[Pastor Ralph]

Q5. (Romans 6:18-22) In Paul's analogy in these verses, is there a place of independent freedom apart from "slavery" to sin or to Christ? Why do we long for this kind of independent freedom? Why do we hesitate to firmly take sides and make our allegiance clear to all?

[jason]

Q5. (Romans 6:18-22) In Paul's analogy in these verses, is there a place of independent freedom apart from "slavery" to sin or to Christ? Why do we long for this kind of independent freedom? Why do we hesitate to firmly take sides and make our allegiance clear to all?

No there is no independent freedom we are either slaves to God or slaves to sin but when we are slaves to God we are not really slaves in a bad way. God promises eternal life, love, holiness, life in Jesus Christ, God loves us with all his heart what an amazing gift!!
We somtimes would like to think that we have it sorted that we can do it on our own but we can't we always make mistakes and we always fall short of the glory of God.
This world is so evil and so many people are caught in a tough spot of not knowing whats right and whats wrong, people hesitate because of how difficult it is sometimes especialy if you meet someone who believes something different, thats why there is so much war in the world. People are attacked on a daily basis because of what they believe so it makes it hard, now in India i hear that alot of christians are being killed and attacked and by there thousands what sort of world do we live in!

[iam4-1god]

Q5. (Romans 6:18-22) In Paul's analogy in these verses, is there a place of independent freedom apart from "slavery" to sin or to Christ? Why do we long for this kind of independent freedom? Why do we hesitate to firmly take sides and make our allegiance clear to all?

It is very difficult, at times, to take sides when we are confronted with various sins. But there is no middle ground. We will either serve one master or the other. We really cannot have our cake and eat it, too. But, if we choose to obey the leading of The Spirit, and not sin, we won't only have cake, we will have a full banquet! I know The Word speaks of not looking at situations with the natural eye. When things get bad-when life looks as hopeless as we think it can get-we need to keep our eyes on God! He promises to help us. He promises to be with us, and never leave us. Though we walk through this valley of life, death, pain and suffering, we should not loose hope! For our hope is in God Almighty through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior! Gotta go shout! Bye!

[pickledilly]

The bottom line is that every person is a slave. There is no middle ground, no position in which we are truly independent because there are only 2 options and no gray zone. It's either sin or God.

Humans have a desire to be independent based, I think perhaps, on the God-given attribute of self-choice. In our flesh, we bristle with resistance at yielding control. Truth is, that when we think we're maintaining control by rejecting God, we're actually succumbing to the control of sin. But as believers in Christ, we have the glorious option and privilege of choosing our master! We can be slave to sin where we get wickedness and death, or we can be slave to God where we gain holiness and eternal life. Well, duh!

I think we hesitate to firmly, clearly take a side for at least 2 reasons. We don't understand the choice or the position we're in. Or we don't engage in the battle between the flesh and the spirit [Galatians 5:17]. We must be deliberate, consistent, and faithful.

[Elwood C O'Dell]

A statement by Dr. Wilson is quite clear on this issue. “There is no free middle ground where we are independent. We must choose -- one side or the other.” We would like to be independent because we want to be “in control.” We often hesitate because of the unknown that is required when walking by faith. The idea of totally trusting in another to be in control of our lives is really foreign to our “selfish nature.” But, total surrender to HIM is the only way to true freedom to become all HE desires. It is the only way to gain the absolute best HE has in store for us.

[hanks]

Q5. (Romans 6:18-22)
In Paul's analogy in these verses, is there a place of independent freedom apart from "slavery" to sin or to Christ?
No, we cannot serve both Christ and Satan. We are either sinners or saints.

Why do we long for this kind of independent freedom?
Due to our inherent pride we want to be our own masters; to be in control of our lives, instead of surrendering to Jesus.

Why do we hesitate to firmly take sides and make our allegiance clear to all?
Often our lives are compromised, and are a poor reflection of Jesus. We sometimes feel uncomfortable to announce our Christianity in our ‘politically correct’ world. We don’t stand up for Jesus; scared we will be frowned upon.

