Live Stream

Two Ways to Live
Rom. 6:20–23 – Walk in Newness of Life: Romans 6–8 – Daniel J. Baker – Feb 15, 2026

Introduction

“If able, please stand.” Reading Rom. 6:19–23. “Thanks be to God.”

Why should you do what you do? There can be many reasons why you choose one path and choose not to take another path.

• If you’re in the military and your commanding officer says to do something, “Because he said so,” is a really important reason to do something.
• In business, profit is an important reason to do something and not do something else. Businesses do “cost-benefit” analysis all the time. What will it cost, and what will be the financial benefit of that product or that change?

But what about moral choices? Why should you choose the morally right thing and reject the morally wrong thing?

• Sometimes it’s enough to say, “do the right thing, because it’s the right thing to do.”
• Or we bring in the theological element and say, “do the right thing, because God commands it—and he’s God!”

A lot of times in the Bible, the motivation to do the right thing and not do the wrong thing has to do with the consequences of actions.

• What is the fruit of it?
• The image of “reaping and sowing” comes up a lot: You reap what you sow. What you are sowing today, you will reap tomorrow.

But another image is the idea of walking a path. Life is walking on a path, and it’s important to know where your path is leading.

• Last December Philip preached on Jesus’s words in the Sermon on the Mount near the end of Jesus’s Sermon:

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. ¹⁴ For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” (Matt 7:13–14)

Two gates with two paths behind them, one leading to “destruction” and the other leading to “life.” Choose life!

That idea is similar to what Paul is talking about in Romans 6, our passage this morning. Paul is holding up to us two ways of living. The beginning, the middle, and especially the final outcome of these two ways of living are held up to us. Like Jesus, Paul is telling us, choose the way that leads to life!

Why should we not choose the wrong thing, the unrighteous thing, the thing God forbids? Because it’s the way that leads to death. Why should we do the right thing, the righteous thing, the thing commanded by God? Because it’s the way that leads to eternal life.

We’re in Romans 6. In this chapter Paul has made a turn from Romans 1–5. Salvation was the focus of those chapters. He explained WHY we need to be saved—the terrible reality of sin and God’s wrath against sinners. And then HOW to be saved—receiving righteousness through believing in Christ.

In chapter 6, Paul makes the turn to how to LIVE in this new salvation, this new righteousness. He’s showing us in Romans 6–8 what it is to Walk in Newness of Life. That’s the name of our series.

Today we’ll see that Walking in Newness of Life means living in the way that leads to eternal life.

There are two ways to live and only two ways to live. Live on the way that leads to eternal life.[1]

Our sermon: (1) The Way to Death; (2) The Way to Eternal Life.

Prayer

I. The Way to Death

Our passage is presenting to us two ways to live. The first way we’ll look at is the way that leads to death.

The basic framework Paul gives us this: Actions/choices bear certain fruit now and then lead to a final outcome later.

First I’ll highlight the path to death.

PRESENTING (Actions/Choices): Verse 19 – “You once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness.

THE FRUIT (Short-term consequences): Verse 19 – “leading to more lawlessness.” Verse 20 – “you were slaves of sin.” Verse 21 – “What fruit did you have?” Verse 21 – “the things of which you are now ashamed.”

THE END (Final outcome): Verse 21 – “The end of those things is death.” Verse 23 – “For the wages of sin is death.”

PRESENT YOURSELVES: The unending pursuit idea is captured with that word “present” that keeps popping up: “Present yourselves/your members” to God and don’t “present yourselves/your members” to sin. You see that in Rom. 6:13, 16, 19. Five times he uses that “present” language.

And in Rom. 6:13, 19 three times the verb is used as an imperative, a command: “Present yourselves to God! Don’t present yourselves to sin!”

THE FRUIT: Life isn’t circular, an endlessly repeating chain of events.

It’s an unending series of forks in the road. A choice between two alternatives. Especially with moral choices, it’s often a choice between doing the right thing or doing the wrong thing.

• I’ve already had a piece of cake: Do I eat the second piece?
• That movie has an explicit scene in it: Do I watch it or watch something I know is okay?
• I’m tempted to say something nasty to my wife: Do I say it or do I repent and say something different?

Sometimes the big deal with these choices isn’t the choice itself, it’s what happens next. When we make a morally bad choice, maybe the consequences aren’t huge. But that choice sets us up to make an even worse choice tomorrow or next weekend.

Remember his words: “you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness” (Rom 6:19).

Think of it in tersm of having an affair. An affair is almost never a single, sudden wrong choice a person makes. It’s almost always after a long line of bad choices. When you make those bad choices, the choice to have the affair feels to you like a relatively small choice. Compared to the choices you were making 2 years ago, it’s huge. But compared to the choices you were making last weekend, it’s a relatively small next step on this path you’ve been walking.

He doesn’t just tell us WHAT to do. He also tells us WHY we should do it.

In our verses this morning, he gives us a motivational answer, a cost-benefit answer. He wants us to look down the road and ask ourselves, Where is this leading? If I stay on this path, what can I expect? What will happen to me?

