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Meaning of Control of Righteousness in Romans 6

In Romans 6, the Apostle Paul addresses the practical implications of justification by grace through faith, particularly refuting the idea that such a doctrine encourages sin [4]. The passage culminates in a discussion of slavery to sin versus slavery to righteousness. Romans 6:16 states, "Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?" (ESV). This verse, and the surrounding context, clarifies what Paul means by "righteousness" in this ethical sense.

Literary Context

Romans 6 follows Paul's extensive argument in chapters 1-5 regarding humanity's universal sinfulness and God's provision of righteousness through Christ's atoning work [4]. Chapter 5 concludes with the declaration that "where sin increased, grace abounded all the more" (Rom 5:20 ESV). This statement naturally raises a question: if grace abounds where sin increases, should believers continue in sin so that grace may abound further? Paul emphatically rejects this notion in Romans 6:1-2: "By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?" (ESV).

The entire sixth chapter is dedicated to explaining how believers, united with Christ in his death and resurrection, have died to the dominion of sin and are now alive to God [7, 9]. Paul argues that baptism symbolizes this spiritual reality, where believers are buried with Christ and raised to walk in newness of life (Rom 6:3-4). This new life involves a decisive break from sin's mastery. He urges believers not to let sin "reign in your mortal body" (Rom 6:12 ESV) and to present their "members to God as instruments for righteousness" (Rom 6:13 ESV). The passage then moves to the contrast between being slaves to sin and slaves to righteousness, culminating in verse 16.

Historical and Theological Setting

Paul wrote his Epistle to the Romans to a diverse Christian community in Rome, likely around 57 AD. His primary aim was to explain the gospel of God's righteousness, addressing both Jewish and Gentile believers [4]. The concept of "righteousness" (Greek: dikaiosunē) is central to Romans, but its meaning shifts depending on the context.

In the first part of Romans (e.g., 1:17, 3:21-22, 4:3, 5), Paul primarily uses dikaiosunē in a judicial sense. Here, it refers to God's activity of setting people in a right relationship with himself, or to the righteous standing that believers receive through Christ's work [3, 6]. This is often termed "imputed righteousness," where Christ's perfect obedience and sacrifice are credited to believers, making them righteous in God's sight [8, 10, 11]. Charles Hodge emphasizes that this "righteousness of God" is not what humans do, but "solely what Christ is and has done" [8].

However, in Romans 6:16, the term "righteousness" takes on a different nuance. Here, Paul uses dikaiosunē to mean "right behavior that God demands from his people" or "righteous living" [3]. This aligns with its usage in the Old Testament, where righteousness often denotes ethical conduct and conformity to God's law [3]. For instance, Proverbs 13:6 states, "Righteousness, guardeth the man of blameless way, but, lawlessness, overthroweth the sinner" (Rotherham) [1]. Similarly, the Torrey's Topical Textbook defines righteousness as "obedience to God's law" [2].

Key Terms and Exegetical Decisions

The core of Romans 6:16 lies in the contrast between two forms of "slavery" or "service."

The major exegetical decision in this verse is understanding the shift in Paul's use of dikaiosunē. While the "righteousness of God" in Romans 1-5 is God's saving act and the believer's justified status, the "righteousness" in Romans 6:16 is the practical outcome of that salvation—a life lived in conformity to God's will [3]. This is not to say that the two are entirely separate; rather, the latter is the fruit of the former. Justification (being declared righteous) leads to sanctification (becoming righteous in conduct).

Range of Interpretations

Commentators generally agree on the ethical interpretation of "righteousness" in Romans 6:16. John Gill, in his introduction to Romans 6, notes that Paul's purpose is to exhort "justified persons by the strongest arguments, and with the best of motives to holiness of life and conversation" [4]. This holiness is the practical outworking of righteousness.

The Jamieson, Fausset & Brown commentary, in a related discussion on Romans 14:17, defines "righteousness" in an ethical context as "rectitude, in its widest sense" [5]. This aligns with the understanding that the "kingdom of God" is not merely about external observances but about internal transformation leading to right living [5].

Charles Hodge, while emphasizing imputed righteousness for justification, also highlights the necessity of sanctification. one tradition argues that just as believers are not justified by their own righteousness, "so we are not sanctified" by their own power, but by Christ living in them [9]. This implies that the "righteousness" in Romans 6:16 is not a self-generated moral effort, but a life empowered by the Holy Spirit, flowing from union with Christ. The Methodist/Wesleyan tradition, while not explicitly cited for this verse, would strongly affirm this emphasis on practical holiness and sanctification as the goal of the Christian life, often speaking of "perfect love" or "entire sanctification" as a process of becoming righteous in conduct.

Therefore, "control of righteousness" in Romans 6:16 refers to the state of being under the dominion of righteousness, where one's actions and life choices are governed by God's standards of right behavior. It is a willing submission to God's will, resulting in a life characterized by ethical conduct, in contrast to being enslaved to sin, which leads to spiritual death. This ethical righteousness is the expected outcome and evidence of a believer's new identity in Christ.

