Romans 6:20
“For when you were servants of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.”
What does Romans 6:20 mean?
When Paul writes this, he's describing the spiritual reality of life before trusting Christ. Being "free in regard to righteousness" sounds like liberation, but it's actually captivity, because it meant you had no connection to what's right and good, no power pulling you toward moral goodness. He's saying that sin doesn't just enslave you to wrongdoing, it also disconnects you from righteousness, leaving you with a kind of hollow freedom that's actually spiritual emptiness. The verse sets up his next thought: if you were once free from righteousness but that didn't make you happy or whole, why would you want to return to that state? He's showing that our deepest longings can't be satisfied by independence from God's goodness. There's a tenderness here for people who recognize they've been stuck in that empty place, inviting them to see that being bound to righteousness through Christ is the better freedom.