One answer is “more lawlessness.”

But there’s more.

THE FINAL OUTCOME: DEATH.

The final result of this slavery to sin that leads to more and more sin is death.

Paul’s uses that single word “death” to summarize a lot of dark and troubling realities. “Death” compared to “life” is a fitting one-word summary.

But now we want to think about the full reality of God’s judgment. It’s not something we hit often, but the reality of God’s judgment against unrepentant sinners is so terrible, we need to sometimes think about it.

To use a modern phrase, God’s judgment against sinners is “eternal conscious torment”[2] or “eternal conscious punishment.”[3]

People don’t like these ideas, and there have always been people who opposed them.

One opposing view is UNIVERSALISM: We all get to heaven. We just get there by alternative routes.

God judging sinners to them is offensive. God is love, so certainly his love wins over everything in the end.

God is love. But he’s also just. And holy. And most of all, God is God. And God is the one to define who and what he is. He has revealed himself as a God who judges sin with an uncompromising standard.

We are fools to think we can make up a different god and a different judgment and it somehow becomes true.

Another view that opposes “eternal conscious punishment” is ANNIHILATIONISM. The view that sinners exist after death and are judged for a period of time, but then they are annihilated. They cease to exist.

The arguments for Annihilationism are sort of made on biblical grounds. But exegesis is not really what drives it. What drives it is being offended by the idea of “eternal conscious punishment.”

That it somehow makes God unfair: “It’s cruel and unusual punishment.”

But this is to misunderstand what sin is and who God is.

Sin is cosmic treason against the God who is holy, holy, holy.

The seriousness of the sin is not just in the action itself, but in WHO the sin is against.

We see this with offenses against a MONARCH. Some things you can do to a person, and they aren’t a crime. Or they are a crime, but a lower crime.

But when you commit the crime against a reigning MONARCH, it’s different. It can be an act of treason.

The action is the same—maybe you spit at them or hit them—but the offense is different because of who the offense was against.

And this is where all SIN is an INFINITE SIN. It is against a God who is infinitely wonderful and infinitely majestic and infinitely holy.

“And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matt 25:46)

I heard a famous podcaster try and make the case that “eternal” in such passages doesn’t really mean “eternity.” He pointed out some uses of the word in the Old Testament.

This is a flawed approach. The understanding of God’s people with words like “eternity” changes when Christ comes. Now there’s a new grasp on what it means.

As you look through the NT uses of the word, “eternity” almost always means what it sounds like it means—something eternal.

So, that’s why we say the final outcome for the unrepentant sinner is Eternal Conscious Punishment. From passages like Matt 25:46.

But also:

Revelation 14:

And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, ¹⁰ he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. ¹¹ And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.” (Rev 14:9–11)

Revelation 20, 21:

The devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever....And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire....But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” (Rev 20:10, 15; 21:8)

C.S Lewis, The Problem of Pain:

I willingly believe that the damned are, in one sense, successful, rebels to the end; that the doors of hell are locked on the inside. I do not mean that the ghosts may not wish to come out of hell, in the vague fashion wherein an envious man “wishes” to be happy: but they certainly do not will even the first preliminary stages of that self abandonment through which alone the soul can reach any good. They enjoy forever the horrible freedom they have demanded, and are therefore self enslaved: just as the blessed, forever submitting to obedience, become through all eternity more and more free.
C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain[4]

That’s the way to death. It’s the dark road of presenting ourselves to sin today, leading more sin tomorrow, and ending with eternal conscious punishment.

II. The Way to Eternal Life

Now we turn to the second way to live. There are two ways to live and only two ways to live.

We’ve looked at the way to death. Now we want to see the way that leads to eternal life.

Once again we see the idea that actions/choices bear certain fruit now and then lead to a final outcome later.

PRESENTING (Actions/Choices): Verse 19 – “So now present your members as slaves to righteousness...”

THE FRUIT (Short-term consequences): Verse 19 – “leading to sanctification.” Verse 22 – “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification.”

THE END (Final outcome): Verse 22 – “and its end, eternal life.” Verse 23 – “But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

PRESENTING YOURSELVES:

Throughout the second half of Romans 6, Paul has used the language of presenting ourselves as slaves to God, to righteousness.

There’s an irony about this slave language in the chapter.

John Stott puts words to the riddle:

The paradox: Slavery is freedom and freedom is slavery....Each slavery is also a kind of freedom, although the one is authentic and the other spurious. Similarly, each freedom is a kind of slavery, although the one is degrading and the other ennobling.
John Stott, The Message of Romans[5]

To be a Christian is to be a happy slave, a free slave, a slave in the hands of the greatest and most glorious of all Masters. A Master where following him and obeying him is life-giving at every level.

In fact, even knowing him is transformative, much less serving him:

And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. (John 17:3)

THE FRUIT/CONSEQUENCES of presenting ourselves to him.

The fruit is “sanctification.” Instead of things we’re ashamed of and more “lawlessness,” the fruit we bear as slaves of Christ is “sanctification.”

We become more holy, more righteous, more like Christ.

