(The following questions have been developed in order to unearth the answers to simple questions regarding how the Word is functioning, a principal concern of Law and Gospel preachers. For more information on this method, and Law and Gospel preaching in general, see my brief guide, Afflicting the Comfortable, Comforting the Afflicted, available at wipfandstock.com or amazon.)
1. How does the Word function in the text? In this text, the Word is functioning in all the ways it can. It opens with a clear call to obedience in verses 12-13: "Do not let sin exercise dominion... No longer present your members to sin... present your members to God." Then vs. 14 goes directly to the announcement of the Gospel: "..you are not under law but under grace." Verses 15-16 are rhetorical questions leading us to the second announcement of the Gospel in verses 17-18: "[you] have become obedient from the heart... having been set free from sin, [you] have become slaves of righteousness." Verse 19 returns to the imperative form where we have another call to obedience. Verses 20-21 are perhaps the strongest statements of Law in this text: "The end of those things is death." The final verses return to a statement of the Gospel, ending with the oft-quoted line, "The wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
2. How is the Word not functioning in the text? Even though there is a hint of Law in verses 20-21, this text does not include a call to repentance or a point at which the text functions to point out our need for a Savior. That need is implicit in all that is said about "the wages of sin," but there is no direct call to flee from sin.
3. With whom are you identifying in the text? We are those to whom this is addressed. We know all about sin having dominion over us and leading us into a death spiral. We also know the joy of being freed from sin and given new life in Christ.
4. What Law/Gospel couplet is suggested by this text? The text provides all the vocabulary we need for couplets in this case: death/life; bondage/freedom; law/grace.
5. Exegetical work: It is interesting how writers, from ancient to modern, note the incompatibility of living in sin with life under the realm of grace. Note what 4th century theologian, St. Chysostom has to say, "It is absurd for those who are being led toward the kingdom of God to have sin ruling over them or for those who are called to reign with Christ to choose to be captive to sin, as if one should throw down the crown from his head and choose to be the slave of a hysterical woman who comes begging and covered in rags." (Ancient Christian Commentary on Scriptures, NT, vol. VI, p. 163). The Spanish theologian of the Reformation era, Juan de Valdes wrote this: "Christians indeed abstain from things prohibited by the law, not because the law prohibits them, but because they are unsuitable to the man or woman who is dead to sin and alive to God." (Reformation Commentary on Scriptures, NT, vol. VII, p. 341). Ernst Kasemann, in his classic commentary, put it succinctly: "With baptism a change of lordship has been effected." (Commentary on Romans, p. 179). Finally, Paul Achtemier, writing in the Interpretation series, said, "If, by freeing us from the domination of sin bequethed to us as heirs of Adam... baptism alters our past, it also alters our future." "We are members of a new race, whose goal for the first time can be something other than rebellion against God and ensuing death." (Romans, p. 105).
6. How does the Crossings Community model work with this text? In 2014, Ron Starenko wrote an insightful analysis of this text called "Slaves, One Way or Another." He talks about the realm under which we live, whether it is the realm of sin leading to death, or the realm of Christ leading to life. The entire analysis may be seen archived under its reference at crossings.org/text-study.
Blessings on your proclamation!
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