16. Even reason teaches that, being no more subject to sin and
unrighteousness, you are no longer to serve them with your body and
members--your whole physical life. And further, having yielded
yourselves to obey God and righteousness, you are in duty bound to
serve them with body and life. To put it concisely and clearly, Let
him who formerly was evil and lived contrary to his own conscience
and to God's will, now become godly and serve the Lord with a good
conscience. Or, as Paul says, "Let him that stole steal no more," Eph
4, 28.
17. Formerly, he tells them, their members--eyes, ears, mouth, hands,
feet--even the whole body, served uncleanness. For "vice" he uses
this term "uncleanness," readily intelligible to reason and inclusive
of all forms of sin. "You permitted your members to serve
unrighteousness," he would say, "and devoted them to every sort of
unholy life, every wicked work, committing one iniquity after another
and exercising all manner of villainy that can be named. Now reverse
the order. Reasoning according to your own logic: while before you
willingly witnessed, heard and uttered things shameful and unchaste,
and sought lewdness, lending your bodies to it, let impurity now be
distressing to your sight and hearing; let the body flee from it; be
pure in words and works. All the members of the body, all its
functions, are to be devoted to righteousness."
Thus your members, your whole bodies, are to become holy--to be God's
own--and given over solely to his service. The longer and the more
ardently they serve, the more cheerfully will they honor and obey
God, being devoted to all that is divine, praiseworthy, honorable and
virtuous. The instructions God has written upon your own heart would
teach you this principle, even were there no Word of God. It is
useless for you to protest: "Yes, but you have taught that good works
do not save," for that doctrine is not inconsistent, but beyond your
understanding. Indeed, it is the true light whereby you may fulfill
the teachings of reason.
"For when ye were servants of sin, ye were free in regard of [free
from] righteousness."
18. All these expressions Paul uses "after the manner of men,"
adapting them from the laws and customs of the times concerning
slavery, service and freedom. Then servants were bondmen, purchased
by their masters, with whom they must abide until set at liberty by
those owners, or otherwise freed. His allusion to a former service of
unrighteousness and a present service of righteousness implies two
conditions of servitude and consequently two conditions of freedom.
He who serves sin, the apostle teaches, is free from righteousness;
that is, he is captive under sin, unable to attain to righteousness
and to do righteous works. Even reason can comprehend the principle
that he is free who does not serve--who is not servant. Again,
servants of righteousness means service and obedience to
righteousness, and freedom from sin.