Regarding fruit, the Greek does something interesting not quite captured by the ESV. But it’s captured in the CSB:

But now, since you have been set free from sin and have become enslaved to God, you have your fruit, which results in sanctification—and the outcome is eternal life! (Rom 6:22, CSB)

You see that? “You have your fruit.” It’s a present possession.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones on this verse:

“You have your fruit.” You have got it! This is true of every Christian. There is no such thing as a Christian who does not bear fruit; you cannot be a Christian without bearing fruit.
Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Romans: Exposition of Chapter 6[6]

THE OUTCOME: “ETERNAL LIFE.”

Rom. 6:23, “the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

It’s a “free gift”! Not “wages” paid like sin pays wages. But a “gift”—an undeserved, unearned gift, infinitely greater than what our sins deserve.

It’s a gift that is ours “in Christ Jesus our Lord.” We receive it in Christ.

• It’s the PLACE where we receive it. When we are “in Christ,” we then receive this eternal life.
• It’s the REASON we receive it. We don’t receive it on our own merits, but on the merits of Christ. Because of Christ we receive it!
• It’s the GIFT we receive. The greatest gift we receive as Christians...is Christ!

I quoted John 17:3 above. “Eternal life” is a CATEGORY of life, a QUALITY of life.

But always this idea of “eternal” has in view what we normally think of, “unending.”

The “eternal life” we receive has no end to it. No time-limit. No renewal date. This isn’t a vacation at a resort, where our money bought us a week, and then we have to go home.

It’s ours forever!

Some aspects of this in Revelation 21–22:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” 5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” (Rev 21:1-5)

Revelation 21:

And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, 25 and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. 26 They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. 27 But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life. (Rev 21:22–27)

Revelation 22:

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. (Rev 22:1–5)

That’s the great outcome of the way to eternal life.

We present ourselves today, we enjoy sanctification tomorrow, and we enjoy the new heaven and new earth with God and his people forever.

This is why the gospel matters! This is why it matters that 

“For  God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

Conclusion

There’s a way that leads to death, and there’s a way that leads to eternal life. Choose the way that leads to eternal life.

It’s not just a momentary decision, a one-time decision. It includes that. But it’s bigger than that.

I-95 goes north to the Canadian border, and it goes south to Miami, Florida. When you drive east and get to I-95, you have a moment of decision. Do I go north? Or south? You can’t go both ways, you can only go one direction.

But once you make that decision, you’re not in Canada and you’re not in Miami. You might be in Rocky Mount, NC. Or Benson, NC. The only way to get to Miami is by covering the whole 780 miles to get there. To get to Canada, 1,000 miles north. Which is a long way. Our family drove that route a few years ago to get to Prince Edward Island, CA.

Paul in Romans 6 is wanting us to see the whole journey in those two directions. The fork in the road. And the hundreds of miles to get there. And the final destination.

There’s that initial decision we face to “present ourselves” to God and not to sin.

Then there’s the fruit we experience—we experience more “sanctification” and freedom and not “lawlessness” and things we’re ashamed of.

Then there’s the biggest difference of all—the final outcome. One way to live ends with endless conscious punishment.

The other way ends with God in all his glory. Perfect unity and fellowship with the people of God. Eternal escape from sadness and sin and sickness.

God has delivered you and blessed you, so present yourselves to him. So he can deliver you and bless you even more. Now and forever.

How can you use this to battle sins in your life?

• There’s a word that gets tossed around sometimes: mindfulness. The idea of it is to be aware. Be present. Be thought-ful. Don’t just do things in some reflexive, unthinking way.
• Christian growth is like that. Putting sin to death is like that.
• Paul gives one way we can be more mindful in our battle against sin.
• Take time, just a few seconds or a half-hour. Consider in detail the great difference it would make in this decision to go one way or the other.
• Don’t just see the next few seconds: I’d get to look at that girl on the internet I really want to see.
• Look at the whole picture. What will happen in the short-term—the hours and days afterward? What are the possible scenarios that could happen if this really blows up, far down the road, where could I end up?
• If you’re contemplating a vacation, that’s what you’d do. You wouldn’t just contemplate the first turn out of your neighborhood. Or the final decision. You’d think through the whole 1,000 round-trip. Is that what we want?

Use Paul’s words to help you see the full consequences of actions. That can arm you in your battle against sin, and your right to be righteous.

Let’s pray.

[1] For an excellent presentation of the gospel using the idea of “Two Ways to Live” see https://twowaystolive.com/.

[2] See Denny Burk’s essay, “Hell as Endless Punishment” at https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/essay/hell-as-endless-punishment/.

[3] Joel Beeke and Paul Smalley, Essentials of Reformed Systematic Theology (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2025), 890.

[4] Cited in Gavin Ortlund’s “A Losing Battle against Reality: C. S. Lewis on the Nature and Necessity of Hell,” BSac 176 (Jul-Sep 2019):327–42.

[5] John Stott, The Message of Romans, BST, 185.

[6] MLJ, Romans 6, P. 296, cited Morris, PNTC, 266.