For when you were the servants of sin, you were free from righteousness.
the servants.
Romans 6:16,17 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? …
John 8:34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
from.
Before faith in Christ, sin held mastery over the whole person. The Fall brought humanity under sin’s power, and no one can free himself by moral effort or religious works. Jesus taught that everyone who practices sin is its slave (John 8:34). Paul’s Roman readers understood slavery as belonging to a master whose will governed daily life. Apart from Christ, sinful desires, rebellion against God, and death ruled where God’s righteousness should have reigned.
Jhn 8:34 Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you,…
2Pe 2:19 They promise them freedom, while they themselves…
Tit 3:3 For at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, misled…
you were free of obligation to righteousness.
Such freedom was not liberty but separation from the righteous life God commands. Sinful people may perform outwardly good acts, yet they cannot produce the obedience that flows from reconciliation with God and the renewing work of the Holy Spirit. In Christ, believers have been transferred from sin’s dominion to the service of righteousness, no longer living for the old master but for the God who gives life.
Rom 8:7-8 because the mind of the flesh is hostile to God…
1Pe 4:2 Consequently, he does not live out his remaining time…
Gal 5:13 For you, brothers, were called to freedom;…
Paul is looking back to the time before we trusted Christ. He reminds us of the old chapter in our story, a chapter still unfolding for everyone outside Jesus. Scripture often steps into the past like this to highlight grace: “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1). Titus 3:3 echoes, “For at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived.” By opening with “for when,” Romans 6:20 anchors the teaching in a concrete, historical reality—our pre-conversion life.
Slavery here is not a figure of speech; it is a literal spiritual condition.
• Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin” (John 8:34).
• Romans 3:9 explains, “Both Jews and Greeks alike are all under sin.”
• Romans 7:14 adds, “I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin,” showing even Paul felt the iron grip apart from the Spirit’s power.
Sin was the master, dictating desires, choices, and destiny. We did not negotiate with it; we served it.
This “freedom” is tragically ironic. Outside Christ we felt unrestrained—no covenant ties, no holy boundaries. Yet Proverbs 14:12 warns, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” Peter describes the same illusion: “They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity” (2 Peter 2:19). In other words, independence from God is dependence on sin.
Before conversion, righteousness made no demands on us—not because we were sovereign, but because we were incapable. Romans 8:7–8 says the mind set on the flesh “does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.” First Corinthians 2:14 adds that the natural man “cannot understand” spiritual things. We had no appetite for holiness, no power to perform it, and no sense of duty toward it. Only the new birth changes that (Ezekiel 36:26-27; Romans 6:22).
Romans 6:20 looks back to expose the lie of sin’s freedom. Our former life was marked by real slavery to sin and real indifference to righteousness. Christ’s saving work flips that condition: we become free from sin’s mastery and joyfully bound to God’s righteousness.
Verses 20-23. - For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness (more literally, to righteousness; i.e. ye were not in any bondage to righteousness). What fruit had ye then (i.e. when you were formerly slaves of sin) in those things whereof ye are now ashamed?, for the end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin, and made servants to God, ye have your fruit unto sanctification; and the end life eternal. For the wages of sin is death; but the free gift of god is life eternal in Christ Jesus our Lord. The logical connection with the previous context of the above series of verses, beginning with ver. 20, as well as the sequence of thought running through them (intimated by the particles γὰρ σῦν, and δὲ), is not at once obvious. It seems to be as follows: the γὰρ in ver. 20 introduces a reason for the exhortation of ver. 19, παραστήσατε, etc. But ver. 20 is not in itself the reason, being only an introduction to the statement of it in the verses that follow. The drift of the whole passage seems to be this: Yield ye your members to the sole service of righteousness; for (ver. 20) ye were once in the sole service of sin, owning no allegiance to righteousness at all; and (ver. 21) what fruit had ye from that service? None at all; for ye know that the only end of the things ye did then, and of which ye are now ashamed, is death. But (ver. 22) your new service has its fruit: it leads to your sanctification now, and in the end eternal life. Authorities, however, both ancient and modern, are divided as to the punctuation, and consequent construction, of ver. 21. In the Vulgate and the Authorized Version (as in the interpretation given above) the stop of interrogation is placed after "ashamed;" the answer, none, being understood, and "for the end," etc., being the reason why there is no fruit The other way is to take the question as ending at "had ye then," and "those things whereof," etc., as the answer to it, and for the end, etc., as the reason why they are ashamed. Thus: "What fruit had ye then (when you were free from righteousness)? The works (or pleasures) of which you are now ashamed were the only fruit; you are ashamed of them now; for their end is death." The latter interpretation is defended by Alford on the ground that it is more consistent "with the New Testament meaning of καρπός, which is 'actions,' the ' fruit of the man' considered as the tree, not 'wages' or 'reward,' the 'fruit of his actions.'" This is true. But, on the other hand, it may be argued that such use of the word καρπός by St. Paul is always in a good sense; he usually regards sin as having no fruits at all; to the fruit of the Spirit is opposed, not any fruit of a different character, but the works (ἔργα) of the flesh (Galatians 5:19, 22); and in Ephesians 5:11 (again in opposition to the fruit of the Spirit) he speaks of the unfruitful works (ἔργοις τοῖς ἀκάρποις) of darkness. Thus the idea of ver. 21, understood as in the Authorized Version, seems closely to correspond with that of the passage last cited. "The things of which ye are now ashamed," in ver. 21, are "the works of darkness" of Ephesians 5:11; and in both places they are declared to have no fruit. Sin is a barren tree, and only ends in death. Cf. what was said above with respect to εἰς τὴν ἀνομίαν and εἰς ἁγιασμόν in ver. 19. It is true, however, that the expression in the next chapter, καρποφορῆσαι τῷ θανάτῳ (Romans 7:5), in opposition to καρποφορήσωμεν τῷ Θεῷ, in some degree weakens the force of the above argument. We observe, lastly, on ver. 23, that to the "wages" of sin (ὀψώνια , used usually to denote a soldier's pay) is opposed "free gift" (χάρισμα for sin earns death as its due reward; but eternal life is not earned by us, but granted us by the grace of God. As to the phrase, δουλωθέντες τῷ Θεῷ, in ver. 22, it can be used without the need of any such apology as seems to be implied in ver. 19 (according to the meaning of the verse that has been preferred) for speaking of our becoming slaves to righteousness. For we do belong to God as his δοῦλοι, and to Christ, having been "bought with a price" (cf. 1 Corinthians 7:23); and St. Paul at the beginning of his Epistles often calls himself δοῦλος Ξριστοῦ (cf. also Luke 17:10). But it does not follow that our service should be the service of slaves; it may be a free, willing, enthusiastic obedience notwithstanding; we obey, not because we are under bondage to obey, but because love inspires us (cf. Galatians 4:6, etc., "Because ye are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no longer a servant, but a son").
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NT Letters: Romans 6:20 For when you were servants of sin (Rom. Ro)