What Benefit Do We Derive From Sin? / Romans 6:15-23

The Power of the Dark Side

Go ahead and pick up your Bibles and turn to Romans chapter six. We didn’t quite finish the chapter last week, so we’re going to look at verses 15 through the end of the chapter.

As you’re turning there, I don’t know if any of you are big Star Wars fans. I don’t think I’m a Star Wars fanatic—I’m not dressing up and going to conventions and stuff like that—but I like Star Wars. I really do. I like the whole saga, and I was fortunate enough to be at the right age to see those first movies when they first came out. I was able to see the surprises and the twists in those movies that nobody else knew at the time. We were seeing those things for the first time.

Now, if you’re thinking of the biggest twist in the entire series, you’re probably thinking of the moment Darth Vader revealed he was Luke’s father. People say, “That’s the big twist!” But I don’t think that’s the biggest twist in the movie. I think there’s something even more astounding than that in Return of the Jedi.

If you remember the movie, Darth Vader has captured Luke and is taking him to the Emperor. They’re in a corridor, and Luke is shackled up. He’s trying to get to his dad; he’s trying to get his father to turn back to the light. He says, “Dad, I sense the good in you. Come on, Dad.” And Darth Vader says this interesting thing I’ll never forget. He says, “Son, you don’t understand the power of the dark side.” And then he said it: “I must obey it.”

That blew me away. The entire time you’re watching those movies, you think he’s the Lord of the Dark Side. You think he’s using the power of the dark side to accomplish his goals. In fact, when you go back to when he was Anakin, he was attracted to the dark side because he believed it could give him what he needed—the power and the accomplishments he craved. He thought he was using it. But at that point in the corridor, you realize that the entire time, he wasn’t using the dark side; the dark side was using him.

It reminded me that the same thing is happening with many of us today. I know we’re followers of Jesus for the most part, and we say, “Oh, I hate sin.” But let’s be honest. Some of us don’t hate sin as much as we say we do. We just won’t admit it because we’re not supposed to. We think, “I’ll use sin—not the big ones that will destroy me, but that second tier of sins—to accomplish my goals when I need to.”

But what if it’s true that every time we sin, we aren’t using sin to get what we want? What if sin is actually using us to accomplish what it wants? We don’t see sin the way God needs us to see it. We think we can have a bad attitude at work, or withhold respect from a spouse, or walk away from a marriage because “I need to look out for myself.” We think we are using those choices to find freedom. But we are being fooled.

No Such Thing as Absolute Freedom

In Romans 6, Paul is writing to the Greeks in Rome. These were people who didn’t have the Old Testament law and never followed it; they just indulged in sin. Paul knows what they are thinking. They’re wondering, “If we didn’t need the law to be saved, why do we need it now to be holy? If we can sin and still be under grace, what’s the big deal?”

Romans 6:15 (NASB)

What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be!

Paul’s answer is essentially, “Are you kidding me?” Then he makes a “don’t you know” statement. He’s been saying this throughout the chapter, basically saying, “Surely you must know this! This is huge.”

Romans 6:16 (NASB)

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?

This statement is incredible because Paul categorizes everyone into only two groups. We are either a slave of sin leading to death, or a slave of obedience leading to righteousness. There is no third category. There is no “independent” category.

If you think that not following God’s law gives you freedom, you’re mistaken. How many people refuse to follow God because they don’t want to hand their life over to someone, not realizing they already have? There is no one who is truly free. Not one person in this room, not one person in history, has ever been independent. We are made as dependent people. That’s how we are wired.

Even Adam in the Garden of Eden was created to be dependent on God. That’s why Satan’s lie was so effective—it was a half-truth. Adam had the freedom to choose who he would hand his will over to, but he didn’t have a “free will” in the sense of being independent of any master. When Satan said, “You can be like God,” he was guaranteeing failure because humans aren’t wired for independence. It’s like me taking you to a rooftop and saying, “If you flap your arms fast enough, you can fly!” You aren’t wired to fly. You’ll just fall.

The moment Adam and Eve decided not to depend on God, they didn’t become independent; they became dependent on the only other thing available: sin. From that point on, everyone was born a slave to sin.

The Deception of the Long Line

Now, I know what you might be thinking. “Slavery to sin? I know that applies to alcoholism or drug addiction, but not to me. I just commit sins; I’m not addicted to them. I choose when to sin and when not to.”

But listen to Jesus’ words in John chapter eight. He was talking to people just like us who claimed they were free because they were descendants of Abraham.

John 8:31-34 (NASB)

So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, ‘If you continue in My word, [then] you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.’ They answered Him, ’We are Abraham’s descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, ’You will become free ‘?’ Jesus answered them, ’Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.

Whenever Jesus says “truly, truly,” it means the statement he’s about to make is going to sound like it’s not true, but it is. He says, “Anyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.” That forces us to a crossroads: is the God of the universe right, or am I?

