ACC ~ Romans 6 v17

SET FREE FROM SLAVERY. ORIGEN: It appears that Paul is saying this to those whose eternal life and spiritual progress are assured. These are the same people of whom he spoke [in 1:8] above. Then he goes on to point out that, to begin with, all men were slaves of sin. … But what follows is said to a few, to those who have been converted.

We all were slaves to sin, but when the standard of teaching was handed down to us and we chose to follow it, not in any which way nor in words only but from the heart, from the mind, with complete devotion, we were set free from the slavery of sin and made servants of righteousness. COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.

OBEDIENT FROM THE HEART. AMBROSIASTER: As it is right to obey Christ, for he is himself righteousness and what he commands is righteous, Paul therefore says that we have become servants of righteousness “from the heart,” not from the law. We do this voluntarily and not out of fear, so that our confession of faith might find expression in the judgment of our mind. For by nature we have been led to faith, not by the law, in which standard of teaching we have been made for the rule of God, who created nature. For by nature we know by whom and through whom and in whom we were created. Therefore the standard of teaching is that into which our Creator has led us naturally. This is what he said above: “They are a law unto themselves,” when their own natures see what they believe, that what the law and the Prophets predicted to the Jews concerning Christ is what the Gentiles have confessed from the heart. For this reason Paul gives thanks to the Lord, because when we were still servants of sin we obeyed from the heart, believing in Christ, so that we might serve God not according to the law of Moses but according to the law of nature. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

THE BENEFITS OF FREEDOM FROM SIN. CHRYSOSTOM: After shaming them by mentioning their slavery and alarming them by talking about its rewards, Paul puts the balance right by recalling the benefits which they have received. For by mentioning them he shows that they were set free from very great evils indeed and that this had happened without any labor on their part. … For no human power could have set us free from such great evils, but “thanks be to God,” who was willing and able to do such great things. And well he says that they were “obedient from the heart,” because they were neither forced nor pressed but came of their own accord, with a willing mind. … This shows that they exercised their free will. HOMILIES ON ROMANS 11.

THEN AND NOW. PELAGIUS: We “were” slaves to sin, but we “are” no longer. PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

THEODORET OF CYR: You who once were slaves to sin have broken away from it by the free will of your mind and have embraced spiritual teaching instead. INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS.

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