In Verse 15, Paul raises a second question; 'What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? do we sin at all under grace? His answer is: 'God forbid.' If you deliberately sin you must face what sin will do to you. First, sin makes you a slave, (verses 16-19) second, it makes you ashamed, (verses 20-21) finally it leads to death. (verses 23).
The first part of Paul's answer in verses 16-19, tells us that if you yield to sin, you become the slave of sin. Jesus stated this in John 8:34: 'Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.'
When you tell a lie, you tell another to cover the first. Sharpness in your voice is answered in kind and before you know it, you are arguing. You do something shady in business, and others do the same. Sin spreads like an infection. When you yield to sin, we become slaves to what we obey.
The second reason Paul gives in verses 20-21: When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What fruit did you reap from the things you are now ashamed of? Shame is the inevitable fruit of sin. In Galatians 6:7-8 he says don't kid yourself; 'for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.'
The third reason why we should not give way to sin is found in verses 21-23: Those things result in death! 'What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.'
Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 4:4 'In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.'
The God of this world has blinded the minds of them that believe not the baptism, so that they cannot see the light of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul says, 'I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.' Romans 6:19
Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness and holiness.
Slavery, death, and shame are unnecessary to believers. That is the tragedy of sin in a believer's born again baptized into Christ life. We don't have to experience it; we are free to choose otherwise. The challenge of Romans 6 is this: Christ has made you free. He set you free from the control or blame, censure, or praise, of men. You are free to respond to the greatest calling that a man can have; the call to know God. That is what this closing verse means. 'The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life.' Jesus described eternal life in John 17:3: 'Now this is eternal life: that they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.'
Here we are called to this quality of life, and yet, because of the foolishness of our hearts and the weakness of our spirits; we choose to give way to indulgence that lock us into slavery, shame, and death.
May God help us to set sin aside and to live as the free men and women God has made us to be. As Paul said in Galatians 5:1: 'Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.'
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of bondage. You have been freed from the slave market; now walk as new men. This is Paul's exhortation to us.