Paul repeats his question of Romans 6:1 - 'If God's grace cancels the punishment of our sin, shall we continue to sin?'  The answer to that question was “By no means!” – because having died to the ruling principle of sin, we should be unresponsive to it (Romans 6:1-7).  This time, the answer, "By no means!" is based on the principle of redemption.  A slave is the property of his master unless he is redeemed by a price being paid to buy him out of slavery.

We were all born as slaves to sin (Romans 7:14), but when we desired that the precious blood of Christ should redeem us (1 Peter 1:18-19), we no longer owed sin anything ... nor did sin have any right to control us.  So, it is foolish and senseless to give back to sin an authority which has already been taken away.  Because Christ has redeemed us, we now belong to Him and ought to obey and serve Him.

These verses present the picture of a destitute person who has no resources at all.  In despair, not knowing how they might be able to live, they offer themselves to a slave owner … to do whatever their new controller demands in exchange for enough to survive and hoping for some kindness.  But when cruelty replaces hope, it is a dreadful scene to imagine.  Alas all too common even in these days.  The message is ‘Don’t offer yourself as a slave!’   

Obedience to Christ is the test of our loyalty.  The impulses which rule over us are the ones which we obey.  We can tell the extent to which we are functioning as loyal servants of Christ by our desires and behaviour; and also how much we have slipped back into our old life.  However, the purpose of Paul's words is to not to condemn us but to spur us on to living our new lives 'under new management' (2 Corinthians 5:17).  That is why we must not continue to sin: as 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says, "Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your bodies." That is the daily challenge for every child of God, and it starts afresh now!