Paul begins this section with a rhetorical question: “Can we sin because we are not under law but under grace?” Paul uses two analogies from everyday life in first century Rome — slavery and marriage — to help his hearers understand what it means to live “under grace.” He seeks to reassure them that being under grace instead of under law doesn’t lead to lawlessness, but actually leads to holy living. Paul calls his hearers to bear fruit as slaves of righteousness and as those who serve in the new way of the Spirit.