Audio commentary on this verse

Note 1 at Rom. 6:20: Paul had just made a statement in the previous verse that we should serve the Lord with the same fervor that we served the devil with before we were born again. He continues that comparison through verse 22 and makes an amazing point. He is saying that in the same way that our good acts could not change our sinful nature before we were born again, likewise our sinful acts cannot change our righteous nature now that we have become a new creature in Christ Jesus.

In this verse, the phrase "servants of sin" is describing a person before they are born again. The phrase "free from righteousness" is not saying that a lost man cannot do anything that is right, but rather, all of an individuals good acts aren't enough to change his nature. He must be born again (see note 2 at Jn. 3:3, p. 92).

Most Christians have accepted this truth unquestionably. They got saved by believing that. Yet this exact terminology is used again in verse 22 in a way that very few Christians accept. The same logic that was used in verse 20 is reversed in verse 22.

If "servants to sin" in verse 20 signified a person before salvation, then "servants to God" in verse 22 denotes just the opposite, a person who has been saved through faith in Christ. If "free from righteousness" in verse 20 described a lost man who was incapable of changing his sinful nature by his own good works, then "free from sin" in verse 22 describes a Christian as being unable to change his righteous nature through his sins.

This is a powerful truth. In the same way that our sinful nature could not be changed by our own actions, now our new born again spirit cannot be changed by our actions either. If we are going to accept one of these truths, we have to accept the other. We cannot honestly accept verse 20 and reject verse 22 when the exact same terminology is used in the same context.

Actions cannot produce the new birth and actions cannot destroy the new birth. We had to believe to receive salvation and we have to willfully reject that faith in Christ to become reprobate (see note 6 at Rom. 1:28, p. 746 and note 9 at Rom. 1:32, p. 748).