Do occasional sins lead to spiritual death?
Question:
Good afternoon,
I heard a preacher recently state that in Romans 6:12-18, Paul makes a distinction between presenting your members as instruments for unrighteousness (Romans 6:13) and slaves of unrighteousness (Romans 6:16) which leads to spiritual death. The point being made here was that when a Christian, on occasion, yields his members as instruments for unrighteousness that it does not bring about spiritual death, but it does when one allows themselves to be slaves or servants of unrighteousness.
When I read this passage, I don’t see the point the preacher was trying to convey. If we are dead to sin and alive in Christ to honor God (Romans 6:9-11) it seems to me that Paul is saying that now Christians are not to be either instruments for unrighteousness or slaves to sin. But is it possible that one produces spiritual death (being a slave or servant) and the other (being an instrument) does not?
And my final question is what passages of scripture would help me understand my security in Christ when I do on occasion sin? I know I am not perfect, yet I try each day to be transformed into the likeness of Christ. Are we out of fellowship with God each time we sin?
Answer:
The preacher you were listening to was trying hard to bend the passage to conform to his beliefs.
At the start of the chapter, Paul is arguing that Christians should not get involved in sin (Romans 6:1-2). His first point is that when we become Christians, we were released from the bondage of sin (Romans 6:3-7). The warning then is that Christians should not return to the practices that they were freed from. "Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God" (Romans 6:11-13). The conclusion is that we cannot let sin reign over us (Psalms 19:13; 119:133). The very command implies that we have a choice when it comes to sin. Sin’s roots are in the desires of the body, which must be controlled (James 1:13-16; I John 2:15-17). We cannot give over parts of our body to be used as tools for unrighteousness (Colossians 3:5). Instead, we are to be tools of God to do righteousness (I Peter 4:1-3). Notice that Paul is not talking about an occasional slippage but allowing sin to reign over our bodies. We are not to go on (repeatedly) using our bodies to sin.
Paul's next point is that purposely allowing yourself to sin is putting yourself back into slavery. "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" (Romans 6:16-17). The law forbids sins. Grace is given to forgive sins. Since we are not under the law but grace, Paul supposes there may be some who would conclude that we would have no obligations to be obedient to the law’s commands against sin. Paul asserts that such a conclusion cannot be drawn (Galatians 5:13; I Peter 2:16; Jude 4). To prove this, Paul points out that we serve whomever we obey. "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" (Romans 6:19). If we are following sin, then we are serving sin and not Christ (John 8:24; I John 2:17). You can’t serve both at once (Matthew 6:24). Thankfully, for Christians, service to sin is a thing of the past, ending when we sincerely obeyed God’s teaching.
Paul then argues that sin has never benefitted anyone, so why indulge in it? "Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death" (Romans 6:21). When we were sinners, there was no drive to do righteousness. What benefit did you gain from the sinful acts of your past? There were no true benefits, only a judgment of death (James 1:13-16). Even the thoughts of what we once did are embarrassing (II Corinthians 4:2; Ephesians 5:12; Philippians 3:19). Sin didn’t benefit us in the past. That is why we left the way of sin.
The last point is that sin earns death (Ezekiel 18:4). God’s unearned gift is eternal life that is found in Jesus Christ, who is our ruler. Why would anyone want to go back? A choice, then, must be made (Deuteronomy 30:19).
Nowhere in this chapter is Paul contrasting occasional sin with slavery to sin. The whole point is that we must fight against sin because yielding to it will eventually lead us back to slavery and death.
Paul is not saying that Christians never sin. Sin is something we must always deal with while in the world.
"Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world" (I Peter 5:8-9).
"This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us. My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world" (I John 1:5 - 2:2).
Paul's point is that no Christian should take an "Oh well, God will take care of it" attitude toward sin. "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?" (Romans 6:1-2). Sin will always lead you further than you want to go.
