What does it mean to be a slave to sin?

Thus men of conscience felt when they lay under conquerors milder far than the Romans who now ruled. It was not that the Jews to-day were lightened, but that they had grown so used to the yoke as to forget and deny it altogether. And if it were because of God's righteous government externally, much less did they estimate aright their true state before God, as the Lord Jesus was bringing it out now. Their haughty spirit was nettled at His word, which lay bare their thraldom to the enemy. "We are Abraham's seed, and have never been in bondage to anyone: how sayest Thou, Ye shall become free?" Jesus in His answer brought in the light of God, for eternity indeed, but also for the present. "Verily, verily, I say to you, Every one that practiseth sin is a bondman of sin." How true, solemn, and humiliating! No bondage so real, none so degrading, as that of sin: could they seriously deny it to be theirs? Truly unbelief blinds to moral state, and even to plain facts. Only grace delivers, and through the truth believed.

A wave of conviction passes over the multitude, and on hearing these words many, we are told, believed on Him; but the expression is no stronger than with regard to those who "believed on His Name" when at the feast-day they saw the miracles that He did; and of whom it is said that "Jesus did not commit Himself to them" (John 2:23-25). Of these also the Lord speaks doubtfully, and presently they resent His words and lapse into unbelief the fiercer for their disappointment in Him. Perhaps they had caught at the lifting up of which He had spoken, as exaltation by the people, followed as He had said it would be by the manifestation of Himself. The Lord's words to them are certainly words well suited to turn them from any thought of mere political liberty to be gained, and to test them as to their need of a real salvation. Abiding in His word, He tells them, would prove them to be really His disciples. They would know the truth, and the truth would make them free. But at once they resist and resent this. They, the seed of Abraham, in bondage, needing to be made free? they cry: how can He speak of that? they were never in bondage to any! Spite of its notorious contradiction to the truth, their protest shows of what bondage they were thinking. But the Lord will not raise a question here, but goes deeper. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Every one that practiseth sin is the bondman of sin;'" and this, though men often count it freedom, is the bitterest bondage. Hence, as this is the condition of man in general, the first thing that he needs is to be set free. There is no such thing in the spiritual realm as self-attained freedom: salvation from sin must be of God.

But what then must be the relationship to God of those who are the slaves of sin? Freemen towards God they cannot be, and yet, though rebels in heart and will, cannot escape from service. But unwilling service is again but bondage: the slaves of sin are therefore the slaves of God.

Those present when the Lord spoke did not understand this. They said, "We are Abraham's seed, and have never been in bondage to any man. How sayst thou then, Ye shall be made free?" Jesus tells them the plain and naked truth. "Whosoever committeth (or practises) sin is the servant of sin." How exceedingly plain and yet how solemn. He cannot be free who is a servant of sin — a slave of sin. So simple that a babe can see it at once, and yet we could not find it out. It was necessary for God's Son to come from heaven to teach us this truth, and even now the mass of Christendom knows it not.

What is sin? It is the action of self-will. The creature asserting itself against the Creator by assuming the right to do what it thinks fit. What the man does need not be anything that people would call wrong, but if the will of poor fallen man is in action it is sin. Doubtless you may not like to offend against the rules of society, or to do anything which men would condemn, but you may desire to have your own will, that is the essence of sin. It is not freedom to think you are free. Let us take an extreme case. A man who drinks thinks himself a jolly fellow, and that he is in bondage to no one, but when he wants to give up drinking, he finds he is a slave. So it is with us all in everything, while we thought we were free we were in the most terrible bondage to a greater power than ourselves. So it was with the apostle Paul. He says, "When the commandment came, sin revived and I died … the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin."

What a divine thought that is in John 8 — "He that commits sin is the servant of sin." Instead of being a man of pleasure and with independence, the Lord says, the man that gratifies his lust is a slave, a captive — he serves iniquity.

He appeals to that practical knowledge which is common to us all. We all know that if we yield obedience to anyone, though not nominally their servant we are their servant practically. That is the case also in spiritual things, whether it be serving sin or God. Judged by this standard, we were without a question once the slaves of sin. But when the Gospel "form of doctrine" reached us we obeyed it, thanks be to God! As a result we have been emancipated from the thraldom of sin, and have become servants of God and righteousness. Well then, being now servants of righteousness, we are to yield our members in detail so that God may have His way with us.

It is the wisdom of any creature to candidly recognize that he is under authority. Even the most rebellious, degraded wretch in the world is so: even the most proud, respectable, reputable peer of society — independent and self-sufficient as he may consider himself. Divergent as their natural characters may be, yet being without Christ, they have both yielded themselves to the authority of sin. Man may intensely dislike the very word, “yield,” but it is in his very nature to yield: to do otherwise is an impossibility for any creature. If he does not yield to God, he is plainly yielding to sin.

