Romans 6:16

‘Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves as servants unto obedience, his servants you are whom you obey, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?'

For the test of whom we are under is the test of whom we obey. All of us present ourselves to obey either sin or obedience. And if we choose to be servants of sin we should recognise that its end is death. Whereas if we choose to be servants of obedience, with our desire being only to please God, it will result in out-lived righteousness, both now and in the world to come. Notice how ‘death' is contrasted, not with life, but with righteousness. To have life is to be lifted into the sphere of righteousness, and thus results in behaving righteously. And if we see ourselves as dead to sin we clearly have no option but to do the latter. Note how closely Paul follows the teaching of his Master. Jesus had said, ‘He who commits sin is the bondservant of sin' (John 8:34). Here Paul is declaring the same thing.