³⁴ Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, ^(A)whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.

From Slaves of Sin to Slaves of God

¹⁵ What then? Shall we sin ^(A)because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! ¹⁶ Do you not know that ^(B)to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? ¹⁷ But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart ^(C)that form of doctrine to which you were ^[a]delivered. ¹⁸ And ^(D)having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.

¹⁹ While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of ^[a]corruption; ^(A)for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into ^[b]bondage. ²⁰ For if, after they ^(B)have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are ^(C)again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. ²¹ For ^(D)it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. ²² But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: ^(E)“A dog returns to his own vomit,” and, “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.”