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| A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver |
When a person is baptize in Jesus Christ they are baptized into His death (Rom 6:3) wherein "He died unto sin once" (Rom 6:10). Therefore anyone "buried with Him by baptism into death" have also died unto sin. This being the case, the apostle raises a valid question: "how shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?" (Rom 6:2). Furthermore, "if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him" (Rom 6:8). Christ is alive for evermore and those that are planted together in the likeness of His death, shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection (Rom 6:4). That is, they have been risen to walk in newness of life; even life God-ward or "unto God" (Rom 6:10,11).
The crucifixion of the old man and the destruction of the body of sin has put us in a condition wherein "we should not serve sin" any longer (Rom 6:6). For the believer, sin is wrong, out of order and unexpected. Sin is no longer the norm for this person. This does not mean that they will never sin again but rather that they do not have to. They are no longer slaves to sin. They are justly charged with the commission, "let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body," as it once did, "that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin; but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead" (Rom 6:12-13). The grace of God is up to this task. It will teach believers to say "no" to ungodliness and worldly lusts. Thus, it is imperative that they draw near to its throne - the throne of grace - that they might find mercy and grace to help (Heb 4:16).
Believers have been delivered from the reign that sin had over them. But this does not mean that they are not servants at all. "Know ye not," Paul reasons, "that to whom ye yield yourselves...his servants ye are" (Rom 6:16). Therefore, "being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness."
This phrase "servants of righteousness" is most intriguing. It may be unfamiliar language in our day but every believer knows the experience of being a servant of righteousness. Being a servant of righteousness is being bound, by inward compulsion, to do the right thing regardless of possible consequences, regardless of fleshly preference and without consideration of self-preservation in this world. It is truly hard, for a servant of righteousness, to kick against the pricks of the Holy Spirit. In short, a servant of righteousness is one who denies himself and takes up his cross daily to follow Jesus. He is willing, after the inner man, to sacrifice worldly gain and the pleasures of sin because "it is right" to obey God.
Peter and John were servants of righteousness. They were inwardly compelled, as though bound, to do the right thing. Though the rulers of the day "commanded [them] not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus" (Acts 4:18) they continued right on preaching. Their words expressed their experience.
Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. (Acts 4:19-20)The spirit of faith within them made the word of Christ as a fire shut up in their bones and they were weary of keeping it in. It is not that they were unwilling to preach or that they felt forced to, but they had become servants of righteousness and were compelled to serve the Lord even if it lead to their persecution. Peter went from denying the Lord to confessing Him before men because he became the servant of righteousness.
The churches of Macedonia are another example of servants of righteousness. For, "in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality" (2 Cor 8:2). These churches, according to their ability and beyond their ability, were willing to give themselves first the Lord and then to the people of God. Though they were poor, they gave great gifts to the churches of Judea. Why? They became the servants of righteousness.
The servants of righteousness will appear strange, even foolish, in the eyes of men. They do things in consideration of God rather than themselves. They do, in fact, seek FIRST the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Mt 6:33). They "suffer for righteousness' sake" (1 Pet 3:14). They "do not merely look out for [their] own interests, but also for the interests of others" (Php 2:4, NASB). Though their decisions may not be fiscally responsible or self-gratifying they are righteous. This is normal for the followers of Christ. For, they have become "the servants of righteousness."
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