This past weekend I read a sermon by Ray Stedman regarding Romans 6. Ray focussed, in part, on the idea we can either be enslaved by sin or enslaved by righteousness. It’s a passage I am familiar with but he talked about it in a way that was new to me, new and helpful.
The paradigm shift involved Stedman’s argument that human beings are designed to be mastered. He says God designed us to live in relationship with Him as our King, and we work best, most healthily and emotionally stable when we submit to him as our master.
As Stedman said this, I realized he was right. We aren’t independent creatures, capable of “finding our own way.” We were designed to have a master. We were designed to be ruled over.
As I’ve gotten older, and hopefully wiser, I’ve realized my views of authority are skewed. Earthly authorities, all of them including Kings and teachers and pastors and priests are corrupt. And they aren’t just a little corrupt. The best of us are extremely corrupt, acting in our own self interests. The most trustworthy leaders are the ones who know this and press on in honesty and humility. I’d even go on to say that the best leaders are the ones who are the most submissive to God.
What Romans 6 is essentially saying, according to Stedman, is that because we are designed to be mastered, we will either be mastered by God or by our own sin.
I grew up trying to fight sin, if you will, because we were taught that sin was bad. This was true, of course, but sin, as a master, must then be replaced by something. My body and mind will be mastered by something, whether I like it or not. What might be more helpful, then, would be to simply change masters. Rather than allowing sin to master me, I should simply submit to the authority of God. Good stuff. Thanks Ray.