I struggled to grasp this until I remembered a story from when I was a kid. My brother Sammy and I grew up in the country in Northern California. About a block from our house was a creek with a bridge, and we would fish there all summer for perch and sunfish. Every once in a while, a fish would swallow the hook.

My brother actually looked forward to that because he invented a game called “flying fish.” He would lock the line on his pole and start swinging the fish over his head, shouting, “I’m a flying fish!” until—bam—it hit the pavement. He’d do it over and over until there was nothing left but guts on a hook. It was cruel.

I thought I was less cruel. When a fish swallowed my hook, I’d put a bobber on the line and let the fish out. I’d watch it swim away and think, “I wonder where its home is?” Then I’d reel it back in to look at it, then let it go again. I’d do this over and over. Eventually, the fish would stop swimming. It would turn sideways, then upside down. It was dying. I’d rip the hook out, and it was dead.

In a way, I was more cruel than my brother. With my brother, the fish knew it wasn’t in control. It was a terrifying, quick end. But with me, I made the fish think it had freedom. I gave it line. It would swim toward home and think everything was okay, until I decided to pull it back in.

That is how sin works. Some of us know we are slaves; our lives are wrecked, and we’re just waiting to hit the pavement. But others of us think we are free because sin is giving us “line.” We think we’re in control, dipping in and out of sin. But every once in a while, sin tips its hand. You say something or do something and think, “I didn’t mean to do that.” Well, if you didn’t mean to do it, why did you?

You aren’t as in control as you think. Sin is whispering in your ear, “Don’t listen to this sermon; you’re fine.” But you aren’t. Sin has one goal: to kill you. Not just physically, but spiritually—to separate you from the only one who can give you real, abundant life.

A New Master and a New Purpose

We are too weak to fight sin on our own, but that is where the Gospel comes in. Jesus paid a ransom to buy us out of the slavery of sin and into slavery to Himself.

Romans 6:17-18 (NASB)

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.

Because of what Jesus did, it’s possible to change masters. Paul continues by explaining why he uses this language of slavery.

Romans 6:19-20 (NASB)

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.

Paul personifies sin because, in our physical weakness, it’s hard to comprehend the spiritual reality. He wants us to see sin as a master with an agenda. When you were a slave to sin, it was a selfish master; it would never let you serve righteousness. But God is a different kind of Master. He gives us the freedom to serve Him, yet we often use that freedom to glance back at the thing that leads to death.

Paul says we should present ourselves to God for “sanctification.” That’s a big Bible word, but it really just means to put something to its intended use. If you are sitting in a chair right now, you are sanctifying that chair because it was created to be sat in. If you use a pen to write notes, you are sanctifying it.

You were created for a purpose. You were created in the image of God to be His image-bearer. God desperately wants to put you to your intended use. As you hand your life over to Him, He slowly changes your outward actions to match the new life He put inside you. Sin will never do that. Sin abuses you. Sin takes the chair and throws it against the wall. But God cares about your purpose.

The Final Contrast

Paul ends the chapter with a powerful contrast between these two masters.

Romans 6:21-23 (NASB)

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. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We often use verse 23 as a salvation verse, and it’s great for that, but in this context, it’s about sanctification. It’s saying that right now, the wages of sin is death. And right now, the gift of God is eternal life—which doesn’t just mean “heaven one day,” but abundant, enduring life today.

If you are here tonight and you aren’t a follower of Jesus, I hope the light bulb has turned on. I hope you see that you’ve been deceived. You might be afraid of handing your life over to a Master, but you need to realize you are never going to be independent. You are wired to be dependent. The only choice you have is who you will depend on.

Sin offers you life but gives you death. God offers you a kind of death—dying to yourself—but it results in true life. Sin tells you what you want to hear; God tells you what you need to hear. Sin gives you “line” to make you think you’re free while it pulls you toward destruction. God gives you everything you truly need.

For those of us who are already followers of Christ, we need to look at sin differently. We need to stop saying, “It’s not that bad.” Every sin is enslaving and leads to death. That decision you’re thinking about making that violates God’s Word? It won’t give you life. It’s a lie.

It’s time to look at sin the way God sees it, and it’s time to look at God differently. His ways aren’t restrictive; they are life-giving. He may not always do what you want, but He will always do what you need.

Let’s pray.

Lord, I thank you for this sobering truth. I pray that we would change our language about sin. Let us recognize how powerful and devastating it is. We do not want to be slaves to sin. God, I pray for those who have never handed their lives over to You. Help them see that the choice isn’t between freedom and slavery, but between a master who destroys and a Master who restores. Help us as believers to trust You moment by moment, submitting our wills to Yours so that we can be put to our intended use. Thank You. In Your name, Amen.