In the previous articles, we discussed Christ’s propitiatory sacrifice on the cross and the reconciliation made possible by it. Those who take advantage of this become God’s special people, which is what Paul discussed in the passage below:
“Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? 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, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification. For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death. But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life” (Romans 6:16-22).
The Greek word for sanctification (hagiasmos) is derived from the word for saint (hagios). Sanctification is a consecration or purification. To be consecrated means to be set apart or holy (the meaning of the Greek word hagios). To be purified is to be cleansed of our sins. Jesus’ death on the cross makes it possible for our sins to be washed away so that we can be set apart as His special people.
Understanding the Concept
Let us begin by examining what the New Testament teaches about sanctification. This will enable us to better understand the passage above.
First, we are sanctified through the sacrifice of Christ. The Hebrew writer made it clear that our sanctification required the offering of the body and blood of Christ. “By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10). “Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate” (Hebrews 13:12).
Second, the Holy Spirit plays a role in our sanctification. Peter wrote, “According to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:2-3). What is the “sanctifying work of the Spirit”? Notice that Peter mentioned this in connection with being “born again.” When Jesus spoke to Nicodemus about this, He said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). When we are baptized into Christ (born again), we receive “the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38) and enjoy fellowship with God.* The Holy Spirit is also connected to our sanctification through the word He revealed from heaven. Jesus told His apostles that the Spirit would “guide [them] into all the truth” (John 16:13), and we are sanctified by the truth (John 17:17).
However, sanctification is not just a “reclassification” from being outside of Christ to being in fellowship with Him. It also requires a change in behavior as we strive to keep ourselves from sin. Paul told the brethren in Thessalonica that the “will of God” for us is our “sanctification,” which includes abstaining from sexual immorality (1 Thessalonians 4:3). He wrote, “For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification” (1 Thessalonians 4:7). We are to put sin in our past (cf. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11) and “not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2). We are called to “be holy” as God is holy (1 Peter 1:16) and to “keep [ourselves] holy” (Revelation 22:11). The Hebrew writer said, “Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14). If we do not pursue this sanctification, we will not see God because, as John explained, “God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). We must “walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light” if we want to enjoy “fellowship” with Him (John 1:7).
Finally, those who are sanctified are those who are in the church. Paul addressed his first epistle to the Corinthians in this way: “To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling…” (1 Corinthians 1:2). Paul said those who made up the church in Corinth were “sanctified” and “saints by calling.” This makes sense when we understand what “church” means. The Greek word for it (ekklesia) means “called out.” Those who obey the gospel and are added to the church (cf. Acts 2:38, 41, 47) have been purified of their sins and set apart from the world.
Understanding This in Context
Now that we have seen how sanctification is talked about in the New Testament let us return to our text and see what Paul said about it:
“Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? 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, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification. For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death. But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life” (Romans 6:16-22).
Paul began this series of verses by describing a change that had taken place. They had been “slaves of sin” (Romans 6:16), which meant they were no different from the world. He told them earlier that “all [were] under sin” because “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:9, 23). However, the Christians in Rome – who were now “called as saints” (Romans 1:7) – became “slaves of righteousness” (Romans 6:18). They put off the “old body of sin” and considered themselves to be “dead to sin” (Romans 6:6, 11). They gave up their sinful past in order to obey the Lord and serve Him “as obedient children” (1 Peter 1:14).
This sanctification is something we choose to pursue. Paul told these brethren that they “present” themselves “as slaves for obedience” and that they “became obedient” (Romans 6:16-17). We must choose whether to obey the Lord or give our lives over to sin. There is no middle ground. If we continue in sin, we cannot fulfill God’s will and will not be set apart for Him.
This also includes being “obedient” to a “form of teaching” (Romans 6:17). Though they had been “slaves of sin,” they made the choice to become “obedient from the heart” to the gospel and become “slaves of righteousness” (Romans 6:17-18). This “form of teaching” they obeyed in order to be set apart as God’s people was described earlier in this chapter: “Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:3-4). When they repented of their sins and were baptized into Christ, they conformed to Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. As Paul described it in his first letter to Corinth, they were “washed” and “sanctified” (1 Corinthians 6:11).
God has given us every reason to choose to follow Him. Paul explained that there was no “benefit” to serving sin because “the outcome of those things is death” (Romans 6:21). However, as servants of God, we have the “benefit” of “sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life” (Romans 6:22). There is no lasting benefit for sin. Anything that seems to be desirable in it is “passing” (Hebrews 11:25). In contrast, sanctification leads to the outcome of eternal life. As Paul concluded his thought in this passage, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
Conclusion
Jesus died on the cross to cleanse us of our sins. As discussed in the previous article, this allows us to be reconciled to God. We take advantage of His sacrifice by obeying the gospel and having our sins washed away. This makes us different from the world – not just because we have been forgiven, but because we now serve a new master.
Since Jesus died on the cross for us, we need to live for Him. Rather than being “slaves of sin,” let us live as “slaves of righteousness” (Romans 6:16, 18).
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* For more on this point, see the article, What Is the Gift of the Holy Spirit?
