6:20
“You were free in regard to righteousness”. Being a slave to sin, commited to sin, meant we had no regard for righteousness, we felt no obligation towards it. If we look at the world, most of it isn’t bothered about what God says, they feel no obligation to live according to God’s ways. This is why conviction of sin is such an important part of the conversion process, and why it is part of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Yet, at the same time, people do have a concern about what is right. If we look at the world around us and at the news we will see this. Sometimes it will be about what is right in the world’s eyes, but not God’s. Examples of this are things like gay rights and abortion rights, the world will be very exercised about these things. Sometimes it will be about what is actually right. Examples of this include horror at terrible crimes, financial crimes, lying (especially by politicians).
6:21
Paul then asks “what fruit were you getting?”. I.e. when you lived in sin, what good did it really do you? When the Israelites were wandering through the wilderness they often harked back to their days in Egypt with fondness. Yet when they were in Egypt they groaned and cried out for help because of the harsh treatment they were enduring. Sin can do the same, yet the truth is that sin makes our lives miserable. The end result of sin is death.
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