One little word in Greek (and, then, a few words in English—depending on the translation) makes all the difference for how we understand a believer’s relationship to sin.

In Romans, Paul is writing to Christians about a large number of things that all revolve around who Jesus was and is, and what he means for their lives and the world in which they live. Just about halfway through his letter (in what we call chapter 6), Paul starts to address the truth that someone in sin is not just messing around with sin but they are slaves of sin. In fact, Paul makes it clear that everyone at all times is either a slave of sin or righteousness.

To put it another way, a person either belongs to the world or to Jesus; they can’t belong to both at the same time.

I think Paul wrote that section of his letter not to discourage, but to encourage his readers. And his encouragement is found in the way he reminds them of what’s no longer true about them.

The cool thing for the purpose of this article is that Paul makes that point with one little Greek word: ἦτε (ēte). In Greek, ἦτε is what’s called an “imperfect indicative”. It’s a type of Greek verb that communicates something that happened in the past.

In Romans 6:17b, we read this in Greek: ἦτε δοῦλοι τῆς ἁμαρτίας. Roughly translated, it says, “Y’all were slaves of sin.”

“Y’all” because Paul wasn’t writing to just one person; he was writing to an entire body of believers. And, in finally getting to the point of this short article, “were” because those believers are no longer slaves of sin. This was Paul’s encouraging reminder to them.

In the past—before their lives were changed by Jesus and they decide to trust in him—it would have been wrong to say that they were slaves of sin, because they were still slaves of sin. But now, due to the work of God in their lives, this is no longer true, and Paul shows that this is no longer true of them by writing: ἦτε.

One little Greek word that makes all the difference.