Sources

  1. Proverbs “Proverbs 13:6 (Rotherham) — Righteousness, guardeth the man of blameless way, but, lawlessness, overthroweth the sinner.”
  2. Torrey's Topical Textbook “Torrey's Topical Textbook: Righteousness — Is obedience to God's law -- De 6:25; Ro 10:5; Lu 1:6; Ps 1:2. God loves -- Ps 11:7. God looks for -- Isa 5:7. Christ Is the Son of. -- Mal 4:2. Loves. -- Ps 45:7; Heb 1:9. Was girt with. -- Isa 11:5. Put on, as breast-plate. -- Isa 59:17. Was sustained by. -- Isa 59:16. Preached. -- Ps 40:9. Fulfilled all. -- Mt 3:15. Is made to his people. -- 1Co 1:30. Is the end of the law for. -- Ro 10:4. Has brought in everlasting. -- Da 9:24. Shall judge with. -- Ps 72:2; Isa 11:4; Ac 17:31; Re 19:11. Shall reign in. -- Ps 45:6; Isa 32:1; Heb 1:8. Shall execute.”
  3. Romans (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Romans 6:16: 6:16 righteous living (Greek dikaiosunē, “righteousness”): In the first part of Romans, Paul uses this Greek word in a judicial sense, referring (1) to the activity of God to set people in a right relationship with himself or (2) to the righteous standing that believers enjoy as a result of Christ’s work (see, e.g., 1:17; 3:21-22; 4:3, 5). Here, Paul uses the same word as it is often used in the Old Testament, meaning the right behavior that God demands from his people.”
  4. Romans (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Romans 6 (introduction): INTRODUCTION TO ROMANS 6 The Apostle having finished his design concerning the doctrine of justification, refutes the charge brought against it as a licentious doctrine, and prevents any ill use that might be made of it by men of evil minds, justified persons by the strongest arguments, and with the best of motives to holiness of life and conversation: he saw, that whereas he had affirmed in the preceding chapter, that sin being made to abound by the law, in the condemnation of sinners, the grace of God the more abounded in their justification and pardon”
  5. Romans (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Romans 14:17: For the kingdom of God--or, as we should say, Religion; that is, the proper business and blessedness for which Christians are formed into a community of renewed men in thorough subjection to God (compare Co1 4:20). is not meat and drink--"eating and drinking" but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost--a beautiful and comprehensive division of living Christianity. The first--"righteousness"--has respect to God, denoting here "rectitude," in its widest sense (as in Mat 6:33); the second--"peace"--has respect to our neighbors, denoting ”
  6. Romans (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Romans 1:17: For therein is the righteousness of God revealed,.... By "the righteousness of God", is not meant the essential righteousness of God, the rectitude of his nature, his righteousness in fulfilling his promises, and his punitive justice, which though revealed in the Gospel, yet not peculiar to it; nor the righteousness by which Christ himself is righteous, either as God, or as Mediator; but that righteousness which he wrought out by obeying the precepts, and bearing the penalty of the law in the room of his people, and by which they are justified in the sight of God: and”
  7. Romans (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Romans 6:12: WHAT PRACTICAL USE BELIEVERS SHOULD MAKE OF THEIR DEATH TO SIN AND LIFE TO GOD THROUGH UNION TO THE CRUCIFIED SAVIOUR. (Rom 6:12-23) Let not sin therefore--as a Master reign--(The reader will observe that wherever in this section the words "Sin," "Obedience," "Righteousness," "Uncleanness," "Iniquity," are figuratively used, to represent a Master, they are here printed in capitals, to make this manifest to the eye, and so save explanation). in your mortal body, that ye should obey it--sin. in the lusts thereof--"the lusts of the body," as the Gr”
  8. CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 3, section 23: that it should not only be practically held by the people, but that it should also be clearly presented and maintained by the clergy. It is not what we do or are, but solely what Christ is and has done that can avail for our justification before the bar of God. Other Passages teaching the same Doctrine. 4. This doctrine of the imputation of the righteousness of Christ; or, in other words, that his righteousness is the judicial ground of the believer’s justification, is not only formally and argumentatively presented as in the passages cit”
  9. CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 3, section 30: it by their own power. Our whole salvation is of Christ. Those who are in the grave hear his voice. They are raised by his power. And when they live it is He who lives in them. This is the doctrine which our Lord Himself so clearly and so frequently teaches, and upon which his Apostles so strenuously insist. St. Paul in the sixth and seventh chapters of his Epistle to the Romans, where he treats of this subject “ in extenso ,” has for his main object to prove that as we are not justified or our own righteousness, so we are not sanctified ”
  10. CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 3, section 23: man’s “own righteousness” is that which would render him righteous, then “the righteousness of God,” in this connection, must be a justifying righteousness. It is called the righteousness of God, because, as said before, He is its author. It is the righteousness of Christ. It is provided, offered, and accepted of God. Here then are two righteousnesses; the one human, the other divine; the one valueless, the other infinitely meritorious. The folly of the Jews, and of thousands since their day, consists in refusing the latter and trusting t”
  11. CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 3, section 21: the law that he 143 might redeem those who were under the law. We are freed from the law by the body of Christ. He was made sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. He is the end of the law for righteousness to all them that believe. It is by his obedience that many are made righteous. ( Rom. v. 19 .) We obeyed in Him, according to the teaching of the Apostle, in Romans v. 12-21 , in the same sense in which we sinned in Adam. The active and passive obedience of Christ, however, are only different phases or aspects of the”
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