We are slaves to righteousness only to the degree that we actually ARE righteous and not in sin...
"But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? All the righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; because of the unfaithfulness of which he is guilty and the sin which he has committed, because of them he shall die." Ez 18:24
The saved who sin are turning from God
"If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all[a] sin." 1 John 1:6-7
Talk means nothing, only our walk
"No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother." 1 John 3:6-10
If you keep sinning, you are not from God.
"Count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness....Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey — whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? [said to CHRISTIANS!] ...For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in[b] Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6: 11-13,16,23
Paul expects more from Christians. Those who return to sin are slaves to it
"Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. But now that you know God—or rather are known by God— how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?" Gal 4:8-9
Yep, Christians can return to slavery
"These men [Christians who are false teachers] are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of sinful human nature, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him. If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. Of them the proverbs are true: "A dog returns to its vomit,"[f]and, "A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud." 2 Peter 2:17-22
Ouch, that hurts... What does this mean for the initial false Protestant teachers?
Scripture tells us that those who enslaved themselves to sin will die. This includes those who previously had pledged themselves to God at one point in their lives. We are dead to sin WHEN we obey the commandments, WHEN Christ is within us. Not always. We are slaves to sin when we continue to sin. This is a fact.
Theosis is not about being perfect, but about humbly asking for forgiveness from God when we falter, not being presumptuous that God owes us salvation because we said a sentence or two 20 years ago. We are dead to sin ONLY to the capacity that we continue to follow God.
Regards
John shows the correct progression; 1) we are born of God, 2) we KNOW that we are born of God because we believe in God, 3) we love those things of God, 4) we know we love God and belong to Him because we want to keep His commandments, 5) we don't mind keeping His commandments because we love Him, 6) we overcome the world with our faith.
You make this sound like something YOU have to do. The fact is that God has given us His Spirit for which we are born again.
Paul doubted the Galatins' salvation simply because they were caught up in traditions (BIG ouch). We are not to be subject to the yoke of "salvery" following after traditions (Gal 5:1). This is trying to be justified by works of the law and Paul would have nothing to do with it. He stated they had "fallen from grace". We walk BY FAITH, not by works.
Galatins is one book I would not use to justify works.
And Luther urged his followers to do the pecca fortiter La Macarena style — "sin boldly" brothers! Did he get that idea from God? I seriously doubt it. But it says a lot where he is coming from, IMHO.