shall not have dominion over you; for ye are not under the law, but under grace.’
(b) But there is a further step in the practical results of true Christianity: ‘Being made free from sin, and become the servants of God.’ Freedom from one master to become the servant of another. Servant is a term of relation, and signifies here one who renders obedience to God; one who is supported by His grace and interested in His cause. And is not every Christian in covenant with, and, by profession, made a surrender of himself to, his God? Is he not bought with the precious Blood of Christ; and has he not bound himself to be ‘Christ’s faithful soldier and servant unto his life’s end’?
(c) But further the duties deepen. As servants of God, your moral developments all tend towards the attainment of ‘holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.’ Once free from righteousness, and the servants of sin; but now servants to God, ye have your fruit unto sanctification. What fruit? The fruit of your hearts; the fruit of your lips; the fruit of your lives. Think, then, what manner of people ought ye to be? Should not our hearts be given to God? What is obedience, unless it be heart-obedience? Are the enlightening of the understanding, the sanctifying of the affections, the informing of the heart, the renewing of the will—are these meaningless expressions, the shibboleth of a dead theology? or are they realities, and the real workings of the Divine Spirit in the heart of man? And will not the principle of religion in the heart equally govern the lips? The Christian will not say, ‘My tongue is my own, who is Lord over me?’ but will strive to have every thought brought into captivity, to the obedience of Christ. We are bound to see to it, that in our lips there is no guile. ‘I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue.’
(d) There must be the fruit of our lives, fruit unto holiness. We are to take care that what God hates, we disapprove; what He forbids, we forsake; what He commands, we do. Yet, alas! how absolutely unfruitful are the lives of many, or fruitful only unto evil! The fruit of the Christian’s life is not to be evil, it is not to be of a doubtful kind; it is to be fruit unto holiness. This is to be the evidence and token that he is free from sin, and become the servant of God.
(e) And then the end. Not as if the holiness and happiness of the Christian had a limit; as if his hope were one day to terminate and his expectation perish; but an end which implies the consummation of this present life for good; the fruition, the full crowning of that blessed state into which God’s believing ones are brought; a state of eternal and uninterrupted union with Christ; the realisation in His Presence of His promise: ‘Because I live, ye shall live also.’
II. Are we really free from sin, and become servants to God?—Do our lives testify as much, our consciences witness to it? Are we fruitful members of the Church of Christ—faithful, devoted, obedient disciples of the Son of God? We are but strangers here, heaven is our home. If we look heavenward, let us walk heavenward. He Who promises the end in glory will give us strength for the way. If we have our ‘fruit unto sanctification,’ the end will assuredly be ‘eternal life.’
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Prebendary Eardley-Wilmot.
Illustrations(1) ‘A number of runaway slaves came to an English settlement in Africa for shelter. When the English company found what these poor people were, they paid the price of every one to his owner, and let them all go free. A missionary belonging to the settlement said it was a touching sight when all the freed slaves came to church to thank God for their liberty. He wept for joy himself, as well he might. The Englishman with a great sum obtained the freedom of these slaves. But what has our Deliverer spent on His gift to us? “God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son.” We were not redeemed with silver and gold, “but with the precious blood of Christ.” ’
(2) ‘A sailor, just home from sea, stood on London Bridge watching a bird-catcher, with a cage of skylarks, beating their wings against the bars. The sailor held out a handful of silver, saying, “Yours, if you will let me see them all fly away.” The birds fluttered in terror as their gaoler’s hand touched the door; but the prison was open, the cage fell to the ground, and lark after lark rose singing into the sky. When death comes near, if we have received our Saviour’s precious gift, we need have “no fearing or doubting, with Christ on our side.” The body—the cage—will fall, and be cast aside; but the spirit, the true self, shall be set free, to be “with Christ, which is far better.” ’
THE HIGHER LIFE
I. A great deliverance.—‘Made free from sin.’
(a) Free from the bondage of sin.
(b) Free from the dominion of sin.
(c) Free from the curse of sin.
II. A distinguished privilege.—‘Become servants to God.’
(a) In His service there is dignity.
(b) In His service there is profit.
III. A twofold consequence.—‘Ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.’
(a) The first is in the present. It is figuratively described as ‘fruit’—the fruit of holiness. Holiness is God-likeness.
(b) The second and final is in the future. ‘Everlasting life’ is the crown of the text. It is the same piety in heaven as on earth, only in heaven it will be expanded, perfected, glorified.