“Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?”
The full verse · Romans 6:16 · KJV
Know , to ye , his ye to ye ; of , of ?
Asked by
Paul: called to be an apostle and separated unto the gospel of God (Romans 1:1), writing to the believers in Rome
The Scene
Having rejected the idea that grace permits sin with "God forbid," Paul begins to explain his answer to the believers in Rome (Romans 6:15).
Why It Was Asked
The purpose behind the questionPaul appeals to something his readers already knew from everyday life: a servant obeys his master. Barnes says Paul answers the objection of Romans 6:15 "by a reference to the known laws of servitude or slavery." The question presses the Romans to see that there is no neutral ground. The master you keep obeying is the master you belong to. Gill states it plainly: "such who obey sin, are the servants of sin." If that is true, then a person who uses grace as an excuse to sin is not free at all.
The Response
What Scripture recordsPaul answers with thanksgiving: "But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you" (Romans 6:17). Being "made free from sin," they "became the servants of righteousness" (Romans 6:18). Then he urges them: as they once yielded their members "servants to uncleanness," so now they should "yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness" (Romans 6:19).
Historical Context
The world behind the wordsThe word the KJV translates "servants" is the Greek doulos, which the BibleHub interlinear glosses "slaves." That is why the ESV says "obedient slaves." Barnes explains that servitude in the ancient world, whether voluntary or involuntary, "gave the master an absolute right over his slave."
Paul admits he is using a human picture: "I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh" (Romans 6:19). Barnes explains that Paul chose an illustration his readers were familiar with, rather than one "more abstract, and more strictly spiritual."
The Bigger Picture
Where this fits in God's storyPaul's question shows that God's way of freedom is not independence but a change of masters. Believers have been "made free from sin" and have "become servants to God" (Romans 6:22). The two roads end in different places: sin leads "unto death," while obedience leads "unto righteousness" and finally to "everlasting life" (Romans 6:16, 22). Matthew Henry says our obeying the laws of sin is evidence that we belong to "that family on which death is entailed."
The change is God's work. Paul does not praise the Romans for switching masters; he says, "God be thanked" (Romans 6:17). Barnes ties the passage to Jesus' own words: "Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin" (John 8:34).
Look Closer
According to Paul, what shows whose servant a person is?
Carry the question into prayer and conversation.
Lord, You set me free from sin to serve You; where am I still yielding myself to an old master, and what would wholehearted obedience to You look like there?
A prayer to carry into the day.
- Paul says your obedience shows who your master is. What do your everyday choices show about what you are serving?
- Tell about a time when obeying God felt less like losing freedom and more like finding it.
For you, a small group, a friend, or the dinner table.
Everyone serves someone. The question is not whether you will obey, but whom. Each day you keep presenting yourself to one master or the other, and those choices add up to a direction.
If you belong to Christ, you have a new Master who leads you toward righteousness and life. You can choose to yield yourself to Him on purpose, in ordinary things: your words, your habits, your time.
This doesn't mean your standing with God rests on perfect obedience. Paul thanks God for the change (Romans 6:17), because it is His work. The call is to live in line with the freedom He has already given.
Scripture's own application: Romans 6:19
Built from the biblical text and checked against trusted commentaries and lexicons. References & Sources
Keep questioning
“What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace?”
“What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed?”
“Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?”
“How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?”