[JustJeff]

In 1960 6.2% of single women under age 30 had given birth. In 2006 that number was 50.4% (source: Northeastern University, Kansas City Star). It is the answer to all of the questions.
1. Society is exercising it's free will and rebelling against God and His commandments as He gives no leeway between His demand for complete allegiance to Him.
2. People are determined to choose what they think is the right thing to do, in other words, remain independent.
3. Taking sides requires a commitment, like marriage. It has become a rare bird.

[paulcrf]

Q5. (Romans 6:18-22) In Paul's analogy in these verses, is there a place of independent freedom apart from "slavery" to sin or to Christ? Why do we long for this kind of independent freedom? Why do we hesitate to firmly take sides and make our allegiance clear to all?

Q. In Paul's analogy in these verses, is there a place of independent freedom apart from "slavery" to sin or to Christ?
Ans: There is no other independent freedom apart from slavery to sin or to Christ. If you are not for Christ you are for the devil. that's plane and simple.WE are given by God the free will to choose which master to follow.

Q. Why do we long for this kind of independent freedom?
Ans: Maybe because we have no faith in God but we don't want to commit sin. We don't know the benefit of being a slave to righteousness which is holiness resulting to eternal life.

A.Why do we hesitate to firmly take sides and make our allegiance clear to all?
Ans: Following Christ is such a difficult task because we have been used to sin. People who do not know God or who have not tried to know God do not know the unlimited grace that God provides to his followers. They try to understand spiritual things using their human judgment. So to be safe with our friends, we fell safe by not being so religious.
Neither we accept that we are slaves to sin because we think we are righteous when we have not done wrong to our neighbors. So we think we are not sinners but we don't need God either. We think we have the power to do things our way specially when times are still on our side.

[RickJW]

Q5. (Romans 6:18-22) In Paul's analogy in these verses, is there a place of independent freedom apart from "slavery" to sin or to Christ? Why do we long for this kind of independent freedom? Why do we hesitate to firmly take sides and make our allegiance clear to all?

According to the lesson text: "There is no free middle ground where we are independent." Our natural leaning is towards sin, we must work to be free from sin. There are many reasons why man looks for this nonexistent middle ground - in American culture, for example, the lifestyle of the 'self-made' man, or woman, is aspired to. We find it hard to acknowledge help from others that has gotten us to our station in life, and especially hard to acknowledge an invisible God. We also find it very necessary to get along with everyone, so much so that we may abandon our values for sake of agreement with another person. It seems that there is no longer an objective truth, tolerance and support of each other's views has become of paramount importance today. Are we truly loving our neighbor, if we let him go on believing something that will cause him eternal suffering?

[McCollum]

Q5. (Romans 6:18-22) In Paul's analogy in these verses, is there a place of independent freedom apart from "slavery" to sin or to Christ? Why do we long for this kind of independent freedom? Why do we hesitate to firmly take sides and make our allegiance clear to all?

NO! We are a slave to sin which is death unto God, Or we are a slave to righteousness which leads to holiness and a life eternal with Christ Jesus.

Their is on third party to obey we have to choose one of the two we can not be doubled minded. We have no middle ground where we are independent, it is either slave to sin of slave to God by obeying Him and His righteousness.

When we stand up for Christ it makes it very clear to whom we are a slave unto because we are obedient to the will of God. But when we are disobedent it also show unto who we are under the salvery of sin.

[Delivered]

Q5. (Romans 6:18-22) In Paul's analogy in these verses, is there a place of independent freedom apart
from "slavery" to sin or to Christ?

We who have been purchased by the blood of the Lamb, are now not our own independent person,
we are now part of the family of God. God Almighty is our head and thanks to His mercy, His gift to us,
we are free from sins hold and are now free, independent unto righteousness!

When we excepted God's mercy, we gave up our independence, that of living for the flesh.
Thank you God for this, because I could not have done it alone.

Why do we long for this kind of independent freedom?

