[𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘴𝘰 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘖𝘋 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘭𝘺 𝘉𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘺 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘰. 𝘞𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘡𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘰𝘯 𝘛𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘢𝘯 𝘌𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦, “𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘴”, 𝘣𝘺 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘮 𝘔𝘢𝘤𝘋𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘥. 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘫𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘗𝘢𝘶𝘭’𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘙𝘰𝘮𝘦.]

In Romans 6, Paul expanded his answer to a question mentioned in chapter 3 of his letter: “Should we keep sinning so GOD can show us more and more of His wonderful grace?” (6:1), to which he emphatically replied, “Of course not!”(6:2).

Paul then detailed his reasons for such a definitive response:

• We have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? (6:2)
• We joined Christ in baptism, joining Him in death.  Now we live new lives. (6:3-4)
• Our sinful selves were crucified with Christ; we are no longer slaves to sin. (6:6)
• Christ died to break the power of sin; now He lives for the glory of GOD.  We, too, now consider ourselves dead to the power of sin and alive to GOD. (6:10-11)

I found comments from William MacDonald and from The Gospel Coalition helpful as we began to process Paul’s line of reasoning:

“It will help us to follow Paul’s argument in this chapter if we understand the difference between the believer’s position (his standing in Christ) and his practice (what he is or should be in everyday life).  Grace puts us into the position and then teaches us to walk worthy of it.  Our position is absolutely complete and perfect because we are in Christ.  Our practice should increasingly correspond to our position, becoming more and more conformed to His image until we see the Savior in heaven.” (W. MacDonald, p 61)

“The reality of the sin-forgiven life is that we now live under the dominion of grace.  Under the grace that pardons all our sin, sin does not abound, or else it is not grace that is in charge, but sin itself.  Though [the question posed] claims to champion radical grace, such a sentiment is wicked and reveals a heart that has not truly been touched by redeeming grace.  Grace is the antidote not only to legalism but also to license, for Christians have been united to Christ (6:5).” (The Gospel Coalition)

Essentially, by the grace of GOD, through the free gift of justification through CHRIST by faith, we have been placed in right relationship with GOD, fully reconciled to Him.  Why would we choose to sin, thereby interrupting that re-established relationship?

We repented from our sins and turned to GOD.  We are now dead to sin, rescued from sin, its power and its penalties by the sacrifice of CHRIST.  Why would we intentionally return to sin, thereby offending the very GOD who rescued us?

We are now identified with Christ, co-heirs and children of GOD, the One who went to great lengths to redeem us because of His great love for us.  Now we love Him because He first loved us (1 John 4:19).  If CHRIST’s sole aim is to honor the Father, to always bring the Father delight, wouldn’t we want to do the same?  Why would we ever want to grieve the heart of GOD we now love by deliberately choosing to sin?

Mr. MacDonald added these thoughts about Paul’s reference to a believer’s baptism (p 63-65):

”There is a sense in which a believer attends the funeral of their old self when they are baptized.  As they go under the water, they are saying, ‘All that I was as a sinful child of Adam was put to death on the cross.  When Christ died, I died.’  As they come up out of the water, they are saying, ‘It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me’ (Galatians 2:20).

We are to consider ourselves to be dead to sin but alive to GOD in CHRIST JESUS (6:11).  This means to accept what GOD says about us as true and to live in light of it.  It means having the same attitude to our old self that GOD does and seeing that nature where GOD sees it – on the cross, put to death with Christ.  

We reckon ourselves dead to sin when we respond to temptation as would a dead person.  A dead person has nothing to do with immorality, lying, cheating, gossiping, or any other sin.  Now we are alive to GOD in CHRIST JESUS.”

In the remainder of the chapter, Paul expanded his answer to the question of sinning so that grace may abound, offering more reasons why this thinking is appallingly flawed:

• We have the ability to choose NOT to allow sin to control us or to use any part of our bodies as instruments of its evil ways.  Instead, we can choose to give ourselves wholly to GOD, so every part of us can be used to do what is right for the glory of GOD. (6:12,13)
• Even though, by GOD’s grace, we are free from the penalty of breaking the law, we do not go on sinning.  If we allow sin to control us, we remain slave to sin as our master, which leads only to death.  BUT if we choose to obey GOD, the result will be righteous living. (6:14-16)
• Now free from the power of sin, we are slaves to GOD, which leads to holiness and eternal life. (6:22)
• Sin will only earn us death; GOD freely gives us eternal life through JESUS. (6:23)

We were freed from bondage to sin.  Why would we willingly choose to live under its deceptive schemes and destructive ways?  

Sin is rebellion against GOD, diametrically opposed to Him and His purposes.  Why would we want to place ourselves back in a position of rebellion against Him when we have the glorious invitation to be used for His good purposes?  

When we have the privilege of touching the heart of GOD and being welcomed to work side by side with Him to see His will accomplished, why would we choose to turn any other way?

Mr. MacDonald added these thoughts about what motivates us to choose the LORD as our only Master (p 66-67):

”Sin has no dominion over the one who is under grace.  The believer has died to sin.  They have received the indwelling Holy Spirit as the power for holy living.  They are motivated by love for the Savior not by fear of punishment.  

Grace means freedom to serve the LORD, not freedom to sin against Him.  When we submit ourselves to someone as our master, we become that person’s servant (6:16).  GOD’s servants are free to do what the new nature loves.

The apostle summarizes the subject by presenting these vivid contrasts in 6:23: two masters – sin and GOD; two methods – wages and free gift; two aftermaths – death and eternal life.”

The Gospel Coalition offered these additional thoughts:

“Union with Christ is one of the overarching salvific results of Christ’s atoning work for GOD’s elect.  The recurring Biblical phrases ‘in Christ’ and ‘in Him’ speak to this eternal reality.  We have died with JESUS and we have risen with Him.  Now He is in us (Col 1:27, I John 3:9) and we are in Him (Acts 17:28, 1 John 4:13).  First John 3:24 says, ‘whoever keeps His commandments abides in GOD and GOD in him.’  How can Paul assert that we are free to stop sinning and to start obeying?  Because we are united with GOD’s own Son, obedience from our heart – though not unopposed – is now natural to us.” 

In Romans 6, Paul presented this comprehensive reasoning against believers foolishly choosing to sin, taking the wondrous grace of GOD for granted.  In the next chapter, we will delve into the reality we all face – though saved by grace, we are still sinners.  We still wrestle with our flesh and against our sinful nature.  It is an ongoing battle!

How comforting to know that GOD’s Spirit dwells within us.  The Holy Spirit convicts us, corrects us, and grants us power to overcome sinful tendencies still lurking in our hearts.  We can cry out to Him for help to quickly recognize sin and reject it, turning again from rebellion against GOD and His ways, turning to a restored, growing, and productive relationship with Him.

When faced with the choice to grieve or delight the heart of the GOD who loves me and gave His Son for me, may I always choose to honor and obey Him.  May my greatest desire always be to rightly reflect the heart of the Father, just like the LORD JESUS! 

Choose for yourselves today whom you will serve… as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.  (Joshua 24:15)

RESOURCES:

“The Letter to the ROMANS,” by William MacDonald, Emmaus Worldwide, 2020, Revised 2023.

The Bible Project, video summary of the book of Romans, Parts 1 & 2.

https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/romans-1-4/

https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/romans-5-16/

“Knowing the Bible: Romans”, by Jared C. Wilson, The Gospel Coalition,  thegospelcoalition.org .