Romans 6:20 (DRB)

Passage

For when you were the servants of sin, you were free men to justice.

Nearby Context

Romans 6:18 Being then freed from sin, we have been made servants of justice.

Romans 6:19 I speak an human thing, because of the infirmity of your flesh. For as you have yielded your members to serve uncleanness and iniquity, unto iniquity: so now yield your members to serve justice, unto sanctification.

Romans 6:20 For when you were the servants of sin, you were free men to justice.

Romans 6:21 What fruit therefore had you then in those things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of them is death.

Romans 6:22 But now being made free from sin and become servants to God, you have your fruit unto sanctification, and the end life everlasting.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "servants", "free", and "justice". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "servants" and "free", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 19's "I speak an human thing because of..." into verse 21's "What fruit therefore had you then in...", so "servants" and "free" belong inside that flow. In Romans context, the local focus is righteousness by faith, union with Christ, life in the Spirit, and God's covenant faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "servants" and "free" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.