Romansනියැදිය

Romans 6
Two Boys, Two Destinies

Although it is a highly sensitive topic, let us take a journey to a cotton farm in the deep South in 1855. There are two different 12-year-old boys living on neighboring farms. They are growing tall, their voices are breaking, and they are becoming strong and remarkable young men. But this is where their experiences stop being mirror images, as their lives are polar opposites—literally black and white.

One boy named Samuel is owned by a cruel and merciless master. His life is a life of bondage and slavery. His experience is segregation, shame, fear, and the threat of death. Every sunrise brings another day of backbreaking labor under the scorching sun, another day of harsh commands and brutal punishment for the slightest misstep. His dreams are not his own; his future is not his to choose. He exists solely to serve the whims and profit of his master.

The other boy, William, lives a life of abundance, freedom, and noble purpose. He was born into a position of influence and grace, and he lives free of the burdens that others around him carry. He knows what he is born into, and he has a deep and profound sense of peace and purpose in his destiny. His days are filled with education, opportunity, and the promise of inheritance. He will one day own vast lands, command respect, and build a legacy for generations to come.

Two boys. Same age. Same potential. But radically different masters determining radically different destinies.

Life Under the Cruel Master

Read Romans 6:12-23

In Romans 6, Paul talks to us about living under Sin. He makes the point that when we are owned by a cruel master—Sin—we become ensnared to a monarch that should be dethroned. We are forced to obey sin and become tools of wickedness used for sin's pleasure. Our life becomes slavery and bondage, and our rewards are shame, lawlessness, and death.

Like young Samuel laboring under his merciless master, we find ourselves trapped in patterns of behavior that bring no lasting satisfaction, only deeper bondage. Sin promises freedom but delivers chains. It promises pleasure but pays in shame. It promises life but wages death.

Under sin's ownership, we are compelled to serve desires that ultimately destroy us. We become tools in sin's hands—our words used for destruction, our actions serving corruption, our very lives advancing sin's dark kingdom. The cruel master of sin drives us harder each day, demanding more while giving less, until we find ourselves exhausted, hopeless, and headed toward spiritual death.

Life Under Grace and Godliness

The same passage also highlights the freedom we find under Grace and Godliness. In comparison, this life is a life of pleasure and noble purpose. A life where we are able to reign in a life of freedom and joy. We are molded by truth and are invited to a deep union with the Anointed One, where we experience true holiness.

Like William, born into privilege and destined for greatness, those who serve righteousness discover a completely different existence. Under the loving lordship of Jesus Christ, we are no longer slaves but sons and daughters. We are not driven by fear but drawn by love. Our service becomes worship, our obedience becomes joy, and our surrender becomes the pathway to true freedom.

Under this new Master, we are equipped and empowered rather than exploited. We are treasured rather than used. Our lives take on eternal significance as we become instruments of righteousness, tools for healing rather than harm, agents of life rather than death.

The Great Escape

If your life is looking more like Samuel the slave than William the heir, there is hope for you. It is not too late to escape your life of slavery, dethrone the monarch of Sin in your life, and walk free into a destiny of Grace and godliness.