Romans6

Romans 6 emphatically refutes the idea of continuing in sin for grace to abound, stating that believers are dead to sin through their identification with Christ's death and resurrection. Through baptism, they are united with Christ to walk in newness of life, having crucified the old sinful self. Therefore, believers are exhorted to reckon themselves dead to sin but alive to God, yielding their members as instruments of righteousness rather than unrighteousness.

Listen to this chapter

Dead to Sin, Alive to God

What then shall we say? Shall we continue in sin so that grace may increase?

Certainly not! How can we who died to sin live in it any longer?

Or aren’t you aware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?

We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may walk in newness of life.

For if we have been united with Him like this in His death, we will certainly also be united with Him in His resurrection.

We know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be rendered powerless, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.

For anyone who has died has been freed from sin.

Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him.

For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, He cannot die again; death no longer has dominion over Him.

The death He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life He lives, He lives to God.

So you too must count yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Yielding Our Members to God

Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its desires.

Do not present the parts of your body to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and present the parts of your body to Him as instruments of righteousness.

For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.

Slavery to Righteousness

What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law, but under grace? Certainly not!

Do you not know that when you offer yourselves as obedient slaves, you are slaves to the one you obey, whether you are slaves to sin leading to death, or to obedience leading to righteousness?

But thanks be to God that, though you once were slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were committed.

You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to escalating wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.

For when you were slaves to sin, you were free of obligation to righteousness.

What fruit did you reap at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? The outcome of those things is death.

But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the fruit you reap leads to holiness, and the outcome is eternal life.

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Study Notes for Romans 6

Verse 1

Paul anticipates the logical, but erroneous, conclusion that his teaching on abundant grace (from Rom 5) leads to moral license (antinomianism). This chapter answers that charge emphatically.

Verse 2

God forbid (KJV: Mē genoito) is Paul’s strongest expression of denial, meaning “May it never be!” The believer has undergone a fundamental transformation, rendering continued life in sin impossible.

Verse 3

Baptism is here understood as the symbolic identification with Christ's death. It signifies the believer's spiritual participation in the death and burial of the 'old self,' breaking the power of sin.

Verse 4

Just as Christ’s resurrection guarantees eternal life, the believer’s death to sin signifies an immediate call to live a radically transformed life now—walking in newness of life.

Verse 6

The 'old man' refers to the unredeemed self, controlled by sin. This former self was executed legally and spiritually with Christ, so that the 'body of sin' (the power structure of sin) is rendered ineffective.

Verse 7

This is a legal concept: just as a slave is freed from his master upon death, the justified believer is legally released from the obligation and mastery of Sin.

Verse 11

Reckon (logizomai) is an accounting term, meaning 'to calculate' or 'consider as fact.' Believers are commanded to consciously accept and act upon the reality of their spiritual death to sin and life in Christ.

Verse 12

The theological reality (Vv. 1-11) requires a moral response. Since sin's power is broken, believers must actively refuse to allow sin to rule their physical bodies, which are the instruments of action.

Verse 13

The body members (hands, eyes, mind, etc.) must be intentionally presented (paristēmi) to God as tools for righteousness, rather than being surrendered as weapons for unrighteousness.

Verse 14

This promise provides assurance that the believer will not ultimately be mastered by sin, because their relationship is based on grace (God's empowering favor), not the restrictive external demands of the Law.

Verse 15

Paul addresses a second objection: Can we exploit grace as an excuse for individual acts of sin? The answer is an immediate and strong denial (God forbid).

Verse 16

Paul uses the analogy of slavery to emphasize that everyone serves a master. Obedience reveals the true master: sin, which leads to death, or righteousness, which leads to life.

Verse 19

I speak after the manner of men: Paul acknowledges that the analogy of human slavery may be crude, but he uses it because it clearly illustrates the nature of submission and servitude required in the spiritual life.

Verse 22

The fruit of servitude to God is holiness (sanctification), which leads to the final destination of everlasting life.

Verse 23

This famous summary contrasts wages (something earned, referring to death) with gift (something freely given, referring to eternal life). Death is deserved; life is a gift of God's grace through Christ.

Use ← → arrow keys to navigate

Romans6

Dead to Sin, Alive to God

Yielding Our Members to God

Slavery to Righteousness

Reading Style

Typeface

Font Size 19px

Reading Width 45 chars

Options