Romans 6:20 (WEB)

Passage

For when you were servants of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.

Nearby Context

Romans 6:18 Being made free from sin, you became bondservants of righteousness.

Romans 6:19 I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh, for as you presented your members as servants to uncleanness and to wickedness upon wickedness, even so now present your members as servants to righteousness for sanctification.

Romans 6:20 For when you were servants of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.

Romans 6:21 What fruit then did you have at that time in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.

Romans 6:22 But now, being made free from sin, and having become servants of God, you have your fruit of sanctification, and the result of eternal life.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "servants", "free", "regard", and "righteousness". 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 in human terms because of..." into verse 21's "What fruit then did you have at...", 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.