We always belong to someone or something meaning that we are always free from someone or something. If we are slaves to sin, we are free from righteousness. That’s not as good as it might sound to some. It’s not that we are free from legal obligations, it is that we are free from being right with God, a strange kind of freedom (v20).
So, the question is about what the outcome or fruit has been. Again, we will bear some kind of fruit. What are the consequences, what’s the outcome in your life of sin? Paul also points out that that time in our lives causes or should cause shame. The answer of course was that the result of sin was death (v21). Now we are free from sin and are God’s slaves, the fruit of this relationship is sanctification/holiness and eternal life. That’s a better offer (v22).
Paul concludes the section with another illustrative comparison. Think in terms of what sin pays out. If we work for sin and get a wage, the wage is death. God offers something different, first it is not a wage, it is a gift, undeserved and secondly it is life instead of death.
Faithroots 