Slaves of Sin

MONDAY October 13

Slaves of Sin

According to 2 Peter 2:19 and Romans 6:16, what does sin do to sinners?

In order to illustrate the devastating power of sin, Paul sometimes personifies it as a tyrant. It “entered the world through one man” (Rom. 5:12, NIV), reigns over humans in death (Rom. 5:21, 6:12), deceives (Rom. 7:11), dwells in humans (vs. 17), enslaves (Rom. 6:20), and produces death (Rom. 7:13). The sin of Adam and Eve was unique in that it resulted in the subjection of everything to its corrupting power. Satan became the prince of this world (John 12:31, 14:30). In their search for autonomy, Adam and Eve exchanged the Lordship of God for the enslaving and corrupting lordship of Satan. Sin became a universal power from which human beings have not been able to escape by themselves (Rom. 5:12).

According to Romans 3:9–18, what has been the situation of the human race under the reign of sin?

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Paul also teaches that the fall of Adam and Eve brought the natural world under the power of sin: “For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it” (Rom. 8:20, NIV). The damaging and corrupting power of sin reached God's creation on this planet. The verb subjected indicates that nature is under the authority of some power that has robbed it of its true beauty and meaningfulness. This was the result not of its own doing but of something else: the entrance of sin (Rom. 5:12). Nature is now “subjected to frustration.” The word frustration designates here purposelessness and emptiness. Futility is used in Ephesians 4:17 to describe not nature but individuals who outside of Christ live “in the futility of their thinking” (NIV).

The point is that nature, as well as human beings, exist in a corrupted condition because of sin. What was needed was a manifestation of power from outside the sphere of human existence and outside of nature itself that could redeem the fallen world. This would happen through Christ.

Try to imagine what this world would be like were it not fallen. How different would it be? How different would our lives be? What should the difference tell you about just how devastating the power of sin really is?