Slaves to Righteousness...Avoiding the "Slow Fade"

Reading in Romans 6:15-23 this morning, I realized afresh the context of the well know verse, Romans 6:23. God through Paul tells us in verse 16 that we are slaves to whomever we present out bodies. It doesn't say "if" we present our bodies, but "to whom" we present our bodies. We will present our bodies, our minds, our whole being to someone. This is a fact we cannot escape. Without Christ, we are slaves to the master of sin - Satan. And all we have to do is take a look at our society to know that sin only breeds more sin and more lawlessness. (vs 19)

This makes me think of the Mark Hall song (Casting Crowns), "Slow Fade." This is exactly what Mark is talking about in this song. Even as Christains, we can experience a fade into sin. We think one little sin, one little thought, one little peek, one slip of the tongue, just one...but it never stays there. Does it? It's the beginning of the slow fade...the beginning of an end we would have never dreamed of before the fade began. Unless we cry out for God to rescue us, our trip down one-little-sin lane will end in tragedy.

Thanks be to God, as Paul is known for saying, that we have a way of escape. We can become slaves of righteousness, goodness - slaves of God. What is so appealing about "being good?" Verse 22-23 tells us, "But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (NKJV - emphasis added)

This is an amazing passage and Paul is so straight-forward and thorough on this subject. I can't believe I've never seen these things so clearly before. I pray I will take it to heart and remind myself of it often.