This brings me to the third quotation. He reminds them of their past, they were the servants, or slaves, of sin, they were not under the domination of righteousness, they were not being ruled by righteousness, which is the will of God, they were being ruled by sin. Some say, 'Oh, I do not think that I am, I will admit it in the case of the drunkard, but not me'. There are plenty of things other than drink that men fall under the enslaving power of. We can see it in the case of alcohol, but when it is a case of our demeanour and our temper, anger, words, lusts and passions, these are not so public, it is not so clear, but it is there all the same, we are all naturally enslaved by sin.

Sin enslaves. When I have talked to boys and girls before on this I have said, 'Did you ever, on a hot day in the summer time, see hanging in the kitchen a strip of sticky tape.' What was it for? It was to catch flies. Imagine an old fly talking to a young fly, it would say, 'Whatever you do do not touch that sticky tape. It looks and smells nice, it is most alluring, but do not touch it'. The little fly will not be persuaded and thought it must have a touch and so puts out a leg but it gets stuck. It puts out some more legs to push itself off but they stick also, and if you come back in half an hour you would find the little fly just about dead, it is sticky all over. The fly cannot touch the tape without getting ensnared by it. That is like sin. Sin is the sticky thing. Am I talking my own notions? I will tell you what our Saviour said, 'Verily, verily, [or, 'Truly, truly'] I say unto you, Whosoever commits sin is the slave of sin" (John 8:34). Whoever touches the sticky thing called sin is caught and enslaved by it. 'Well,' says Paul, 'you were enslaved by sin, but now you have been made free, not from the presence of sin, but the power of sin. Slavery is broken'. We Christians know it, and it is a wonderful thing.

We call attention, in the first place, to the language of the apostle. "If Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness." This (properly understood) is consecration, and it is this which we hope, with divine help, to be able to explain. Before our conversion, as all know, we governed our own bodies. They served us according to our own wills, whether in regard to duty, desires, or pleasure. The will in each one of us was the directing force, and this is what the apostle means when he says that formerly we were servants of sin (Rom. 6:16-17). Our own wills (acted on and enslaved, it is true, by Satan through the flesh) were the supreme authority. Not that we were freemen, for "whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin" (John 8:34), and alas! we did nothing but sin; for sin is just independence of God — "lawlessness," as the Spirit of God terms it (1 John 3:4; see Gk.), — that is, having no law apart from self and the desires of self.

How do we become Bondservants? — A change of master, then, has taken place. Now in this life slaves are bought and sold without being allowed a voice in the matter. Not thus is it with the bondservice here spoken of, whether of sin, or of righteousness. So we read, "As ye have yielded your members bondservants to uncleanness, and to iniquity, to iniquity; even so now yield your members bondservants to righteousness, to holiness" (19). Sinners by birth through Adam's disobedience (v. 19), men become bondservants to sin by yielding to it. Thus man's responsibility is declared and maintained. He is not responsible for being a sinner, or for having an evil nature. He is responsible for yielding to its dictates. In consequence of Adam's transgression he became a sinner. Through yielding to sin he becomes its bondservant. He was born a sinner, was by nature a child of wrath. He was not born the bondslave of sin. He became that by the exercise of his will — yielding himself to it. Hence he is held responsible for his acts, and so his responsibility is here pressed on him. He yielded himself to sin. Let the Christian yield himself to righteousness, to holiness. He formerly did the one; he is now to do the other. And so, just as the doctrine of headship of race has a bright and blessed side, as we have seen in chap. 5, so the doctrine of personal responsibility for one's actions can be used for the furtherance of practical holiness and righteousness. "As ye have yielded your members, etc., so now yield your members bondservants to righteousness, to holiness," or, sanctification. The responsibility of the person, and his ability through grace to yield himself to righteousness, is plainly asserted; and the figurative language employed expresses the completeness of the surrender, as well as the complete change. No one can be the slave, or bondservant of two opposing masters at the same time. Once the bondservant of sin, the surrender to serve righteousness should be definitely and finally made. This again, though expressed in the original by the aorist tense, cannot be so well marked in a translation.

(V. 16). The Apostle entirely repudiates this carnal suggestion. He proves that the question shows entire ignorance of the terrible result of yielding to sin. "Know ye not", says the Apostle, "that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey?" Yielding to sin we become the slaves of sin, and every fresh indulgence of sin only forges another link in the chain that holds us in bondage to sin. An intensely solemn consideration whether for a sinner living in sin, or a saint that turns aside to trifle with sin.