Romans 6: 1 - 14

1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning, so that grace may increase? ² By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? ³ Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into his death? ⁴ 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 live a new life.

⁵ For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. ⁶ For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin – ⁷ because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

⁸ Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. ⁹ For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. ¹⁰ The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

¹¹ In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. ¹² Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. ¹³ Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. ¹⁴ For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

Dead to Sin, Alive in Christ!

At the end of yesterday’s reading, in Rom. 5: 20, Paul wrote that the Law caused sin to increase, which in turn caused God’s grace to increase. It might sound a strange argument to our ears, but he is saying that once the Law of Moses was introduced, there was then a law for people to break, and thereby be guilty of sin! And because God forgives sin by his grace, if there is more sin, then there is more grace!

So in verse 1 of today’s reading, Paul turns things around, and re-visits a question that came up in Rom. 3: 8. ‘The more I sin, the more God forgives me, and the more grace I receive. So I should sin more!’ This is a serious case of twisting the truth, and Paul objects greatly to it. I wonder whether anyone actually said this, or whether Paul’s logical mind had realised that this was a potential mis-reading of what he had just been saying, and therefore feels the need to address it. Clearly it is nonsense to suggest that we should sin more in order to receive more grace from God.

So, for the rest of this passage, Paul is explaining why, as Christians, we should resist sin. When we put our trust in Jesus and came to him as our Saviour, choosing to follow him, we were forgiven for our sins. It was like our old sinful nature had been put to death, nailed to the cross with Jesus. It was buried, and just as Jesus rose from the grave, so we have risen to a new life. And as Christian people today we should live in that new life – a life in which our aim is to go Jesus’ way, following his teaching and being obedient to him. And although, as humans, the sinful nature is still within us, we should live recognising that it has been put to death, and no longer has any control over us. Verses 6 and 7 make the point clearly: ‘For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin – because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.’

We are free from sin – and as we live for Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit, we should remember that. Sadly, there are people who have never met Jesus, who are slaves to sin and addiction. And sadder still, there are some who have met Jesus, and who slip back into being slaves to sin and addiction again. Paul writes that ‘we should no longer be slaves to sin’ and by the power of the Holy Spirit, those chains of slavery can be broken. If you are struggling in this way, please seek help and prayer for your situation. I would willingly spend time with you and help you to come to Christ to be set free!

 

Prayer

Dear Lord Jesus, as your follower I love you and want to always go your way. Please fill me with the Holy Spirit and strengthen me to choose your way, which is the way of life, rather than the way of my old sinful nature, which is the way of death. Amen.