After being a servant unto SIN for so long, we find it is a strong habit to break.
But now that we know its hold has been broken and we have been given God's Spirit,
who enables us to be strong, enables us to walk in this new life; We should no longer look
for fig leaves to cover our shame, we must look towards repentance, forgiveness, power
to be an overcomer, it is there at God's right hand for the asking.

To make this path we walk a little easier, we must purpose in our hearts to serve God
just as Daniel did, and he certainly did overcome great obstacles set before him.

Why do we hesitate to firmly take sides and make our allegiance clear to all?

I find this question hard to answer because I do firmly stand on my allegiance to God. My life is not perfect,
but my faith in God is firm and it is because of my allegiance to Him that makes it possibe for me to
stand up against the enemy: I do belive that we don't all come to salvation at the same starting point,
or with the same conditions.

Yes, we all come free from righteousness, but for some, that servitude had a stronger hold
and for a longer period of time. I believe there are habits that are harder to break than others
and there are many diversified sins that make it more difficult for some to let go; BUT as we
walk in this new covenant, we are bound to be holy.

We who are in God's family, we are those who do what the word tells us to do, we must voluntarily want to come
under the dominion of righteousness, yeilding ourselves to righteousness is what the desire of our hearts should be.

We who know the truth, would we be so foolish as to follow the road that leads to death?

We who are blessed with God's mercy, our allegiance must be FIRM, for we stand on the Solid Rock!
My advice to anyone who is hesitant about firmly taking sides is to flee from SIN, you never
will be free if you are hesitant about who holds your allegiance. We can do it if we belive and stand firm.

[JanMary]

Q5. (Romans 6:18-22) In Paul's analogy in these verses, is there a place of independent freedom apart from "slavery" to sin or to Christ?

No, we are either slaves to our fallen sin nature or we are slaves to Christ. There is no fence to straddle. The Cross gave us the way out of the prison of darkness where we had no choice but to sin. Now we can choose to be His slaves in His Kingdom of Light. It's a daily choice, a moment by moment choice.

Why do we long for this kind of independent freedom?

Lucifer wanted to be independent from God...to be god..He lured Adam and Eve into falling into the same folly. We know we are vulnerable and weak, and independence offers the illusion of power and control. Pride draws us into the trap. He's created us to reign, and instinctively we sense this even before we become Christians, but it's only IN HIM that we will reign, through a lifetime of surrender to His Will and not exercising our own fallen will.

Why do we hesitate to firmly take sides and make our allegiance clear to all?

I think there are many reasons...we are too comfortable in the world, forgetting that we are to be in the world but not of it...our citizenship is in God's Kingdom. Fear of persecution? Fear of losing relationships? To be politically correct? We want to fit in? Want to be liked by everyone? Lazy? Ignorant? Controlled by a religious spirit? In too much of a hurry to stop and share Christ and to spell out our position? We've got our own independent agenda? It's more comfortable to be a chameleon and to move through society without being hassled. The sad thing is, if we do that, we offend and deny our precious Lord before men...He said "If you deny me before men, I will deny you before My Father". There is a price for trying to walk the fence.

[June]

There is no middle ground. You choose to sin or choose to do good deeds. It is a way of life. You have your mind set on doing good deeds and have no desire to fall from grace.
If you are following Christ, your desire is always to do the right thing and following the lead of the Holy Spirit. You will be in obedience with Christ. You won't have to think twice if you are in line with Biblical teaching, you will automatically do what Christ would do.
We hesitate because we let our pride take over. We don't want to hurt any feelings or we want to keep the peace rather than have turmoil. We need to stand up and be counted for what we believe no matter who doesn't like it.

