Word of life - Rom 6:21

“What fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? The end of those things is death.” (Rom 6:21 ESV /English Standard Version 2001/)

The emphasis is on the word “fruit”. This word is part of a question which is addressed to every one of us. In connection with the preceding verse (v. 20), it speaks of the past slavery of sin which is described by the expression “free in regard to righteousness”. Verse 21 raises an emphatic question: What fruit were we getting from being falsely free? The answer is: shame and both temporal and eternal death. The ultimate result is accentuated in verse 23: “For the wages of sin is death.”

Owing to the influence of heresies and a so-called regard for Oriental religions, the present time indeed is a time of darkness. One no longer discerns between good and evil, law and lawlessness, truth and lie, freedom and slavery. Christians, for the most part, have lost the awareness of sin. However, they have thus not been relieved of it; on the contrary, they have fallen into even crueller slavery. They have diverted their minds from the truth to lies: “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves (false) teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths (HCT).” (cf. 2Tim 4:3-4)

By the question about the fruit God’s Word leads us to learn to see the fruit of sin and thus to be truly aware of its consequences. This fruit is suffering, pain, shame and finally death. A true view of this fruit arouses a desire in us to be set free from sin. We start to hate sin. Our nature infected with sin produces and loves sins. It does not want to be free from sin. When we come to know the truth – the real fruit of sin – the truth sets us free. The power of sin is in the lie and behind the lie is the spirit of lies and death (the devil). The opposite of the lie is the truth. Behind the truth is the Spirit of truth and life. Jesus is the Truth (Jn 14:6). The lie enslaves us and the truth makes us free. Facing the truth is real heroism.

If we are to embody the verse Rom 6:21 in our life, we have to learn to see the fruits of sin in good time, lest it should deceive and enslave us. We must bring our sins as soon as possible to the light of the cross. And Jesus not only forgives us our sins but also frees us from the root of sin (cf. Rom 6:6; Rom 6:11).