[Soomee]

1. Slavery to SIN I agree but slave to God is not exactly showing what relationship God desires with us. For me "slavery" is a bit harsh word. God still gives us the freedom of choice he does not take away that. But we willingly choose to take God's side. We choose the way of the Cross. He does not impose like a dictator. It is natural that our mind has to be filled with either that or this. So if we do not choose God then it is inevitable that our mind will be filled with SIN (conscious or unconscious).
2. It is in us to long for that sort of independent freedom. We can see in the biblical history right from the beginning the human has that desire. It is that desire made Eve to sin. We do not like to consult God but we like to make our own decision. Eve ate the fruit from the tree to gain the knowledge of good and evil. We may ask what is wrong is gaining knowledge. But the problem is that Eve liked the idea of making her own decision without consulting God for everything. Sin of lucifer is almost the same. You can see the chaos that brought about on us.
3. Baiscally we fear for the openion of men. Fear of men is greater than the "fear" of God. Here I refer "fear" in two different sense. "Fear" of God should stem out of love recognising our creator, not as a policeman who will punish us if we disobey the law.

[Stan]

Q5. (Romans 6:18-22) In Paul's analogy in these verses, is there a place of independent freedom apart from "slavery" to sin or to Christ? Why do we long for this kind of independent freedom? Why do we hesitate to firmly take sides and make our allegiance clear to all?

No, there is no middle of the road we are either a slave to sin or Christ. We as humans want to bein control and often think that we are the pilot of our ship but we don't realize that there is a greater power in charge and that unwillingly or by our decisions we follow one or the other. We hesitate because we don't want to give up control something we only think that we have but never really do. We must submit to either a life of sin then eternal death or a life for Christ and then eternal life.

[smurf1948]

Q5. (Romans 6:18-22) In Paul's analogy in these verses, is there a place of independent freedom apart from "slavery" to sin or to Christ? Why do we long for this kind of independent freedom? Why do we hesitate to firmly take sides and make our allegiance clear to all?


There's no place for it because your either a slave to sin or to God.

We like to think we are our own person, capable of making our choices. Do whats right on our own. We know whats best for us. Unfortunately this is not so.

[nes]

Q5. (Romans 6:18-22) In Paul's analogy in these verses, is there a place of independent freedom apart from "slavery" to sin or to Christ? Why do we long for this kind of independent freedom? Why do we hesitate to firmly take sides and make our allegiance clear to all?

There is no independent freedom. for we are slaves of the one we obey. either sin or righteousness. if we obey righteousness we are not free, for we are slave of righteousness. there is no in-between.

I think it is one of our nature, longing for that kind of freedom, because we human believer or not has a tendency to decide by our own. we think that we own ourselves.

We hesitate because we don't know where we gonna make our allegiance, if it is eternal life or death.that is why Paul contrast the eternal result of two different allegiance. being freed to sin,means slave to God, the immediate fruit produced is consecration, the final outcome of belonging to God is eternal life. now the compensation paid by sin is death, sin pays wages to those working on it. the wages paid is death.

[masika]

Q5. (Romans 6:18-22) In Paul's analogy in these verses, is there a place of independent freedom apart from "slavery" to sin or to Christ? Why do we long for this kind of independent freedom? Why do we hesitate to firmly take sides and make our allegiance clear to all?
It is impossible to be neutral. Every person has a master, either God or sin. A Christian is not someone who cannot sin but someone who is no longer a slave to sin. He or she belong to God

[charisbarak]

No, no such middle ground. Those walking in the middle of the road will surely be hit! It is either God & righteousness or satan & sin.

People long for that kind of freedom because they tend to think highly of themselves & that they are "the masters of their own fate!" What they don't realize is that no decision for Christ is automatically against Christ!

It might be we see those areas of sin in our own lives & feel like failures--that we'd never be a good witness for Jesus Christ.

[reily]

Q5. (Romans 6:18-22) In Paul's analogy in these verses, is there a place of independent freedom apart from "slavery" to sin or to Christ? Why do we long for this kind of independent freedom? Why do we hesitate to firmly take sides and make our allegiance clear to all?

I guess God gave us free will to make choices other wise we would robots. beleive there is no hestitation to take the side of christ, I desire that more than anything. I think it is aligning our thinking and behavior to fullfill our hearts desire. When we do this renewing of the mind and actions then the lord adds his power

I state here to day that I long for the day when we live only to please God and our choices will be only right. Lord help me to live a life of righteousness and allow me the privilage to serve you as king.